ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T will seek its first victory of the 2015 campaign against a team looking to do likewise as it opens the Great Lakes Valley Conference season Saturday with a 7 p.m. game against Truman State in Kirksville, Mo.
Both teams come into the contest at 0-2, with the Miners dropping games to Chadron State and over the past weekend to Texas A&M-Kingsville by a count of 38-20, while the Bulldogs dropped a 21-20 decision at Wayne State (Mich.) a week after losing their season opener at Midwestern State.
Saturday's contest will be one of four GLVC matchups on the opening weekend of conference play.
ABOUT THE MINERS: Missouri S&T cut a 25-point deficit down to 11 in the second half, but a 50-yard touchdown allowed Texas A&M-Kingsville to pull away for a 38-20 win in Kingsville, Texas.
Lamar Wilkes (Maryland Heights, Mo./Pattonville) threw a 27-yard scoring pass to
Braxton Graham (Seneca, Mo./Seneca), then ran one in from four yards out to allow the Miners to get to within 28-17 in the third quarter, but that would be as close as the Miners would get as they dropped to 0-2.
Wilkes has completed 31-of-73 passes on the year for 324 yards, with his top target being
Spencer Elrod (Lancaster, Calif./Eastside) with seven receptions for 102 yards; Graham also has seven catches for 73 yards on the season. The Miners are averaging 132.5 yards per game on the ground with a balanced rushing attack, led by
Chris Kennard (Plano, Texas/Parish Episcopal) with 65 yards on 12 carries.
Defensively, the Miners are led in tackles by sophomore
Nate Brown (Webb City, Mo./Webb City) and redshirt freshman
Landon Compton (Lamar, Mo./Lamar) with 15 apiece, while
Austin Truvillion (Kansas City, Mo./Park Hill) and
Jeremi Ross (Valencia, Calif./Hollywood) have been in on 14 apiece.
Albert Yemitan (Houston, Texas/Western Illinois Univ.) made the Miners' first interception of the season Saturday, while
Rob Cidlik (Eureka, Mo./Eureka) had a sack and
Andrew Trautman (Elk Rapids, Mich./Elk Rapids) and
Eli Thomas (Valdosta, Ga./Valdosta) combined for another.
Brown and Cidlik have each made three tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS: Truman State held a 20-7 lead after three quarters Saturday at Wayne State, but allowed 14 fourth quarter points while accumulating only 12 yards of total offense in the final 15 minutes of a 21-20 setback.
The Bulldogs currently rank last in the GLVC in total offense with an average of just 199 yards per game, with the two games coming against teams ranked among the top 26 in total defense at the NCAA Division II level. Truman is led in rushing by A.J. Hartfield with 110 yards, while former Rolla High School standout Andy Satulla has had 13 carries in the early going for 33 yards.
Quarterback Devonte Black has completed 22-of-50 throws for 153 yards and two touchdowns, one of them to Felix Neboh, who has a team-high six receptions for 42 yards.
Linebacker Austin Zoda has 22 tackles to lead the Bulldogs and has also forced two fumbles, while Kade Young has been in on 16 stops. The Bulldogs have three quarterback sacks as a team, but have yet to intercept a pass in the first two weeks of the season.
Saturday's home game for the Bulldogs will one of only two for them prior to the first of November this season, with only four home contests on their schedule.
