ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's football team looks to bounce back from a loss in its Great Lakes Valley Conference opener and move back above the .500 mark for the season Saturday as it takes on Southwest Baptist in a 6 p.m. contest in Bolivar, Mo.

The Miners held a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter last week, but Truman State ran off 35 straight points to seize control of the contest and went on to hand the Miners a 49-20 loss at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.  The setback dropped the Miners to 2-2 overall heading into this week's matchup against the 2-1 Bearcats.

SBU rallied in the fourth quarter to win its GLVC opener last week, scoring two touchdowns in that period to come away with a 29-19 victory at William Jewell.  The Bearcats, who held the Cardinals to 49 yards of offense in the fourth quarter, are seeking their first three-game winning streak since the end of the 2022 season this weekend.

ABOUT THE MINERS: Missouri S&T fell in its GLVC curtain raiser last week, as Truman State scored 35 unanswered points to take control of a contest it would win 49-20 at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.  The Miners finished with 389 yards of total offense, including 154 on the ground, but two turnovers proved costly during the course of the Bulldogs' scoring run as Truman scored touchdowns off both mistakes.

Evan Wells (Roxana, IL/Roxana) rushed for a career-high 101 yards – the most by a Miner in nearly a full calendar year – and comes into Saturday's game with a team-leading 133 on the season.   Meanwhile, quarterback Jake Farrell (Scottsdale, AZ/Notre Dame Prep) threw for 235 yards and two touchdowns and enters this week's action with a total of 1,016 yards passing that ranks second in the GLVC.

Farrell has also thrown a league-leading 92 completions and has nine touchdown passes, which is tied for the second-most in the conference, with four of those going to Reid Weber (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell).  Weber and Sheldon Butler-Lawson (Junction City, KS/Junction City) – who had a season-high eight receptions on Saturday – are tied for the GLVC lead in catches with 20 apiece, as Weber has recorded 228 yards and four touchdowns along the way and Butler-Lawson has 182 yards on his 20 catches.

S&T's defense, led by Justin Gniedziejko's (Chicago, IL/Taft) 26 tackles on the season, has allowed 352.8 yards per game thus far on the year.  Seneca Bradley (Clarksville, TN/Rossview) Jr., has 22 tackles and Max Barnes (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) has recorded 19, while Bentley Hart (Brookland, AR/Brookland) has a team-leading seven tackles behind the line of scrimmage.  Christian Kemp (Madison, AL/Bob Jones), who has five tackles for a loss, is the S&T sack leader with three as the Miners have reached the quarterback 10 times this season.

The Miners also rank second in NCAA Division II with three blocked three kicks this season.

ABOUT SOUTHWEST BAPTIST: The Bearcats rallied in the fourth quarter to win their GLVC opener last week, as they scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to take a 29-19 win at William Jewell.  SBU took the lead when quarterback Jaron Saunders caught a touchdown pass on a fourth down play early in the period, then Saunders threw a scoring pass on the Bearcats' next possession to extend the lead to what turned out to be the final margin.

Saunders, who threw for 191 yards and two scores in the win, has completed 63.7 percent of his passes on the season for 710 yards and eight touchdowns.  His top target has been Kamau Ransom with 18 receptions for 288 yards and five touchdowns, while Shawn Cherry has 11 catches for 80 yards and Avery Lambert has averaged better than 20 yards per catch on his six catches.

However, it has been the running game that has propelled the Bearcat offense this year, as SBU has averaged a league-leading 152.7 rushing yards per game.  Jobe Smith, who ranks second in the GLVC with an average of 67.3 yards per game, has 202 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, while Cherry has added 145 yards.  The Bearcats are posting 402.3 yards (second in the GLVC) and 33.3 points per game on the season.

Defensively, SBU has allowed 431 yards per contest which ranks next-to-last in the GLVC.  Ricky Woodhouse leads the Bearcats with 28 tackles, while Jed Brandon has been in on 23 stops.  Caleb Saner leads SBU in tackles for a loss with five and sacks with two, while veteran safety Omari Oggs has the team's lone interception.