Lincoln prepares for month of away games

Lincoln quarterback Henry Ogala throws a pass during last Saturday afternoon's game against Quincy at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.
Lincoln quarterback Henry Ogala throws a pass during last Saturday afternoon's game against Quincy at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.

The Lincoln Blue Tigers are going to be packing their bags for the next month.

Lincoln opens a four-game road trip today against the Truman State Bulldogs in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. Kickoff is at 2 p.m. at Stokes Stadium in Kirksville.

The Blue Tigers have just four home games on the schedule this year. They are coming off a 14-13 Homecoming loss last Saturday to Quincy.

"We just didn't play well, skill-wise," Lincoln coach Steven Smith said. "We didn't play well at all. We didn't put ourselves in a position to make the plays that we needed to make.

"We have to put our run game and our pass game together offensively to be successful, and we can't give up the explosion plays."

Smith said he was pleased with Lincoln's run game, but the passing game left more to be desired. Aside from a 52-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the third quarter, the Blue Tigers only had 96 additional yards passing from quarterback Henry Ogala.

"We're making sure our techniques (are proper), making the plays, knowing our reads, knowing where the ball has to go," Smith said. "That's the key. We missed on a lot of points last week, we left 21 (out there) in the first half. I'm talking about wide-open guys who are our first read, and we didn't take the throw, or we threw the ball in the ground."

Truman State (3-3, 2-0 GLVC) has seen significant improvement offensively the past few weeks. The Bulldogs are coming off a 45-38 road win last Saturday at McKendree.

"They've been very successful, as far as their last three games," Smith said. "They started out 0-3 and now they've really come together these last three games."

Truman State had a season-high 311 yards rushing against McKendree.

"They did a good job of running the football and throwing it," Smith said. "They just kept continuing to put the pressure on, they didn't give up.

"They played very sound, and it's the best team that plays the most sound at the end of the day that wins."

The Bulldogs' turnaround has been led by redshirt junior quarterback Jaden Barr, a 2015 California High School graduate. Barr has thrown eight interceptions this season, but just two have come during Truman State's three-game win streak. He is also averaging better than 100 yards rushing during the streak.

For the season, Barr has accumulated 824 yards passing (87-of-162) with three touchdowns. He also leads the Bulldogs' rushing attack with 74 carries for 526 yards and five touchdowns.

Lincoln (2-4, 1-2 GLVC) faced a running quarterback in the season opener against Lane College. Smith said Barr is more disciplined than Lane's Marcus Reynolds.

"We've seen running quarterbacks before, and they've had some success on it and some haven't had so much success on us," Smith said. "Our defense has been stout and is playing pretty well. They didn't give up the explosion plays in the run game. They gave up the explosion plays in the passing game."

Junior running back Jordan Salima gives the Bulldogs a strong 1-2 punch in the backfield. Salima has 360 yards rushing this season, but 134 came in last week's win.

"He's quick and he gets out of there," Smith said. "We just have to be sound in what we do. We're fast up front, we're fast in the middle in our linebacker and (defensive back) positions. We've got to be able to count on everything that they're doing."

Barr has completed passes to 14 different players this season. Senior wide receiver Mitch Nichols leads the Bulldogs with 173 yards receiving and a touchdown, while sophomore tight end Jake Ellis has caught the other two touchdown passes.

"They spread the ball around," Smith said. "It's not just one solid guy that is their guy."

Truman State is scoring 25.5 points per game while allowing an average 25.7 points.

The Bulldogs' defense is led by junior linebacker Bryan Edwards, who has a team-high 43 tackles. He has recorded at least six tackles in each game.

"They're fast up front," Smith said. "(Edwards) plays pretty well. He's a solid linebacker, he's a bigger linebacker."

Junior defensive lineman Sam Reeves had 8 tackles for loss and six sacks, while redshirt senior D'Anthony Knight has seven pass breakups.

Knight is one of three defensive backs that are in the top four in tackling for Truman State.

"They let people in the secondary, so that's a good thing," Smith said. " They've given up some yardage run game-wise, so we've got to continue to succeed run game-wise and be even more consistent."

Kimbo Ferguson had his second consecutive 100-yard rushing performance last week against Quincy, finishing with a team-high 102 yards on the ground.

"I'm proud of what the O-line has been doing well in the run game," Smith said.

"We have to continue to be consistent in the run game, getting even better each week as we go. It takes the pressure off the quarterback, and Henry just has to play a good game."

Truman State also has the reigning GLVC special teams player of the week. Sophomore Lawrence Woods returned an 89-yard kick for a touchdown last week, his third return TD of the season. That breaks both a Truman State and GLVC single-season record.

"Our kickoff team has been very successful," Smith said. "We had one mishap against Indy where we gave up the touchdown because we didn't get to our spot.

"Our guys have done a good job over the last six games and I continue seeing them doing a good job over the next five games. It's all about running and tackling, so as long as we do what we're supposed to do, I think we'll be fine."

III

Truman State leads the overall series 23-4-1 against Lincoln. The Bulldogs won last year's game 41-14 at Dwight T. Reed Stadium. Gregg Nesbitt is in his ninth season as head coach at Truman State. Nesbitt, who won a Class 5 state championship with Hickman in 2004, guided the Bulldogs to their first GLVC title in 2016. Ferguson will be the starting running back for Lincoln today as freshman Hosea Franklin recovers from knee surgery.

Related Media: Lincoln Blue Tigers Football Podcast [Truman State preview, Oct. 13, 2018]