ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T was undone by a number of mistakes Saturday night and lost its home and Great Lakes Valley Conference opener as a result at Allgood-Bailey Stadium to Truman State by the score of 27-16.

For the second week in a row, the first score of the game took place in the opening moments.  But unlike last week, when S&T's Spencer Elrod (Lancaster, Calif.) ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, it was a turnover that put S&T in an early hole.

Following the opening kickoff, the Miners lost a fumble at their own 20-yard line on the first play from scrimmage and the Bulldogs capitalized on it as Garrett White scored on the next play to put them in front.

The Miners committed the second of their three turnovers on their next possession as Chris Stanton picked off a Kason Key (Owasso, Okla./Owasso) pass at the goal line, but the Miners were able to draw even after forcing a turnover moments later.  Zach Melber (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) recovered a fumble by White at the Bulldogs' 18-yard line and a subsequent penalty moved the ball half the distance to the goal line.

Two plays later, Key threw an 11-yard scoring pass to Leon Moody (St. Louis, Mo./DeSmet Jesuit HS) to tie the game at seven.

However, Truman reclaimed the advantage with a 13-play, 70-yard drive that concluded on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Devonte Black to Kurt Loyd – on a fourth-and-10 play.

The Bulldogs added to the lead late in the first half on another long drive that covered 86 yards, ending with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Black to Joey Schenck.  But S&T got points out of it as well, as the Bulldogs had a bad snap on the extra point and Melber scooped up the loose ball and took it 68 yards to the end zone for two points.

It was the first-ever defensive point after scored by the Miners since the NCAA instituted the rule in 1988.

The Miners created an opportunity for itself at the outset of the second half when Nick Kruse (Cuba, Mo./Cuba HS) picked off a White pass and took it back to the S&T 40-yard line, but went three-and-out and had to give the ball back to the Bulldogs.  Truman then added to its lead when White ran 16 yards for a touchdown to make it 27-9.

S&T had two chances to draw closer in the fourth quarter when it had the ball deep into Bulldog territory on back-to-back possessions, but missed on both due to a bad snap on a field goal attempt and then an interception.  The Miners did get into the end zone again with 3:38 to play when Peter Simpson (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) fired a 17-yard touchdown pass to Elrod, but the Bulldogs recovered the onside kick that followed and ran out the bulk of the remaining time.

Truman (2-1, 1-0 GLVC) ran for 311 yards on the night – getting 154 from White and another 99 from Vince Garcia – and finished the game with a 400-237 advantage in total yardage.

Key was 15-of-24 on the night for 153 yards, with Nick Taylor (Wichita, Kan./Southeast HS) hauling in six passes and Melvin Stovall (Los Angeles, Calif./Lancaster) five.  Freshman running back Charles Bournes (Chicago, Ill./Morgan Park) led the ground game with 27 yards on eight carries.

Dawan Ferguson (St. Louis, Mo./Riverview Gardens) and Kruse had nine tackles apiece for S&T (0-3, 0-1 GLVC), who will head to Bolivar, Mo., next Saturday for a GLVC matchup against Southwest Baptist.  Kickoff is at 6 p.m.