The Lindenwood football team played one of its most complete games of its NCAA era last Thursday night in Hunter Stadium. The Lions gave head coach Jed Stugart his first win as head coach of Lindenwood, as they won their home opener by a 49-10 score over Northeastern State.
 
Lindenwood's offense stole the headlines on the night with a record-setting performance. The Lions set a school record with 417 rushing yards, and its 686 yards of total offense were the fourth-most in program history, and the most in its NCAA era.
 
On the ground, the Lions had 49 rushing attempts, and they averaged 8.5 yards per carry. Lindenwood's top two running backs, Calen Campbell and Shakeem Wharton, led the way with both averaging over 10 yards a carry. Wharton had the first 100-yard rushing game of his career with 103 yards, and he scored once. Campbell visited the end zone twice and had 86 rushing yards. Nash Sutherlin also saw his first collegiate action, and rushed for 70 yards. Among non-running backs, quarterback Najee Jackson rushed for 82 yards, and wide receivers DeSean Warren and Kendell Sparks had a combined 54 yards on the ground.
 
Paving the way for all of the runners was a great performance by the team's offensive line. Akil Williams was named the team's Offensive Player of the Week for his game at center. The other starters were left tackle Lucas Beddow, left guard C.J. Bynum, right guard Keith Crawford, and right tackle Caleb Sellers.
 
Campbell's first touchdown put Lindenwood up 7-0 early in the game, and then an effective passing game helped the Lions go up 28-0 by halftime. All three of Lindenwood's starting wide receivers scored in the period as Sparks scored on a two-yard pass, Warren had a 55-yard touchdown play, and Prince caught a Hail Mary pass of 43 yards right before halftime.
 
Lindenwood's offense scored three more touchdowns in the second half. Wharton and Campbell both had rushing touchdowns, and Max Meylor, on his first collegiate pass, found Justin Smith for a 50-yard touchdown play. That final touchdown put Lindenwood up 49-3 early in the fourth quarter.
 
Jackson finished with 208 yards passing, and his top target was Warren who had five receptions for 94 yards. Meylor completed both of his passing attempts for 61 yards. Sparks, Warren, and Wharton all finished with over 100 all-purpose yards.
 
While the offense had a record-breaking day, the defense had a shutdown performance. One of the biggest improvements from week one came on third-down plays. In week one, Central Oklahoma converted 12-of-18 on third downs. This week, the Lions' held Northeastern State to just four-of-14 on third down, and they also had a fourth-down stop.
 
In the first half, Northeastern State had seven full drives, and Lindenwood forced seven punts and a turnover on downs. The RiverHawks gained just 128 yards, and had one drive over 20 yards.
 
In the second half, Northeastern State got on the scoreboard with a field goal on its first possession of the half. After that, Lindenwood's defense forced another punt and a fumble. The RiverHawks finally scored a touchdown against the second-string defense midway through the final quarter.
 
The 39-point victory was the largest win since Lindenwood moved to the NCAA, and the largest since the victory over Culver-Stockton in 2011. The 49 points tied the most the program has scored at the NCAA level. Defensively, the 10 points allowed also tied the fewest that Lindenwood has given up since moving to the MIAA.
 
Lindenwood is now 1-1 on the season, and it will face a 1-1 Washburn squad this upcoming Saturday. That game will be at Hunter Stadium at 6 p.m. The Ichabods are coming off a six-point loss to No. 1 Northwest Missouri last weekend.