Storylines
- The Lindenwood football team has one final shot to knock off a nationally-ranked opponent in its inaugural MIAA season. The Lions travel to No. 18 Pittsburg State for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday against the defending NCAA Division II national champions.
- Lindenwood is currently ranked sixth in the MIAA with a 5-3 mark. Pittsburg State is tied for fourth in the loss column with a 6-2 mark.
- Both teams snapped a two-game losing streak last week. Lindenwood knocked off Missouri Southern by a 45-30 score, while Pittsburg State defeated Truman State by a 20-6 margin.
- Two Lindenwood players earned MIAA Player of the Week honors this week.
Jaz Granderson had a career-high 14 tackles against Missouri Southern and was the Defensive Player of the Week.
Malach Radigan blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown which led to him being named the Special Teams Player of the Week.
- Lindenwood's
Andrew Helmick scored four touchdowns last week against Missouri Southern with three receiving touchdowns and one punt return touchdown. He set the school's single-game record with 218 receiving yards. All four of Helmick's touchdowns were over 60 yards.
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Denodus O'Bryant had his second straight 100-yard rushing game last week with 114 yards. In that span, he is averaging 171 rushing yards and 227.5 all-purpose yards a game.
- In just his second career start, quarterback
Dillon Miller threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns.
- Lindenwood's win last week clinched a winning season for the sixth straight season, and the eighth time in nine years under head coach
Patrick Ross.
- Pittsburg State enters play this week ranked tenth in the NCAA Division II regional rankings. The Gorillas will need to climb four spots in the final two weeks in order to defend its 2011 national title.
- The Gorillas lead the MIAA and are fifth in NCAA Division II with 3.50 sacks a game. Fifteen different Pittsburg State players have at least 0.5 sacks on the year, led by Gus Toca with 6.0.
Lions Offense
- Lindenwood ranks sixth in the MIAA in scoring offense (30.0 ppg) and fifth in total offense (412.2). The Lions are second in pass offense, and 13th in rushing offense.
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Andrew Helmick is having the best season in school history for a wide receiver. He will set the single-season record for receiving yards per game. He needs 147 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns to tie those Lindenwood single-season marks.
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Andrew Helmick is also near the career record for receptions. He has 131 receptions and needs five more to reach the record of 135.
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Denodus O'Bryant is within 100 rushing yards of reaching 3,000 for his career. He needs 132 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for the season and making him the third Lion in school history with two 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
Lions Defense
- Lindenwood's defense is third in the MIAA in scoring defense (23.1 ppg) and eighth in total defense (368.7). The Lions are ninth in rushing defense and fifth in pass defense.
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Pierre Desir leads the MIAA with eight interceptions after recording two more against Missouri Southern. If Lindenwood was eligible for NCAA Division II statistics, he would be tied for the national lead in total interceptions.
- The Lions lead the league with 76 tackles for loss, 15 more than second-place Pittsburg State. The trio of
Malach Radigan,
Joe Day, and
Sean Gracy have combined for 31 tackles for loss.
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Connor Harris needs 13 tackles to reach 100 for the season. He would be the first Lion with 100 tackles under head coach
Patrick Ross.
- Lindenwood's defense has not allowed a third-down conversion in the fourth quarter for the last five games. In that span, opposing teams are zero-for-15.
Lions Special Teams
- Lindenwood has blocked two kicks the last two weeks.
Sean Gracy blocked an extra point against Washburn, and
Malach Radigan blocked a punt versus Missouri Southern.
Lions Schedule
- Lindenwood ends its season on Nov. 10 with a road game at Truman State. It is just the second time in history that the Lions end the year with two road regular season games.
About Pittsburg State
- Pittsburg State's offense is led by receiver John Brown. He is averaging 101.9 receiving yards a game and has eight total touchdowns. Anthony Abenoja is averaging 244.4 passing yards a game, and Briceton Wilson leads the team wtih 60 rushing yards a game and eight rushing touchdowns.
- Defensive leaders include Nate Dreiling with 63 tackles, Gus Toca with 11.0 tackles for loss and 6.0 sacks, and Graylon Sanders with three turnovers, including two interceptions.
MIAA Notes
- This week's conference players of the week were: Joshua Birmingham, Central Oklahoma (offense),
Jaz Granderson, Lindenwood (defense), and
Malach Radigan, Lindenwood (special teams).
- Five MIAA schools are nationally ranked by the AFCA: Northwest Missouri (No. 4), Missouri Western (No. 11), Pittsburg State (No. 18), Emporia State (No. 20), and Washburn (No. 25).
