WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Oct. 4, 2017) - Central Missouri Mules Football heads to Kearney, Nebraska with the hopes of getting back in the win column this week.
OPPONENT: Nebraska-Kearney (2-3, 2-3 MIAA)
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 7 - 2 p.m.
WHERE: Kearney, Neb. - Cope Stadium at Foster Field
ON THE AIR
• The game will be broadcast on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com with Greg Hassler calling the action. The Tailgate Show will begin at 12:50 p.m. on the UCM Sports Network.
• The game will also be webcast online through Central Missouri's Blueframe Internet portal at http://www.themiaanetwork.com/ucmmules/. It is a pay-per-view webcast. MIAA Network content is available live via live DVR and is immediately archived for on-demand viewing after each event.
• All MIAA football games are also available for viewing on The MIAA Network Apps for Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku.
KICKOFF
• Central Missouri looks to put last week's loss behind them as they travel to Kearney, Neb. to take on the Lopers Saturday, Oct. 7 at 2 p.m.
• The Mules nearly pulled off a miracle for the second straight week, taking the lead with 34 seconds left to play, but the Bearcats drove 68 yards in 27 seconds to retake the lead and hold on for a wild win.
• The Lopers have already won more games than the last two seasons combined. UNK went 1-22 the last two years but are already 2-3 to start off 2017.
• In the preseason coaches and media polls, UCM was selected to finish third in both, which would match their place from a year ago. Nebraska-Kearney was picked last in both.
• Central Missouri finished 2016 at 4-1 on the road last year, with their only loss coming in the NCAA Playoffs against Harding. UCM is 26-15 all time on the road with Coach Svoboda on the sidelines.
• The Mules are yet to lose at home this season having gone 2-0, and their last home loss came in double-OT to Emporia State back in Sept. 2016.
MULES IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
• UCM opened up the season ranked 21st in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) preseason poll, and reached a high of 13 after week one. They fell out of the rankings and have been receiving votes in the last four polls. This week they fell a bit in the "receiving votes" category from a would-be 26th to 32nd.
• Under head coach
Jim Svoboda the Mules have been ranked in the AFCA Poll 30 times and have been ranked in the top 10 a total of five times.
• Central Missouri had been ranked in ever d2football.com poll this season up until this week. They entered the season ranked 21st in the preseason and reached a high of 12 after their win of Pittsburg State. UCM fell from the rankings this week after being at No. 23 a week ago.
SERIES HISTORY
• The Mules have won the last four matchups with the Lopers and are 4-1 in the
Jim Svoboda era. The teams have met fewer than 10 times with 2017 being the ninth overall meeting. All-time UCM is 6-2 against Nebraska-Kearney and 4-1 since they joined the MIAA.
LAST MEETING WITH NEBRASKA-KEARNEY
• The Mules jumped out to a 30-point lead against the Lopers, scoring 27 points in the first half. UNK scored their first touchdown in the fourth quarter, but the Mules won easily 36-16 to move to 4-2 on the season.
•
Garrett Fugate threw four touchdown passes in the games and connected on 15-of-22 passes for 297 yards.
Justus McMullen scored twice, his only two receptions of the game and went for over 100 yards.
• The defense added eight points of their own recording a safety as UNK fell on a fumble in their own endzone and
Jackson Newman returned an interception 33 yards for a score in the second quarter.
ABOUT THE LOPERS
• Nebraska-Kearney won their last game 16-6 on the road against Missouri Southern. The Lopers went up 16-0 with a touchdown in the fourth quarter and a touchdown run with under five minutes left to play ended the shutout threat. The Lopers are 2-3 this season after their win last weekend and a win in their opener against Missouri Western.
• Like the Bearcats, the Lopers also have a new coach. Josh Lynn is in his first season with the Lopers after spending five years at Eastern New Mexico and a year with the New Mexico Military Institute.
• Lynn replaces former Mules Offensive Coordinator Josh Lamberson who joined former Northwest Missouri head coach Adam Dorrel at Abilene Christian this past offseason.
• The Lopers have one of the worst scoring offenses in the MIAA. The team is averaging just 14.2 points per game and have scored more than 20 points just once this season in addition to being shut out against Northwest Missouri State. They are being held up by their defense though, one of just six teams in the MIAA allowing fewer than 30 points per game. They are holding opponents to just 25.8 points. Most of that damage came in losses to Emporia State and Washburn where they gave up 45 and 60 points, respectively.
