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The Peacock football team traveled to Kirksville, Missouri for a non-conference affair with the Bulldogs of Truman State University. The Peacocks and Bulldogs matched up under the lights on Saturday evening as Truman State rededicated their lights prior to the game. The lights were shining bright on the Bulldogs in the first half as they built up a huge lead and held off a rally-minded Peacock team in the second to win 55-31.
 
Truman State moved the ball well on their first drive thanks to a 39-yard pass play, but the drive stalled out as the Bulldogs missed a 30-yard field goal. UIU took over at their own 20, but after one play the Peacocks were at their 42 as Kevin Linnell and Dwayne Croker hooked up on a 22-yard completion over the middle. Croker touched the ball on the first three plays from scrimmage, but on 3rd and 5 Linnell tried to thread a touch pass to Croker that was intercepted and returned to the UIU 43.
 
Truman was able to take the ball and stick it into the endzone thanks to a 10 play drive that took 3:07 off the game clock. The Bulldogs punched it into the endzone from four yards out on a run play up the middle. The extra point was good and TSU was out to a 7-0 lead.
 
After an Upper Iowa three and out, the Bulldogs started their second scoring drive at their own 21-yard line. Truman scored on a another short 1st and goal run that put the home team up 14-0 with 3:46 to play in the first quarter. The drive featured…
 
Upper Iowa went on a long drive that was sustained by three major penalties on the Truman State defense. The Bulldogs were called for a personal foul, a defensive holding, and a personal foul face mask which all resulted in automatic first downs. The drive ended with a 31-yard field goal off the foot of Mike Sharp. Upper Iowa controlled the ball with an 11-play, 56-yard drive that took 4:28 off the game clock.
 
After a 42-yard kickoff return by Truman and a personal foul face mask call, the Bulldogs took the ball 1st and 10 at the Upper Iowa 28-yard line. On the first play, the Truman quarterback dropped back and threw deep to the outside. Mike Lamb looked as if he had his first interception of the season, but the ball hit off Lamb’s hands and fell in the lap of the Bulldog receiver who was three yards deep in the endzone. The Bulldogs added the extra point and took a commanding 21-3 lead early in the second quarter.
 
Following a punt by each team, Upper Iowa began to move the ball the length of the field again. It appeared as though the Peacocks drive was about to stall when the Bulldogs committed their fourth costly penalty. Instead of a would-be fourth down, the Peacocks were given a first down at the Truman 20 yard line. Upper Iowa squandered the opportunity and after a sack on 3rd and 9, the Peacocks were turned away on a fourth down attempt.
 
Truman took the turn over and fueled by two big pass completions, one for the fourth Bulldog touchdown of the day, took a 28-3 lead. The Bulldog drive took five plays and covered 70 yards.
 
After a good kickoff return by Ryan Hudgins, the Peacocks jumped on the back of T.C. Hicks. Hicks carried the ball twice on the two-play drive for 63 yards; one rush for 25 yards and the touchdown carry of 38 yards. Sharp drove home the extra point to cut the deficit to eighteen points, 28-10.
 
Truman wasted no time reinstating their command of the game. Bulldog quarterback Matt Ticich continued to pick the Peacock defense apart. Truman put another quick strike drive together. The touchdown drive was capped off by a completion to Kendrick Blue on a quick out. Blue broke three Peacock tacklers and sprinted into the endzone to give the Bulldogs a 35-10 lead.
 
Upper Iowa’s final drive of the half ended on an interception on a deep pass over the middle. The pass was picked off at the Truman 10-yard line. The Bulldogs took the ball with 1:03 on the clock and moved the ball to the UIU 23-yard line; a 67-yard drive. Kicker Mickey Masucci hit a field goal from 40 yards with 3 seconds on the clock to give Truman a 38-10 lead as the teams headed to the locker rooms for halftime.
 
The offenses began the second half with a punt each, but Upper Iowa took over at the 50-yard line for their second possession of the half. After a six-yard run by Hicks, Linnell hit Allen Conrad, who dove into the endzone for a Peacock touchdown. The touchdown grab closed the gap to 38-17 with just over nine minutes to play in the third quarter.
 
The Peacock defense held strong again and forced the second consecutive punt in the half. Hicks started the drive with a first down run up the middle (19 yards) and Linnell followed it with a completion over the middle to Croker for another first down (17 yards). The Truman defense stiffened and forced a fourth down inside their own 20, but the Peacocks were successful and picked up the first on a completion over the middle to a leaping Hudgins. Linnell took the ball on a quarterback keeper on the next play and broke two tackles on his way into the endzone. The Peacock rally continued as the gap closed again, 38-24, with a little over 5 minutes on the clock.
 
After the two Peacock scores, Truman State reinserted Ticich at quarterback; a sign that the Peacocks had the Bulldogs rattled. The move by Truman paid off as the Bulldogs faced a 4th and 3. Ticich rolled out and broke for the sideline getting the needed yardage easily. The UIU defense continued to be stingy and held the Bulldogs on the next series of downs as TSU went for it on fourth again, but was denied.
 
Upper Iowa took over at their own 19, but on the second play Linnell overthrew his wide receiver for his third interception of the game. Truman wasted little time and after two completions, the Bulldogs put their sixth touchdown on the board. A pair of 24-yard hook ups gave the home team a 45-24 lead as time ran out in the third quarter.
 
Hudgins returned the kickoff 30 yards and with the help of a personal foul face mask, Upper Iowa’s drive began at the Truman 48-yard line. Linnell picked up a first down on two quarterback keepers to the 37-yard line. UIU picked up another first down on a 15-yard Hicks rush up the middle. On the next play Linnell dropped back and found a wide open Kyle Hosch who sprinted (19 yards) into the endzone for the Peacocks’ fourth touchdown of the game. After Sharp’s extra point, the Peacocks were once again within two scores of the Bulldogs.
 
On the Bulldogs’ next possession, Ticich delivered another dagger on a beautiful pass to a sprinting Blue who gathered it in for a huge 41-yard connection. Another 16-yard completion set Truman up with a first down inside the red zone. After a couple of great pass break-ups by freshman Ryan Armstrong, the Bulldogs settled for a 27-yard field goal to push the lead back to 48-31 with 9:40 showing on the clock.
 
Truman added a late touchdown on an option play to balloon their lead back out to 55-31 with 2:55 on the gameclock.
 
The Peacocks outplayed and outscored the Bulldogs in the second half, but could not get out of the hole that they dug themselves in the first half. Upper Iowa won the second half 21-17, but could not make up for the 38-10 halftime deficit.
 
After the game Head Coach Mike Knoll had the following thoughts, “Tonight was a tough lesson to take. We played horribly in the secondary, but it was a total team effort. (Ticich) is a pretty good quarterback, but when you don’t sack him or create any turnovers… you put yourself in a tough spot. We had too many dropped balls today. We were able to rush pretty well in the second half and that was good.” Knoll continued, “It’s going to be good to be at home next week when we take on Wayne State (0-2). We have a lot of work to do to be ready for our first NSIC game. Winning the second half tonight is a plus, but we need to carry it over to next week.”
 
The Peacocks were lead by Hicks, who carried the ball 18 times for 140 yards and one touchdown. Croker led the receivers with 107 yards on 5 catches. Hudgins led all returners with eight kickoff returns for 130 yards and three punt returns for 9 yards. The Peacock defense was lead by Vernard Wilkins (14 tackles, 2.5 for loss), Malcolm Cole (9 tackles), Anthony Calamita (8 tackles), and David Epps (7 tackles, 2 for loss).