Oct. 31, 2009 (TOPEKA, Kan.) – The Truman football team mustered just 136 yards of total offense on Saturday afternoon, as the Washburn Ichabods dealt the Bulldogs a 37-7 setback in week 10 of the 2009 season.
WU (7-3, 5-3 MIAA) returned the opening kickoff to the Bulldog 46-yard line and scored five plays later when Brad Haug punched in a one-yard score to give the Ichabods a 7-0 lead less than two minutes in to the game. WU added a field goal later in the quarter to take a 10-0 lead through the first 15 minutes.
After another WU field goal on its first possession of the second quarter, the Bulldogs (1-9, 0-8 MIAA) crossed midfield only to have a Phillip Davis pass intercepted and returned to the Truman 28-yard line. From there, the Ichabods ran five times around an incomplete pass before scoring a TD and moving ahead 20-0. WU would add another score late in the half on a three-play, 86-yard drive after a Truman punt to take a 27-0 lead to the half. Vershon Moore logged a 71-yard run down to the 1-yard line to set up Justin Cooper’s second rushing score of the day.
Following 10 more Ichabod points in the third, Truman mounted its only scoring drive of the day aided by Albert Coker’s 71-yard kickoff return to the WU 23-yard line. Backed up to 4th-and-13 at the start of the drive, the Bulldogs benefited from a pass interference call which resulted in an automatic first down at Ichabod 17 before another WU penalty set up 1st-and-goal for Truman at the WU 6. Anton Bernard rushed two times to find pay-dirt and get the Bulldogs on the board with 50 seconds to play in the third quarter.
From there, neither team found much offensive production, leading to the 37-7 final tally.
Truman picked up just nine first downs on the day against a Washburn defense that held the ’Dog offense to 136 total yards. WU meanwhile garnered 510 yards of total offense, including 363 on the ground.
Defensively, the Bulldogs forced two Ichabod turnovers, winning the turnover battle by one, and recorded two sacks while the Truman offensive line protected Davis by not allowing a single sack of their own.
Davis went 6-of-14 for 48 yards and had one interception, with Coker being the top wide-out on the afternoon with a pair of catches for 24 yards. Vanness Emokpae, coming off back-to-back 100+ yard performances in the backfield, was held to 31 yards on 15 carries but completed two passes out of the wildcat formation.
Truman’s pass defense held a pair of Washburn QB’s to just 147 yards of passing, but the Ichabod backfield, led by Moore’s 17 carries for 227 yards, rushed for 363 net yards on 46 total carries.
Both Michael Elliott and Richie Schumacher recorded double-digit sacks for Truman, with Elliott adding a 36-yard interception return to his numbers. Eric Sternberg got to the WU QB once behind the line, picking up one sack to add to his MIAA-leading 10.5 on the season.
Truman punter Eric Phillips had seven punts for a nearly 37-yard average, headlined by a long of 49.
The Bulldogs will be back in action for the final game of the 2009 regular season next Saturday at Stokes Stadium for a showdown with Pittsburg State. The Senior Day game will begin at 1 pm.