Complete Game Notes
Game 9: Lincoln (1-7, 0-6 GLVC) at Truman State (4-4, 3-2 GLVC)
Date/Time: Saturday, Nov. 2 - 12:00 p.m.
Location: Kirksville, Mo.
Stadium (Capacity): Stokes Stadium (4,500)
Tickets: Available online at www.TrumanBulldogs.com
Streaming: https://www.glvcsn.com/lincolnbluetigers/
Live Stats: https://trumanbulldogs.com/sidearmstats/football
Series: Truman State leads, 24-4-1
 
THE KICKOFF 
The Lincoln football team renews a rivalry with a longtime conference opponent this weekend as the Blue Tigers travel to Kirksville, Mo. to play Truman State. Kickoff on Saturday (Nov. 2) is set for 12:00 p.m. CDT as Lincoln and Truman State, who regularly met as MIAA members from 1968 to 1988 and again as GLVC members during the 2010s, play one another for the first time since 2018.
 
Lincoln is seeking its conference win since joining the GLVC as a full member this fall. LU won the "Battle of the Lincolns," 40-14, against Lincoln (CA) on Oct. 5, but have since dropped three games. This will be the final road contest of the 2024 campaign for Lincoln.
 
Truman State opened the season 0-3 but then went on a four-game win streak. The Bulldogs dropped their last contest, however, 28-21 at home to McKendree on Oct. 26.
 
QUICK HITS 
- This will be the 30th meeting between Truman State and Lincoln, with the Bulldogs leading the all-time series, 24-4-1.
 
- Lincoln won the first meeting in the series, 20-6, back in 1968. The Blue Tigers won four of the first six meetings, but Truman State has dominated the series since 1974.
 
- A victory for Lincoln would give the Blue Tiger multiple wins in a season for the first time since 2018.
 
- A Blue Tiger win would be the first for Lincoln against a conference opponent since Oct. 19, 2019, when LU beat Northeastern State, 27-9, as a member of the MIAA.
 
- LU is seeking its first road win since defeating William Jewell, 23-14, on Oct. 20, 2018.
 
- A win for the Blue Tigers would also be their first against a GLVC opponent since 2018, when Lincoln won in Liberty, Mo. against William Jewell, 23-14. That was the last season LU played as an associate member of the league.
 
- Lincoln is the only GLVC program that started the 2024 campaign with four-consecutive league games.
 
- The Blue Tigers enter this weekend with an all-time record of 262-503-25.
 
- Moses Harper was named the head coach of the Lincoln football team in 2024. He is in his first season leading the Blue Tigers and has both an overall and program record of 1-7 entering this week.
 
- Lincoln, which was a full member of the MIAA for 26 years (overall), is joining the GLVC in 2024. The Blue Tigers, who were an associate member of the GLVC from 2014-18, have played in five different conferences in their 92-year history: the Midwest Athletic Association (MWAA), the Great Lakes Football Conference (GLFC), the Central States Football League (CSFL), the GLVC and the MIAA.
 
- This is the 93rd 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. Lincoln did not play a full schedule in 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions.
 
BLUE TIGERS TO WATCH
OFFENSE - Jareese Howard averages 6.9 .yards per carry and leads the Blue Tigers with 465 yards on 67 carries. Howard has four touchdown runs and Isaiah Tate, has also for 895 yards with three touchdown passes, has scored three touchdowns on the ground. As a team, LU has run for 1,297 yards for an average of 118.6 yards per contest.
 
LaMarco Yates and Kantrell Jordan have also run for touchdowns and DeMareus Hosey has gained 104 yards on 39 attempts. In the receiving game, Armani Turner averages 19.5 yards per reception while Darian Fletcher averages 22.5 yards per catch. Israel Tate leads Lincoln with 11 receptions and Turner is next with 10 while Tobias Williams and Max Rodriguez each have seven.
 
DEFENSE - Lincoln has blocked four kicks, with Ke'Ron Blankumsee returning one of those blocks 74 yards for a touchdown. Jordan Hoskins leads the Blue Tigers with 56 overall tackles while Cory Macon is next with 37, and Hoskins has made 34 solo takedowns. Jacob McGhee has a team-high 9.0 tackles for loss and Vez Carter, who has 29 total tackles, is next with 6.0 tackles for loss. Jeremiah Gill also has 28 tackles while Zenin Hall has 19.
 
Donte Moore has two sacks and scored on a 97-yard interception return against Lincoln (CA) to go with 24 tackles on the season. Rakeim Ashford has picked off three passes and broken up three others while Renard Willis has tallied 4.0 tackles for loss and two sacks. As a team, Lincoln has made 50 total tackles for loss as well as 15 sacks.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS - Mo Alwaely made 10 field goals with a long of 49 yards a year ago and is 9-for-12 this year with his longest going 50 yards. On kickoffs, Alwaely is averaging 52.7 yards. In the punting game, Clayton Winkler has had 13 kicks go at least 50 yards, 14 kicks pin opponents inside the 20, and averages 43.8 yards per kick.
 
Macon had a rare defensive two-point conversion after returning a blocked extra point 95-yards to the end zone against McKendree. Fletcher averages 16.3 yards on kickoff returns and Tobias Williams is averaging 21.2 yards with a long of 54. Fletcher has also handled punt return duties.
 
TRUMAN STATE AT A GLANCE
The Bulldogs have a balanced offense with 1,622 passing yards and 1,320 rushing yards in 2024. Dylan Hair has thrown for 1,588 yards on 124 completions with just four interceptions against 15 touchdown passes. Denim Cook leads the ground attack with 754 yards and seven scores while averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Hair has run the ball into the end zone three times and Jackson Overton also has a rushing touchdown as the Bulldogs, as a team, are averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Overton has caught eight touchdown passes while Joseph Spaulding and Kel Battle are next with two touchdown grabs apiece.
 
