Turnovers haunted the Lincoln Blue Tigers for a second straight week.
Lincoln's four turnovers Saturday led to three touchdowns for the Truman State Bulldogs, who spoiled the Blue Tigers' Homecoming with a 41-14 win in Great Lakes Valley Conference play at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.
"My biggest thing is I'm tired of repeating myself about the turnovers and (players) not doing what we're asking them to do," Lincoln coach Steven Smith said. "My solution to that is to change the personnel.
"To be a winner, you have to do what the coaches are asking you to do."
Truman State (1-3, 1-1 GLVC) wasted little time getting on the scoreboard first, needing just four plays to move the ball 73 yards. Dante Ruffin caught a 34-yard pass from Jaden Barr to start the game, then Jordan Salima ran the ball inside the Lincoln 5-yard line with a 38-yard carry.
Salima finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Danny Spencer added the extra point to give Truman State a 7-0 lead just 1:47 into the game.
After punting on its first two possessions, Lincoln then had back-to-back turnovers on a pair of fumbles.
The first fumble led to a 26-yard touchdown run by Salima, who finished with a game-high 16 carries for 148 yards. The second fumble, which occurred inside Lincoln's 20, turned into a 1-yard keeper by Barr, his second rushing touchdown of the season. That gave Truman State a 21-0 lead with :12.9 remaining in the first quarter.
"We just wanted to have a huge team effort," said Barr, formerly an all-state quarterback at California High School. "That's been the theme since the beginning of the year, and it really hasn't changed. If we come out and do what we're asked - compete to the best of our ability - we feel like the ball's going to eventually start rolling our way. It did today."
Lincoln (1-3, 0-2 GLVC) failed to cross midfield on its first five possessions. It took a momentum-shifting play for the Blue Tigers to catch their first break.
Truman State's Brock Rohler faked a punt from the Bulldog 40-yard line on fourth-and-7, racing toward the right sideline. Rohler was met by Lincoln's Miles Drummond, who lifted the punter in the air and slammed him to the ground two yards shy of a first down.
"That was a great play by Miles," Smith said. "He took on the blocker, and the blocker thought we cut him, and he still (got by him). The key part to it is he came in and made the play the way you're supposed to make the play."
Lincoln drove the ball 45 yards on eight plays, finishing with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Eugene Sainterling to Blake Tibbs just inside the front left pylon. Wolky Belancourt added the extra point and Lincoln cut Truman State's lead to 21-7 with 5:04 left in the first half.
The score would remain the same until halftime, and the Blue Tigers received the opening kick to start the second half. Lincoln had three pass plays for at least 15 yards on that drive, then capped it with a 14-yard touchdown run by Kimbo Ferguson to trim the deficit to single digits at 21-14 with 11:23 left in the third quarter.
"I thought we were one stop away from a tie ballgame," Smith said. "We had a chance to be disciplined and overcome what we did."
Truman State scored less than a minute later on a 44-yard run by Salima. On Lincoln's next possession, Sainterling had a pass picked off by Jordan Siegel, who returned the interception 64 yards for a touchdown. Instead of getting a key stop, Lincoln fell further behind and trailed Truman State 34-14 with 3:55 to go in the third quarter.
Truman State's final score came on the first play of the fourth quarter, a 27-yard pass from Barr to a wide-open Jake Ellis across the middle to make it a four-possession game.
"It's very hard to overcome turnovers, and we just couldn't get it going," Smith said.
Sainterling finished 27-of-38 passing for 198 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Lincoln finished with 95 yards rushing, led by Terry Hunter with five carries for 44 yards.
Barr was 8-of-12 passing for 80 yards and one touchdown. He added five carries for 25 yards before leaving the game early in the fourth quarter with a big lead.
"The O-line did great and I don't know if I got hit all day, so that's a good day for a quarterback," Barr said.
Lincoln has a bye next Saturday and returns to action Oct. 7 on the road against Albany (Ga.) State, where Smith was an offensive coordinator prior to coming to Lincoln. Albany State (2-2), which was ranked as high as No. 16 earlier this season in the AFCA Division II poll, lost 48-16 to West Georgia on Saturday.
The bye week comes at an ideal time for the Blue Tigers, who are working through some injuries to get back to full strength.
"We have a few guys that we have to look at and see what's going on," Smith said. "We have to make sure we're getting better."
III
Lincoln's loss Saturday extends its streak to 24 consecutive losses in GLVC play. The Blue Tigers' last conference win came Sept. 20, 2014, in a 42-13 victory against Quincy. Freshman fullback Jake Burnett (Helias High School) had his first collegiate rushing attempt Saturday, gaining six yards early in the fourth quarter against Truman State. Freshman defensive back Cody Alexander (Blair Oaks High School) had a solo stop on the game's opening kickoff, giving him three total tackles this season.