No. 16 Missouri Western (5-1, 2-1) at Truman State (1-4, 1-2)

When Western

has the ball

Even in a loss to No. 6 Northwest Missouri State last week, Missouri Western’s offense showed its ability to move the football. Western averages 43.2 points per game, which is second in the nation. Griffons quarterback Drew Newhart leads the league in passing efficiency, giving the team an MIAA-best rating of 181.1. Although injuries have taken away senior wide receiver Andrew Mead, tight ends Billy Babcock and David Fowler and sidelined reserve wide receiver T.J. Fannin, the Griffons still have plenty of targets for Newhart. Chief among them is senior Cedric Houston, who leads the MIAA in receiving yards per game with (95.17) and in scoring, ranks second in all-purpose yardage and also leads the nation with 11 touchdown passes. The senior caught seven passes, including one touchdown, last week against Northwest. Complementing Houston is surprising freshman Tyron Crockum, who is tied with Houston for the team lead in receptions with 28. Adam Clausen has done an excellent job covering for Mead, who has been out with a concussion, and he has caught 27 passes. All three rank in the conference’s top 10. Western features two hard-driving running backs in Thomas Hodges and Michael Hill, who share the load nearly equally. Hodges is the No. 4 rusher in the conference, averaging 76.5 yards per game. Truman is dead last in the 10-team conference in scoring defense, allowing 37.5 points per game. The Bulldogs are ninth in the MIAA in total defense, giving up 408.3 yards per outing.

Advantage: Western

When TRUMAN

has the ball

The Bulldogs like to spread the field and do a lot of things on offense, but the approach has yet to deliver results. Truman is last in scoring offense (16.8 points per game), last in passing offense (162.2 yards per game and last in rushing offense (113.5 yards per game, leaving no doubt where the Bulldogs rank in total offense. The personnel has been changing. Phillip Davis, who played the first three games (including a 54-7 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State), has given way to Taylor Breen, who has completed only 31 percent of his passes (13 of 42, with two interceptions). And last Saturday, Caleb Roberts took over after an injury to Breen. The team’s top receiver is Vanness Emokpae, who is averaging 32.3 yards per game. He leads the team with 14 receptions, while Anthony Brown has 12. On the ground, Davis leads the Bulldogs’ statistical chart with 36.2 yards per game, and Donald Harvey averages 27.7 yards per outing. Western’s defense got smacked around a bit against MIAA leader Northwest last Saturday, and today’s game could be a good bounceback test.

Advantage: Western

Special Teams

While his accuracy is not always there, nobody can doubt the strength of Western place-kicker Brad Beckwith’s leg. His game-winning 53-yarder as time expired three weeks ago against Washburn is a school record. Beckwith is third in the conference in extra-point kicks at 97.1 percent (34 of 35), with his only miss coming four weeks ago at Fort Hays State. Truman’s place-kicker, Mickey Masucci, is among the more experienced in the league, and has made 5 of 7 attempts this season. Both Truman’s Phil Kenney (19.9-yard average) and Western’s Cedric Houston (19.4) are in the top 10 in kick returns.

Advantage: Even

Notable

Truman leads the series 15-11, and is just 5-8 in games played at Stokes Stadium. ...Last season at Spratt Stadium, the Griffons needed a 22-yard field goal from Dustin Strickler with three seconds remaining to manage a 33-32 victory on Senior Day. ...Truman State is adjusting to a new head coach in Aaron Vlcko, who took over as the interim head coach this season after spending the previous four seasons as the team’s offensive coordinator.

Players to Watch

Ian Thompson, Western cornerback — The junior is coming off an excellent performance against Northwest in which he recorded nine tackles, including one for a lost of three yards. He forced a fumble and recovered it, and he also broke up a pass.

Caleb Roberts, Truman quarterback — After starter Taylor Breen was knocked out of the game early in the second quarter last weekend against Central Missouri, Roberts, a redshirt freshman, completed 9 of 12 passes for 110 yards and rushed eight times for 32 yards. That may be enough to win him today’s starting job.

— RICK DUNAWAY