Well, another game where no room to take the opponent for granted. Griffons have a long tradition of good football and play in one of the very best D2 leagues.....
https://gogriffons.com/news/2020/10/28/football-first-game-of-the-season-for-griffon-fooball-at-central-arkansas.aspxST. JOSEPH- Griffon Football makes its first-ever appearance at Central Arkansas, Saturday, in its first game in this unprecedented time.
Last season, the Griffons finished off the season with the most wins under their belt in eight years. Missouri Western has never beaten a Division I FCS opponent before and look to keep the
11 away game win streak.
SETTING THE STAGE
• Missouri Western opens an unprecedented, abbreviated non-conference fall football schedule after the MIAA suspended fall sports due to COVID-19.
• This will be the Griffons' first game of the 2020 season, while Central Arkansas already has seven games under its belt.
•
Head Coach Matt Williamson was the defensive coordinator at the University of Central Arkansas during
the 2010-13 seasons after serving as defensive line coach and special teams coordinator for three seasons. • Last season the Griffons ended the season 9-3 with a win over Henderson State in the Agent Barry Live United Bowl on Dec. 7 in Texarkana, Arkansas, the program's most wins since 2012.
• Central Arkansas' last game was Oct. 24 vs Eastern Kentucky. EKU drove the ball 77 yards and scored a game-winning touchdown with five seconds left on the clock to win 31-28.
.SCOUTING THE GRIFFONS
• Finshed third in the the MIAA in last season. In 2018, the Griffons finished sixth overall in the MIAA (6-5).
• The Griffons are on an 11-game win streak away from St. Joseph, with their last loss away from home coming in
October of 2018.
• Out of 120 players on the 2020 roster, 61 are new.
The Griffons currently have four players from Arkansas: WR Traveon James (Little Rock, Ark.), OL Nathan Schwulst (Vilonia, Ark.), CB DJ Stirgus (Benton, Ark.), and WR Jordan Witcher (Pea Ridge, Ark.)
• On offense, the Griffons have a
new QB, sophomore Anthony Vespo, who played in six games last season. Vespo takes over the reigns after Wyatt Steigerwald graduated.
Three of the top five rushers (Shamar Griffith, Jared Scott, and Travon Harris) are returning this season.
Devon Holmes, the top receiver from last season caught 49 passes for 668 yards and four scores. Cooper Burton and Cam Grandy were also in the top five for receivers who return. The Griffons finished the regular season 12th in the nation in scoring offence (41.3 points per game) and scored 40 or more points in six different games. All five starting offensive linemen in 2019 graduated last season.
• Defensively, the Griffons
return four of their top five tackle leaders from last season. Evan Chohon was the leading tackler who recorded 94 a season ago. Also, Kobe Cummings, Devan Burrell, and Terrance March were in the top five in tackles and returning. The Griffons had 23 players last season who registered a tackle for loss, including 11 who had seven or more. Missouri Western ended the 2019 season fifth in the MIAA in scoring defense (26.9 points per game allowed) and ninth in total defense (440.2 yards per game)
• On special teams,
ALL AMERICAN return man Trey Vaval was one of the most dangerous players in the country last season. Vaval led DII with 1,335 combined returned yards and ranked first in the NCAA in that category. His 34.3 yards per kick return broke a 27-year-old MIAA record and was the third best average in DII.
He also ranked second in DII and broke the MIAA single season record by averaging 21.1 yards per punt return. SCOUTING CENTRAL ARKANSAS
• Central Arkansas comes into the game being ranked No. 10 in FCS schools and a overall record of 3-4. This game will be UCA's second home game of the season with the first one being against Missouri State Univeristy which ended 27-20 in favor of UCA.
• UCA averages 28.86 points per game and has allowed 32.29 points per game. The Bears are averaging 332.1 yards of offense per game, 229.86 passing and 102.3 rushing.
• UCA has turned the ball over 16 times in seven games, throwing 10 interceptions and fumbling six times. However, the Bears have forced 20 turnovers, picking off eight passes and grabbing 12 fumbles.
• On offense, junior quarterback Breylin Smith has completed 54.70 percent of his passes for 1,578 yards. Smith has thrown 14 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions.The top recievers are sophmore Tyler Hudson and junior Lujuan Winningham. Hudson has 38 receptions for 554 yards with four touchdowns and averages 14.58 per catch. Winningham has 29 receptions for 384 yards with nine touchdowns and averages 13.24 per catch.
• On defense, UCA has allowed 32.29 points per game. Junior linebacker Dre Matthews leads the team with 43 tackles, including six for a loss. Sophomore defensive lineman Logan Jessup has 23 tackles, seven for a loss and 4.5 sacks.
SERIES HISTORY
• The two programs
have never met before in football • Missouri Western has played two current FCS divison I schools. The first being in 1992 vs Western Illinois Univeristy where the Griffons lost 42-7. The most recent game vs an FCS school was against Drake University in 1995 which resulted in a 19-19 tie.
MISSOURI WESTERN HEAD COACH MATT WILLIAMSON
• The 1996 MWSU graduate and two-time All-MIAA defensive lineman is 20-15 in his third season as a head coach.
• After beginning his coaching career at MWSU as a graduate assistant, Williamson has had stops as an assistant coach at Arkansas-Monticello, Missouri Western, Central Arkansas and Stephen F. Austin.
CENTRAL ARKANSAS HEAD COACH NATHAN BROWN
• Brown enters his third season as the head coach of the Bears. Prior to his head coaching role, Brown served as the offensive coordinator (2013-2017) for four years where he went 33-15 in all games.
• Brown was a quarterback at UCA and was the leading passer in the 2009 Senior Bowl All-Star game in 2009. He won three Southland Conference Championships at UCA as a player (2009) and assistant coach (2012, 2017).
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