• Nebraska-Kearney will rely on the legs of running back Thomas Russell. Russell leads the league with 106 rushing attempts which is also ninth in Division II. Last week at Missouri Southern, Russell carried the ball 39 times, the most in the MIAA since 2011. Russell's 401 rushing yards are the fourth most in the MIAA. He's averaging 3.8 yards per carry and has three touchdowns.
• The Lopers run the ball because their passing offense leaves a lot to be desired. Quarterback Steve Worthing averages just 134.8 yards per game, ninth in the MIAA. He's completed 54 passes for 109 yards and five touchdowns. He's also thrown two interceptions. Worthing is completing just 49.5% of his passes, lowest in the MIAA and his 113.0 efficiency rating is 10th.
• Worthing is however the Lopers second leading rusher. He has 221 yards on the ground this season on 58 attempts.
• His favorite target this year has been none other than, Thomas Russell. Russell leads the team with eight receptions. Alex Harms and Sedarius Young each have over 100 receiving yards for the season. Harms has 140 on seven catches while Young checks in with 134 on six for an average of 22.3 yards per catch, which is third in the MIAA.
• Young has also been the team's top return man. He's taken five kickoffs out and has 77 total yards for an average of 15.4. Darrien Daniels has 42 yards on a pair of returns.
• The Lopers have attempted six field goals this season and made only one, a 21-yarder last week against Missouri Southern. Brendan Wentling is 1-5 on attempts and Treygan Gowen is 0-1.
• Grant Buschkoetter averages more than six punts per game. His 36.1 average is is 12th in the MIAA. He's got four kicks of 50+ yards and has landed nine inside the 20.
• Nebraska-Kearney has picked off four passes this season, including two from Malik Webb. On both of his interceptions, Webb has returned them at least 40 yards the opposite direction including one for a touchdown.
• The Lopers are on the losing end of the turnover battle committing six, four fumbles while taking away just five.
• Sal Silvio is the team's leading tackler with 42 including seven for a loss. He's also got 2.5 sacks and an interception and fumble recovery.
• The Loper defense is second in the league in sacks with 17. Four defenders have 2.5 sacks on the year and 12 have recorded at least 0.5 sacks.
• UNK has picked up just 74 first downs in five games which is next to last in the MIAA. They are also converting just 27% of their third down attempts, 10th in the league, but they are second, holding opponents to just a 30.7% success rate on third down.
LAST TIME OUT
• Central Missouri has played exciting football the last two weeks, there's no doubt about that. After a crazy ending to upset No. 15 Emporia State two weeks ago, the Mules nearly went 2-for-2 in upsets but fell agonizingly short short against No. 1 Northwest Missouri.
• The Bearcats first score came on a 30 yard interception return in the opening quarter when Jacob Gassman stepped in front
Jovante Siglar and ripped the ball away for the pick.
• Northwest added a touchdown at the start of the second quarter to take a 14-0 lead and it looked like the Mules might be in for a long afternoon.
•
Alex Langer connected on two field goals, a 29-yarder at the end of the first half and a 34-yarder to start the second.
• Then the Mules struck quick, a 61-yard pass from
Brook Bolles to his tight end
Seth Hebert made it a one-point game, 14-13.
• NWMSU added a 34-yard field goal at the beginning of the fourth quarter and that's when things slowed down until the closing minute.
• Both teams turned the ball over, but neither could capitalize. On what appeared to be the Mules final drive of the game, Bolles took them 84 yards on eight played in 2:28 and found
Kyrion Parker for an eight-yard score to give UCM their first lead, 20-17 with just 34 seconds left to play.
• The Mules defense which had played extremely well to that point, allowed Bearcat receiver Shawn Bane to get behind them for a 47-yard gain down to the UCM seven yard line. Two plays later, Bearcat quarterback Zach Martin found Jordan Bishop for the game-winning touchdown with just seven seconds to play.
• The Mules got the ball back with seven seconds, but didn't have another miracle in them as the Bearcats walked out of Arrowhead with a 24-20 win.
MULES ALL TIME RECORDS
• Mules wide receiver
Jaylen Zachery continues to move up in UCM's all-time ranks. With two catches and 45 yards against the Bearcats, he moved closer to the all-time record at UCM in receptions (144) and receiving yards for a career (2,280). He needs just two more receptions to become the all-time leader in receptions and 73 yards to become the all time leader in receiving yards. He has also moved up to sixth all time with 4,016 all purpose yards, becoming the sixth Mule to ever reach 4,000 career all-purpose yards.
