BOLIVAR, Mo. -- The SBU Bearcats (3-3) will try and record their fourth win of the 2008 season against the Vikings of Grand View College (1-5). It will be the second straight game for the Bearcats at Plaster Stadium, as they are in a stretch of four games of five in Bolivar. Should the Bearcats emerge with a victory, it will be only the 2nd time since 1991 they have chalked up more than three wins in a single season. SBU has reached their three-win mark by virtue of a three-game win streak, which was broken last week with loss at home against Central Oklahoma.
THE OPPONENT: Grand View College is located in Des Moines, Iowa, and has an enrollment of 1750. The Vikings are an NAIA, Independent school in their first year of football. They bring a 1-5 record into the contest. SBU and GVC have faced a mutual opponent in Kentucky Wesleyan, who Grand View faced last week in a 34-13 losing cause. SBU defeated Kentucky Wesleyan, 34-14, on September 27 in Owensboro. Grand View’s only win of the season was their first game in history, 20-17, against Briar Cliff on August 30.
TRENDS: Through SBU’s first six games of the 2008 season, Steve Gachette has averaged 298.5 yards in the air. Johnnie King has been SBU’s leading receiver, with 50 catches (11.9) for 595 yards (99.2 average). Jeff Finnell has gained 419 yards (69.8 average) on the ground, which includes 6 touchdowns on the season. With his 15 tackles against Central Oklahoma, Tyrin Holt (55 tackles) passes Jarred Schumpert (54) as SBU’s leading tackler this season. The Bearcats have 22 sacks as a team, led by Clint Carroz and Mark Boyle, with 5 each.
CAREER TD PASSES: With three more touchdown passes against Central Oklahoma on Saturday, Steve Gachette stands at 31 for his career, only 1 behind Robert Clardy’s career record of 32 (2003-06). Clardy is now an assistant coach for the Bearcats. This season, Gachette has 16 touchdown passes, and stands 3 behind Chris Lowe’s single-season record of 19 (2001). Despite his record-setting pace, Gachette has yet to throw 2 touchdowns to the same player in the same game this season.
SCORING STREAK: SBU is on track to break their ‘consecutive games without being shutout’ in the last game of this season. Should the Bearcats score in all 11 games in the 2008 campaign, they will have avoided the shutout for 44 straight times against Missouri S&T on November 8, which passes the old mark of 43 set in the 10th game of the 1992 season.
COACH ALLEN ON SATURDAY’S LOSS: "We’re going to work on re-establishing our running game. UCO made us a one-dimensional team, and was able to concentrace exclusively on getting to Steve."
COACH ALLEN ON THE UPCOMING GAME: "We’ve watched film on Grand View, and they are a young team with lots of speed. They have a lot of players on that team who will be great for them in the future. We’re preparing as usual, with an emphasis on tackling and picking up the blitz."
Game Notes
