Complete Game Notes
Game 9: Fort Hays State (6-2, 6-2 MIAA) at Lincoln (1-7, 1-7 MIAA)
Date/Time: Saturday, Nov. 2 - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Jefferson City, Mo.
Stadium (Capacity): Dwight T. Reed Stadium (5,500)
Tickets: Adults - $10 | Children Under the Age of Six - Free | Non-LU Students/LU Faculty & Staff - $5 | LU Students (With ID) - Free
Streaming - http://www.themiaanetwork.com
Radio - KJLU 88.9 FM - Jefferson City, Mo.
Audiocast - http://radio.securenetsystems.net/v5/KJLU
Live Stats - https://lubluetigers.com/sidearmstats/football/
Series - Fort Hays State leads, 7-2
THE KICKOFF
Seeking its second-straight home win, the Lincoln football team hosts Fort Hays State on Saturday (Nov. 2) at 1:00 p.m. CT.
The Blue Tigers defeated Northeastern State on Homecoming, 27-9, in their last appearance inside Dwight T. Reed Stadium, and have a chance to make it two home wins in a row on Saturday. LU will also try to rebound from a loss, as Lincoln fell to Northwest Missouri, the No. 14-ranked team in the American Football Coaches Association's DII poll, 56-9 last weekend (Oct. 26).
Fort Hays State is 6-2 on the season and receiving votes in this week's AFCA DII rankings. After dropping its first two games of the season, FHSU has rattled off six-straight wins, most recently beating Nebraska Kearney, 37-31.
Saturday's game will be broadcast online on The MIAA Network (www.themiaanetwork.com).
QUICK HITS
- Lincoln and Fort Hays State will play for the 10th time on Saturday, with FHSU leading the series, 7-2.
- The Blue Tigers won two of the first three meetings in this series, with LU's last victory coming in 1984. FHSU has won the last six meetings, including defeating Lincoln in a shootout, 45-35, in Jefferson City in 2013.
- A win would be the second in a row at Dwight T. Reed Stadium for the Blue Tigers, who beat Northeastern State, 27-9, in their last home game on Oct. 19.
- Lincoln is seeking back-to-back home wins for the first time since ending the 2013 campaign with victories over Northeastern State and Southwest Baptist.
- A victory would also give Lincoln multiple home league wins in a season for the first time since that 2013 season.
- A win on Saturday would be the first for Lincoln against a team from Kansas since 2008, when the Blue Tigers won at Haskell in Lawrence, Kan., 43-37.
- LU's last home win over a team from the Sunflower State also came against Haskell, as Lincoln won a 39-20 decision in Dwight T. Reed Stadium in September of 2007.
- The Blue Tigers enter this week's game with an all-time record of 261-461-25.
- Malik Hoskins was named the interim head coach of the Blue Tigers in May 2019 and enters the week with an LU record of 1-7 and an overall record of 4-14.
- After a five-year absence, Lincoln has returned to the MIAA for its 24th season as a football-playing member. The Blue Tigers, who were an associate member of the GLVC from 2014-18, previously played in the MIAA from 1970-89 and from 2011-13. The MIAA is the fifth different conference in which the Blue Tigers have been a member, joining the Midwest Athletic Association, the Great Lakes Football Conference, the Central States Football League and the GLVC.
- This is the 89th season of Lincoln football. The Blue Tigers first fielded a team in 1920 and played every year until 1943, when Lincoln took a year off due to World War II. LU then played each season from 1944-1989. The football program was disbanded at that point, but was brought back in 2000.
BLUE TIGERS TO WATCH
OFFENSE - Hosea Franklin is on fire this season, averaging an MIAA-best 131.0 rushing yards per game with 1,048 total yards on the year. Franklin has three of the conference's top-four single game rushing performances in 2019, including gaining 251 yards against Washburn in the opener.
CJ Closser and Dre'Shon Alston each caught TD passes from Chancellor Johnson in his first start as Lincoln's quarterback. Tori Hicks made a pair of touchdown catches against Missouri Southern, and Franklin has made 10 catches for 52 yards. Rashaad Harris leads LU with 12 receptions for 73 yards while Alston has 79 receiving yards.