• Zachery isn't the only Mule to move into UCM history.
Diaron Rhodes continues to add to his all-time pass break-ups record. He added three more against Northwest and now has 27 for his career. Hot on his tails though is
Monteze Latimore who has 22 and is third all-time.
THE MULES IN MIAA PLAY
• The Mules finished 9-2 in conference play in 2016 and placed third in the league standings for the second consecutive season.
• UCM now stands at 52-23 in conference games under
Jim Svoboda.
• At 3-2 the Mules are one of just five teams with a winning record in the MIAA. They are currently tied for fourth-place with Missouri Western.
THE MULES AT HOME
• The Mules went 5-1 at home in 2016 and are 31-9 at home under
Jim Svoboda, and winners of six straight
• The Mules are 236-183-13 overall in their 86th season playing home games at Walton Stadium/Kennedy Field.
THE MULES ON THE ROAD
• Central Missouri is 27-15 in road games during the
Jim Svoboda era following the win over Emporia State.
• The Mules finished 2016 at 4-1 away from Warrensburg. They went a perfect 4-0 in true road games.
WHEN LEADING AT THE HALF
• The Mules are 46-7 during the
Jim Svoboda era when leading at halftime, however they are yet to go into the break this year with a lead.
• The Mules are 10-19 all-time under Svoboda and 2-2 to start 2017 when trailing at halftime after the win against the Hornets. UCM is yet to go into the break with a lead, trailing in four and were tied with Missouri Western after 30 minutes.
21 AND UP
• UCM is 57-12 under
Jim Svoboda when scoring at least 21 points.
• When scoring 30 or more points, UCM is 55-6 during the Svoboda era and 31-1 when scoring 40 or more points.
SCORING STREAK CONTINUES
• Despite facing the nations top-ranked defense, the Mules scored 20 points, the most the Bearcats have allowed this season to keep their MIAA record streak of consecutive games without being shutout intact and improve to 285 games.
• The streak dates back to week three of the 1991 season.
2017 MIAA AND NCAA STAT LEADERS
• The Mules deploy two of the top-10 rushers in the league in a pair of redshirt-freshmen,
Devante Turner and
Koby Wilkerson. Turner is third in the MIAA with 403 yards and leads the league and is eighth in Division II averaging 7.5 yards per carry. Teammate
Koby Wilkerson has 282 rushing yards and is eighth in the MIAA. Turner's four rushing TD's also tie him for sixth.
•
Brook Bolles is have moved up to second in the MIAA and 18th in Division II in passing yards per game with 290.6. He threw for a career-high 358 yards and two touchdowns against the Hornets and followed that up with 309 yards against Northwest Missouri.
• Three Mules are in the league's top-20 in receptions.
Jaylen Zachery, who caught eight passes at ESU is tenth with 22. He is also seventh in the MIAA with 365 receiving yards.
Seth Hebert has 16 catches and
Kyrion Parker 15 to rank 18th and 20th.
• The Mules' 13 sacks are the third most in the MIAA.
Kolesen Crane and
Dylan Albertson each have two.
Monteze Latimore and Josh Terry each have six passed defended which is tied for fifth and
Diaron Rhodes has five, three coming against Northwest.
• Punter
Zach Davidson remains third in the NCAA and second in the MIAA in punting average. On 28 attempts, he is averaging 45.5 yards per kick with eight kicks of 50+ yards and nine inside the 20. He only trails NCAA and MIAA leader Dante Brown of Fort Hays State by 0.2 yards per kick.
•
Alex Langer is averaging 1.8 field goals made per game, the most in the MIAA and fifth most in the NCAA. He's connected on nine attempts which is the ninth most in Division II.
AROUND THE MIAA
• Both Northwest Missouri and Fort Hays State are the only unbeaten's left in the MIAA. The Bearcats play Central Oklahoma while the Tigers host Pittsburg State this week.
• The MIAA has two teams ranked in the AFCA top-25 and the Mules and now Washburn are receiving votes. Northwest Missouri remained number one and Fort Hays State continued to move up and are now at No. 11. Washburn is receiving votes for the first time this season.
• Additional matchups this weekend sees Lindenwood at Missouri Western, Missouri Southern at Washburn, Northeastern State and at Emporia State.
A WIN OVER NEBRASKA-KEARNEY WOULD...
• Be their fifth straight over the Lopers.
• Stop a losing streak from getting started.
