ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's football team heads back to the road seeking to break into the win column for the first time in the 2014 season, closing out its September slate with a trip to Bolivar, Mo., Saturday to take on Southwest Baptist University.  Game time is at 6 p.m.

The Miners fell to Truman State 27-16 Saturday in their home and Great Lakes Valley Conference opener at Allgood-Bailey Stadium, as they managed just 237 yards of total offense in the game.   After allowing a Truman State touchdown only 19 seconds into the contest, the Miners tied the game midway through the first quarter on a touchdown pass from Kason Key (Owasso, Okla./Owasso) to Leon Moody (St. Louis, Mo./DeSmet Jesuit HS).

However, with the exception of Zach Melber (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville)'s return of a blocked extra point attempt for a defensive point after touchdown, the Miners were kept off the scoreboard until the latter stages of the game when Spencer Elrod (Lancaster, Calif./) caught a scoring pass from Peter Simpson (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh).

Key has completed 53.6 percent of his passes thus far on the year for 781 yards and five touchdowns.  Three of those scoring passes have gone to Melvin Stovall (Los Angeles, Calif./Lancaster), who enters the week as the GLVC leader in receptions with 24 and is second in receiving yards with 316.

S&T has also received 14 catches from Nick Taylor (Wichita, Kan./Southeast HS) and a dozen from Moody as it comes into Saturday's outing ranked second in the GLVC to its opponent in passing offense, averaging 280.3 yards per game.  Elrod has eight catches on the year at an average of 24.2 yards per reception and also leads the GLVC with 25.7 yards per kickoff return.

The Miner defense, who will have to contend with an SBU offensive unit that averages 342.3 yards per game through the air – the 11^th-best mark in NCAA Division II – is led by linebackers Nick Kruse (Cuba, Mo./Cuba HS) with 25 tackles and Rob Cidlik (Eureka, Mo./Eureka) with 21; safety Dawan Ferguson (St. Louis, Mo./Riverview Gardens) has also recorded 21 tackles thus far on the year.

Kruse, who has one of the Miners' two interceptions this season, recorded his on Saturday as the Miners forced four Truman State turnovers.

SBU, an associate member of the GLVC in football, comes into Saturday's game at 1-2 overall as it has played all of its games in league play.  The Bearcats, who opened with a loss at William Jewell and a win at Lincoln, lost 48-14 Saturday to pre-season favorite Indianapolis in their home opener.

Willie Tindal, who racked up 447 yards passing in the win at Lincoln, was held to 158 in Saturday's loss.  He has thrown for exactly 1,000 yards over the first three games and has completed 58.9 percent of his passes.  His top targets have been Nathan Mourik, who leads the GLVC in receiving yards with 483 on 19 receptions and Kendrick Payne, who has caught 17 passes for 189 yards and two scores.

The Bearcats are averaging 14.5 yards per reception on the season, but just 2.8 yards per running play and 88.3 yards a game on the ground – even with a season-high 145 on Saturday.

Defensively, the Bearcats are paced by linebacker Derrick Fofenah with 26 tackles, while defensive end Viavia Manuma has 6.5 tackles for a loss and one-half of the five sacks recorded by SBU.

Game Notes: Miners vs. Southwest Baptist
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