DEFENSE - The Blue Tiger defense made a huge impact in the season opener, forcing Washburn into seven turnovers. LU had three interceptions and forced and recovered four fumbles. The LU defense continued its opportunistic ways against Missouri Southern, tallying another pick and two more fumble recoveries.
Cody Alexander has three interceptions, including one he returned 81 yards for a score in the victory over Northeastern State, and is fifth among the Blue Tigers with 41 tackles. Hasan Muhammad-Rogers has two fumble recoveries and a pick, while Piere' Jones has broken up three passes and has a fumble recovery to go with 13 tackles, and Quan Mason has three QB hurries and a safety.
Bri'on Sanders, who has forced three fumbles, has 47 tackles on the year while Chavon Gross, who has three picks and a forced fumble, leads the team with 57. Thomas Burton has forced two fumbles and notched 20 tackles, and Cody Bagby has a fumble recovery while Vontavious Thacker has a pick-six. Thacker also has 46 tackles while TeAndre Skinner is next with 44.
SPECIAL TEAMS - Reagan Harrell has had 12 punts pin opponents inside their 20-yard line and four kicks travel at least 50 yards, including one which went 71 yards, and averages 38.4 yards per kick. On kickoffs, Javier Moreno is averaging 52.0 yards while, in the return game, the Blue Tigers are led by Muhammad-Rogers with 17.9 yards on kickoffs and 4.8 yards on punts.
FORT HAYS STATE AT A GLANCE
Fort Hays State boasts the third-ranked scoring defense in the MIAA, allowing just 23.1 points per contest, and is in the top-three in the league in total offense (452.5), passing (314.3), pass defense (211.3) and sacks allowed (seven). FHSU has picked off 10 passes in 2019, the second-most in the conference, but have forced and recovered only three fumbles.
Leading the way for the Tiger defense is Drew Harvey with 69 tackles, including 7.5 for loss and a pair of sacks. Tanner Hoekman has 3.5 tackles for loss and 67 tackles while Jordan Starks is next with 64 takedowns. Isaiah Creal-Musgray leads the team with seven passes broken up, and Sheldon Schmidt has 4.5 tackles for loss with a team-high three sacks.
Chance Fuller, who was honored as the MIAA's Offensive Player of the Week each of the past two weeks, has 2,452 passing yards, an average of 306.5 per game. He has 25 touchdowns against just four interceptions and owns a 162.5 passer rating on the season. Harley Hazlett is his top target with 57 catches for 673 yards and eight scores, and Manny Ramsey has six touchdown grabs and 596 yards while Layne Bieberle has 28 receptions for 596 yards. On the ground, Charles Tigner has rushed for 643 yards and four of FHSU's seven rushing touchdowns.
Dante Brown is one of the MIAA's best field goal kickers with 14 makes, including a long of 51 yards. Benjamin Donald averages 38.4 yards on punts with 11 landing in the 20. Bieberle is averaging 8.2 yards on punt returns while Te'Corey Tutson averages 26.5 on kickoffs.
THE COACHES
Malik Hoskins was elevated to the position of interim head coach after spending the past two seasons serving as Lincoln's offensive coordinator. This is Hoskins' second stint as an interim head coach, as he held that title at Lane in 2015. Before coming to Lincoln, Hoskins coached at Bacone, where he worked with six offensive players who earned some form of all-conference recognition. In 2018, Hoskins was selected to attend the NCAA/NFL Coaches Academy due to his commitment to player development.
Chris Brown was tabbed the MIAA Coach of the Year in both 2017 and 2018 and has coached 25 All-Americans in nine seasons at Fort Hays State. Brown has led the Tigers to the postseason in each of the past four years with two league championships in that span.
BROKEN RECORD: Hosea Franklin started 2019 on a record-breaking note by rushing for 251 yards against Washburn on Sept. 5. That total broke a nearly 50-year-old record, surpassing the 245 yards gained by Leo "The Lincoln Locomotive" Lewis in the early 1940s. Franklin averaged 12.6 yards per carry, the third-most by any NCAA DII player during the first week of the season.