• Move the Mules to 4-2 following a loss dating back to 2015.
• Move UCM to 4-2 this season.
A LOSS TO NEBRASKA-KEARNEY WOULD...
• Be their first loss to UNK since 2012 when they entered the league.
• Give the Mules a two-game losing streak for the first time this season.
• Be their first loss to an unranked team since losing to Emporia State last season.
• Drop the Mules to 3-3, which would be latest in a season they have been .500 or below since 2013.
MULES FOOTBALL HISTORY
• In the 120 seasons of UCM Football the Mules have compiled a 554-510-51 (.520) record in 1,115 total games.
• The Mules have won 10 or more games three times in the history of the program and have posted 12 seasons of eight or more wins.
• UCM won a school-record 11 games in
Jim Svoboda's first season in 2010.
• UCM has won or shared 12 MIAA championships in school history with the last coming in 2003.
• The Mules have qualified for the postseason eight times in their history, including two trips to the NCAA-II Playoffs, the last coming in 2016.
SVOBODA AT THE HELM
• Central Missouri head coach
Jim Svoboda has a record of 59-27 (.686) during his seven-plus seasons leading the Mules. He has led the Mules to three postseason appearances.
• He is third on UCM's career wins list.
• Svoboda's .686 winning percentage is the fourth highest for a UCM coach.
• UCM posted the second most wins in a two-year span in school history in Svoboda's first two seasons.
• The Mules appeared in the postseason in each of Svoboda's first two seasons. UCM made the NCAA-II Playoffs in year one under Svoboda and earned a bid to the Kanza Bowl in his second season. It is just the second time in school history that Mules Football has made back-to-back postseason appearances.
• UCM hosted the first ever playoff game in school history and won the school's first two playoff games in Svoboda's first season in 2010.
• The Mules have set or tied 84 school offensive records and 21 MIAA offensive records during Svoboda's tenure.
• The Mules became the first team in NCAA-II history to have a 5,000-yard passer (Eric Czerniewski) and a 1,000-yard rusher (Anthony Stewart) in the same season when they accomplished that feat in 2010.
MULES IN THE PROS
• There is one former Mule currently on an NFL roster. Tight end Delanie Walker is in his 12th season in the league and his fifth with the Tennessee Titans. Walker signed a four-year deal with the Titans, and a two-year extension through 2018, after playing in Super Bowl XLVII with San Francisco.
• Walker finished 2016 with 65 receptions for 800 yards and seven touchdowns, and has 405 catches for 4,814 yards with 31 touchdowns in his career.
• In 2015, he caught 94 passes for 1,088 yards, his first career 1,000 receiving yard season, and six touchdowns and was selected to his first Pro Bowl. He made the Pro Bowl for a second consecutive year in 2016 as well.
• Walker was inducted into the UCM Athletics Hall of Fame in February 2015.
• In the Titans first three games this season, Walker has 18 catches for 219 yards.
A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE IN ATHLETICS
• Central Missouri has won a combined 211 MIAA regular season conference championships in 14 league sports to lead all schools.
• Last season, UCM captured three MIAA regular season titles, one MIAA Tournament crown and two NCAA Regional Championships.
• Since 1983, the tenure of Athletic Director
Jerry Hughes, UCM has won or shared 157 MIAA championships, more than any other league school.
• Central Missouri has won eight national championships during Hughes' tenure (men's and women's basketball in 1984, baseball in 1994 and 2003, women's bowling in 2003, men's basketball in 2014, and women's indoor and outdoor track & field in 2015) and 10 national championships overall.
• In 2016-17, Central Missouri won the inaugural MIAA's Commissioner's Cup trophy for the conference's top overall athletic department.
A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE IN THE CLASSROOM
• Central Missouri had 252 student-athletes named to the 2016-17 MIAA Academic Honor Roll with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher.
• 22 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Scholar Athletes with at least a 3.5 GPA and having earned all-MIAA honors in their respective sport.
• 20 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Academic Excellence Award winners with a 4.0 GPA.
• UCM had five student-athletes earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in their respective sports.
• All-time UCM is fourth in NCAA-II with 103 Academic All-Americans.
•
Carly Thomas of Jennies Bowling was awarded prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships last year.
UP NEXT
• Homecoming! The Mules return home for just the third time all season when they host Missouri Southern for homecoming. Kickoff for the October 14th game is set for 1:30 pm with naming of the homecoming court to occur at halftime and a pregame parade of floats down Holden Street.