Brock Jones leads the Truman State defense with 52 total tackles and he has 4.5 tackles for loss with a pair of sacks and a fumble recovery. SJ Johnson has 43 tackles, Ulysses Ross has a team-high 5.5 tackles for loss and Jake Closser has intercepted two passes. Tyler Shanks, meanwhile, is tied with Jacob Carmack with 3.0 tackles for loss, and Eli Fry has two tackles for loss and a sack. Jake McCollum is next on the tackle list with 39 while Connor Baxley has made 37 takedowns.
 
Vinnie Calvaruso averages 54.8 yards on kickoffs and has made seven of his 12 field goal attempts with a long of 42 yards. Mason Gessert is averaging 33.7 yards punting with 18 kicks resulting in a fair catch and eight landing in the opponent's 20. Truman State has three touchdowns on returns, with Closser and Battle each having a score on punt returns and Jack Butchko owning a kick return TD.
 
THE COACHES
Moses Harper was named the head coach of the Blue Tigers in January and is in his first season leading the LU football program. Harper is no stranger to Missouri as he graduated from Central Methodist and has worked at both William Jewell and Missouri Western. Most recently he was the passing game coordinator and receivers coach at Nebraska Kearney, a former rival of the Blue Tigers in the MIAA.
 
Kellen Nesbitt is the interim head coach of the Bulldogs after serving the previous 14 seasons as Truman State's defensive coordinator, and he enters this weekend with a 4-4 record. His father, Greg Nesbitt, was the head coach at TSU for 14 seasons before retiring this past February. As the defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs, Kellen Nesbitt led a unit that ranked in the top-two in the GLVC in both points allowed and rushing yards allowed in nine of the past 11 seasons.
 
MOVING THEM BACKWARDS:  Lincoln has 50 total tackles for loss, with nine of those coming in the opener against Quincy and one resulting in a safety. Nationally, the Blue Tigers rank 64th in Division II in tackles for loss as well as fifth in the GLVC. Jacob McGhee has 9.0 tackles for loss on the year and individually ranks 74th in the country while Vez Carter is next with 6.0 TFL.
 
PLAY LIKE JORDAN:  Jordan Hoskins has made plays all over the field for the Lincoln defense and leads the team with 56 total tackles as well as 34 solo tackles. Hoskins has forced two fumbles to go with a fumble recovery, a pass break-up, a pair of tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries. On a national scale, Hoskins is 44th in Division II in forced fumbles, 76th in solo tackles and 101st in tackles per game (7.0).
 
THEY ARE SPECIAL:  The Blue Tigers have made their presence known on special teams, including blocking four kicks, the second-most in the GLVC and the 22nd-most in the country. Mo Alwaely's .750 field goal percentage is the 18th-best in DII and he also ranks 26th in the country in field goals made. Clayton Winkler, meanwhile, is 11th in the nation with a 43.9 punting average.
 
OTHER NATIONAL NOTES: Rakeim Ashford is 37th in the nation in interceptions per game (0.4) and 123rd in passes defended (0.9). Isaiah Tate is 50th in Division II in passing yards per completion (13.2) while Jareese Howard is 72nd nationally in rushing yards per game (66.4). As a team, Lincoln is 42nd in defensive touchdowns, 34th in fewest passes intercepted, 42nd in fewest fumbles lost, 67th in passing yards per completion and 12th in fourth down conversion defense (.308).
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:  After a big performance against William Jewell, Ke'Ron Blankumsee was named the GLVC Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 23. Blankumsee blocked a 28-yard field goal attempt by the Cardinals and, later in the game, scooped up the ball after another block and ran it back 74 yards for a Lincoln touchdown. With the honor, Blankumsee becomes the first Lincoln player to be named GLVC Special Teams Player of the Week since kicker Alex Templeton earned the distinction in 2016.
 
KICKING IT:  Clayton Winkler had a big day in LU's season opener, punting for 370 yards while averaging 46.3 yards per attempt, both of which led the GLVC through the first week of the season. Winkler currently leads the GLVC with 43.9 yards per punt, an average that also ranks 11th in NCAA Division II. Winkler's success has also led to Lincoln to ranking third in the league in net punting average (34.6).
 
TICKETS:  Like in the past two years, fans can purchase their tickets to Lincoln's home football games online. Head to http://lubluetigers.com/tickets to purchase both season and individual game tickets for the 2024 season. The season ticket package also includes parking passes for all six of Lincoln's home games.
 
JOIN THE TEAM BEHIND THE TEAM:  The Blue Tiger Athletics Club is a great way to engage with other LU fans while supporting Lincoln student-athletes. Every dollar raised by the club goes towards scholarships for students, improving campus facilities and purchasing and maintaining equipment. To become a member of the BTAC, or to learn more about the club, please visit www.LUBlueTigers.com/BTAC.
 
LU PLAYS ON KJLU:  Veteran play-by-play announcer James Stanley returns to the airwaves to provide Lincoln fans the action on the field in 2024. Stanley will call all six of LU's home games, and fans can listen to him live on 88.9 FM KJLU. Those not in the Jefferson City area can also listen to the games on KJLU's website, http://radio.securenetsystems.net/v5/KJLU.
 
...AND ONLINE:  All 11 of Lincoln's games in 2024 will stream online on the GLVC Sports Network at https://www.glvcsn.com/lincolnbluetigers. The six home games will include a simulcast of the KJLU broadcast, while the five road games will be called by the home team's radio broadcasting crew. All-season viewing packages are now available.
 
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:  The Blue Tigers step out of conference play to host fellow HBCU Lane next Saturday (Nov. 9) in a 12:00 p.m. CST contest.