ROLLA, Mo. – Great Lakes Valley Conference play gets underway Saturday around the league and two long-time rivals will square off at Allgood-Bailey Stadium as the Miners will play host to Truman State in a 7 p.m. contest.
The Miners and Bulldogs are facing off for the 79th time and for the fourth time as GLVC rivals. The most recent matchup between the teams went in the Miners' favor, as they won a 10-7 slugfest last September in Kirksville on Tyler Swart (Dickinson, TX/Dickinson)'s one-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.
It is the third straight season that the teams are facing each other in a conference opener and the visiting team has won the two previous times after S&T's win a year ago.
Both teams are 1-1 as they enter play Saturday, as S&T fell for the first time last Saturday at West Florida and the Bulldogs picked up their first win by routing Malone.
ABOUT THE MINERS: Despite a huge performance by Braxton Graham (Seneca, MO/Seneca), the Miners fell short in their effort to reach 2-0 for the first time in four seasons as they dropped a 45-28 decision to West Florida last week.
Graham accumulated 301 all-purpose yards in the contest – the third-most in a game in Miner history – which included a record-setting punt return for a touchdown and a career-high 164-yard night in the receiving department. His 93-yard punt return for a touchdown broke the GLVC record for the longest punt return in the four-plus seasons of football in the league and later in the contest, he scored again when he hauled in an 86-yard touchdown pass.
Through two games, Graham –named Monday as the GLVC's special teams player of the week -- has the highest yardage total among the receivers with the 164 yards; Logan Armontrout (Centralia, MO/Centralia) and Jacque Harris (Jacksonville, FL/Stanton) lead S&T with seven catches each.
Quarterback Tyler Swart (Dickinson, TX/Dickinson) has completed 56.5 percent of his passes (26-of-46) for 384 yards and five touchdowns as he heads an offensive attack that has averaged 354 yards per game on the year. Dalton Major (Bourbonnais, IL/Bishop McNamara) leads the Miners in rushing with 72 yards on 16 carries.
The Miners racked up 352 yards of total offense in last week's contest at West Florida.
On defense, linebacker Landon Compton (Lamar, MO/Lamar) leads the way with 20 stops, which includes a team-high 3.5 for a loss. Bo Brooks (Canutillo, TX/Canutillo) has recorded 12 stops from his safety position and Bret Curtis (Lombard, IL/Glenbard South) has been in on 10 stops. The Miners have two interceptions, which have come from Nate Brown (Webb City, MO/Webb City) and John McClure (Fenton, MO/Rockwood Summit).
ABOUT TRUMAN STATE: The Bulldogs rebounded from an opening night loss to nationally-ranked Midwestern State by routing Malone 35-3 last Saturday to knot their record at 1-1 on the year. Redshirt freshman quarterback Jaden Barr fired five touchdown passes in the victory as he hit on 21 of his 25 throws for 245 yards.
Barr, who got his first career start last week, has connected on 35-of-52 passes (67.3 percent) on the year for 355 yards and a league-high six touchdowns through the first two weeks of play. His top target has been Drew Slager with eight reecptions for 131 yards and a score, while Joey Schenck has seven receptions and caught two for touchdowns in last week's win.
The Bulldogs are averaging 309.5 yards of total offense per game, with nearly two-thirds of that coming via the air. Truman's leading rusher coming into tonight's game is Malique Robbins with 75 yards; Rolla native Andy Satulla, a sophomore in the Bulldog backfield, has 27 yards on 10 carries on the young seasons.
Ben Wellman paces the Truman defense with 17 tackles, while Ben Chaney has made 13 stops and D'Anthony Knight and Justin Mikeworth have 12 apiece. Jordan Brown ranks third in the GLVC with five tackles for a loss.
