Storylines
- The Lindenwood football team has its home opener this Saturday as well as its first home MIAA game. The Lions will host Southwest Baptist at 6 p.m. at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium.
- Lindenwood opened its season last week with a 49-28 win over Lincoln. The victory was the first for the Lions as a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA).
- Lindenwood's defense sparked the victory by shutting down Lincoln in the final half. The Blue Tigers had negative yards in the third quarter and finished with just 74 yards for the half. Lincoln's only touchdown in the second half came on a short drive with 18 seconds remaining.
- Lindenwood's defense front line dominated Lincoln and the Lions finished with five sacks and 13 tackles for loss.
- Lindenwood's offense piled up exactly 500 yards of offense, including 407 through the air, and scored seven touchdowns.
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Ben Gomez had the best debut for a Lindenwood quarterback in school history. He became the fourth player to throw for over 400 yards in a game and threw five touchdown passes, one shy of the MIAA and Lindenwood records.
- Southwest Baptist lost its season opener last week by a 24-14 score against Truman State. The Bearcats have now lost five straight games going back to last season.
- Turnovers could be a key statistic to watch this week. Both teams turned the ball over three times in the opener. Southwest Baptist had the edge over Lindenwood though as it caused four turnovers, compared to just one for the Lions.
- Lindenwood is 16-6 all-time in its home opener, and has won nine straight home openers. The Lions have an average margin of victory over the last nine home openers of 34.9 points.
- Lindenwood is 41-6 at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium during the
Patrick Ross era, including a 33-2 record in home conference games.
Lions Offense
- Lindenwood was the highest-scoring team in the MIAA last week with 49 points, and it was one of three teams to hit the 500-yard total offense mark.
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Andrew Helmick caught two touchdown passes last weekend. He has now caught a touchdown pass in seven consecutive games, and has 12 receiving touchdowns in that span.
- Running back
Denodus O'Bryant scored his 28th career rushing touchdown against Lincoln, which ties the Lindenwood record in that category.
- True freshman
Jaron Alexander caught five passes for 68 yards and a touchdown in his Lindenwood debut.
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Marvin Byrd recorded two touchdowns last week, one rushing and one receiving.
Lions Defense
- Lindenwood's defense held Lincoln to just two-of-17 on third-down conversions.
- True freshman
Connor Harris led Lindenwood with eight tackles. He also punted twice, and returned one kickoff and one punt.
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Joe Day had 3.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks against Lincoln. He was one of three defensive linemen to record five tackles in the game.
- Last year's team interceptions leader,
Justin Broome, had an interception and a pass breakup against the Blue Tigers.
- Lindenwood allowed 226 yards of total offense, with 114 of those yards coming on just two long pass plays.
Lions Special Teams
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James Neal was a perfect seven-of-seven on PATs against Lincoln. In his last five games, he is now 32-of-33 on PATs.
- Lindenwood had an average starting field position of its 42-yard line last week, compared to the 27-yard line for Lincoln.
Lions Schedule
- Lindenwood will be home again on Sept. 15 for a contest against Central Missouri. That game will kickoff at 6 p.m.
About Southwest Baptist
- The Bearcats fell in a 21-0 hole against Truman State last week. They battled back and got within a touchdown, but Truman State closed out a 24-14 victory.
- Southwest Baptist's defense forced four turnovers last week, with two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
- Dan Connors led the offense by throwing for 176 yards and a touchdown, and also rushing for a touchdown.
- Austin Otwell led the defense with 10 tackles, including 1.0 sack.
MIAA Notes
- This week's conference players of the week were: Anthony Abenoja, Pittsburg State (offense), Michael Elliot, Truman State (defense), and John Brown, Pittsburg State (special teams).
- Four MIAA schools are nationally ranked: Pittsburg State (No. 1), Northwest Missouri (No. 3), Missouri Western (No. 14), and Washburn (No. 15). No other schools received votes.