MORE TO COME?: Hosea Franklin has already crossed the 1,000-yard threshold with 1,048 yards on the ground in 2019, and he has a few more marks in his sights. Franklin needs just 219 yards to surpass Morris Henderson's 2013 record of 1,266 rushing yards in a season. Henderson also set the record for yards per carry in a season at 6.8 in 2013. Franklin's averaging 6.4 this year.
LET'S BE FRANK: No running back in the MIAA is having a hotter season than Hosea Franklin, as the sophomore leads the conference with 131.0 yards per game. Franklin, who is the only MIAA running back averaging over 100 yards per game, also leads the conference in total rushing yards (1,048) and is fourth in all-purpose yards (137.5).
NATIONAL LEADER: Hosea Franklin ranks third in Division II in total rushing yards and fifth in rushing yards per game (131.0). Franklin, who additionally rates 22nd nationally in all-purpose yardage (137.5), is also 15th in the country in yards per carry (6.4).
NATIONAL DEFENSE: Several other Blue Tigers are rated highly in the NCAA Division II rankings, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Cody Alexander, whose 81-yard pick six rates as the eighth-longest in DII this season, is second in the nation with three fumble recoveries, and is tied with Chavon Gross for 58th nationally with three interceptions. Gross is 11th in the country in solo tackles (6.0), and Bri'on Sanders is 14th nationally with three forced fumbles.
THE RUNDOWN: Bolstered by an outstanding opening night by Hosea Franklin, LU currently boasts the sixth-best rushing attack in the MIAA. LU, which is also 41st in the nation, is averaging 192.3 yards per game on the ground. Franklin's 6.4 yards per carry are 15th nationally.
TAKE ME AWAY: Opportunistic would be the best way to describe the Lincoln defense's performance thus far in 2019, as the Blue Tigers have picked off eight passes, forced 12 fumbles and recovered 11. The 19 takeaways lead the MIAA and are the 13th-most in Division II this season, with Lincoln rating fourth nationally in fumbles recovered.
MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU: Lincoln has been sharp on fourth down on both sides of the ball, ranking fourth in the MIAA in fourth down defense and fifth in fourth downs converted. LU has allowed opponents to pick up a first down on fourth down just 37.5-percent of the time, the 41st-best mark in NCAA Division II. On the offensive side of the ball, Lincoln is 49th nationally with a 56.3-percent success rate on fourth down.
PUNT ON IT: Reagan Harrell has given Lincoln a boost as the team's punter, averaging 38.4 yards per kick with a long of 71 yards. His longest punt, achieved against Nebraska Kearney, is just five yards short of the Lincoln record of 76 yards. Harrell's average, meanwhile, ranks fifth in the MIAA and 74th in the country. Harrell has been backed up by a special teams unit that allows just 5.4 yards on punt returns, which currently stands as the 43rd-fewest in Division II.
ON THE AIR: Blue Tiger football is back on KJLU, as all six of Lincoln's home games will be broadcast this year. LU fans can also listen to three of the Blue Tigers' five road games online, as Lincoln play-by-play announcer James Stanley will provide an audiocast for the games at Washburn, Pittsburg State and at Northwest Missouri. The road games will be audiocast through Facebook Live at https://www.facebook.com/BlueTigerAthletics.
IT'S A CLASSIC: Tickets are now on sale for the Show Me Classic, a basketball game at Chaifetz Arena between Lincoln and Harris-Stowe. Visit www.lubluetigers.com/smc2019 to reserve your seats for the Nov. 22 match-up.
GEAR UP FOR THE GAME: LU fans can get everything they need for the game at www.BlueTigersStore.com, the official online store for LU athletics. Everything from jerseys to office supplies can be found on the site, with a portion of all sales going to benefit Lincoln athletics.
UP NEXT: Lincoln plays its final road game of 2019 next Saturday (Nov. 9) as the Blue Tigers visit Warrensburg, Mo. to play Central Missouri.
