Losing is not a common occurrence for the Truman State football team, but during the first two games of the season, the Bulldogs have fallen in back-to-back contests to Midwestern State University and Wayne State University.
But instead of dropping their heads, the ‘Dogs have accepted the losses, learned from their mistakes and used them as fuel for their home opener this Saturday.
Senior wide receiver Felix Neboh said though the offense struggled during the second half, players took away a lot of positives the team will build on this week during practice. He says overall, the offense really started to click against Wayne State, and that helped players build their confidence.
During the first half, the Bulldog offense scored 17 points and held on to a 10-point lead going into halftime against the Wayne State Warriors. Neboh says the offense’s running game worked well during the first half until Wayne State made adjustments to its defense. Neboh says once these adjustments were made, the Bulldog wide receivers were given an opportunity to make plays and catch passes beyond the Warrior defense.
He says once junior quarterback Devonte Black started getting passes through, the Bulldogs got into a rhythm offensively. The game was a tale of two halves with the Bulldog offense only scoring three points during the second half of the game. Neboh says the offense didn’t play with enough intensity second half.
“We got too lackadaisical in the second half,” Neboh saus. “Then, once bad plays started happening, we started to panic. We didn’t know how to react.”
Neboh, who scored his first collegiate touchdown against Wayne State, says though the atmosphere did not affect the team’s play, the offense did not do a good enough job putting pressure on Wayne State during the second half. Neboh says the offense’s biggest focus going into the team’s GLVC opener is executing every play, finishing every game strong and keeping composure when things aren’t going Truman’s way.
Offensive coordinator Jay Davis says he agreed with Neboh that the offense got into a nice rhythm during the first half but stumbled during the second half.
To learn more about how the football team has learned from their losses, read the rest on Issuu.