Photo by Brendan Burns
After beginning the season with six quarters of fundamentally-sound, disciplined play, the Lindenwood football team has been plagued by self-inflicted wounds over its last six quarters.
The Lions (1-2, 1-0 OVC) hope to return to their earlier brand of football when they travel to Eastern Michigan for a noon kickoff Saturday in Ypsilanti. The game will be shown on ESPN-Plus.
A complete, three-phase effort by Lindenwood produced a 20-17 conference victory over Charleston Southern to open the season. The following week, Lindenwood grabbed a 15-point lead at Stony Brook after an exceptional first half, only to see the Seawolves storm back for a 36-32, come-from-behind win.
Broken tackles, misreads and costly penalties that appeared during the second half against Stony Brook became amplified last Saturday in a 48-14 drubbing at Missouri State that saw the Bears open a 34-point cushion at halftime.
Lindenwood used its bye week to clean up the mistakes made the previous six quarters before embarking on its third consecutive road trip, this time to Ypsilanti.
“The timing of the bye week allowed us to get back to the little things, fine-tuning the details, and focusing on the things that we were missing,” Lindenwood coach Jed Stugart said. “I feel very good about where our team is at because everything is fixable.”
Against Missouri State, one possession encapsulated a first half of misery. Trailing 28-0, the Lindenwood defense took three personal foul penalties, including tearing the helmet off a ball carrier after a third-and-22 stop. At halftime, the Lions had yielded 84 yards in penalties and had gained just 50 yards of total offense.
“We had too many penalties the last two weeks. We do a pretty good job of calling our own fouls in practice, like pickup basketball, so we’re not letting them get away with stuff in practice,” Stugart said. “You achieve what you emphasize, and we’ll tighten up some of those discipline issues.”
The second half at Missouri State was much cleaner and much more productive. Robert ‘Pops’ Battle threw two touchdown passes, including a 32-yard dart to sophomore Elijah Roy. Roy caught four passes for 72 yards and was named OVC Rookie of the Week.
“I’m really excited about (Roy),” Stugart said. “He’s a high-effort guy who catches everything.”
Effort across the board is why Stugart is not overly concerned by a six-quarter stretch that produced sub-optimal results.
“We’re a high-effort team. That’s what I was proud of at the end of this (Missouri State) game. I challenged them at halftime, and I did see our team fight back in the second half,” Stugart said. “We didn’t get accomplished what we wanted to accomplish, but the effort is there, and I can work with a team that gives great effort.”
Schedule quirk produces two byes in three weeks
By playing Charleston Southern in Week 0, a week before most college football teams took the field, Lindenwood will sandwich the Eastern Michigan game between two midseason bye weeks.
For Stugart, the schedule quirk comes at an ideal time.
“We’re grateful. Some of the guys who are banged up and injured, that’s going to help them heal up for when we get closer to conference play,” he said. “The timing is pretty good. It ends up being a blessing.”
Running back Steve Hall, who has not played since suffering a high ankle sprain in the season opener, is nearing a return to action. Stugart called him ‘a gametime decision’ for Saturday at Eastern Michigan.
Defensive back Carter Johnson, who suffered a hamstring injury against Missouri State, eyes a return to action when conference play resumes October 10 against Southeast Missouri.
In addition to healing injuries, Stugart hopes the bye week helps in healing the wounds of a second half earthquake at Stony Brook and a game that eroded quickly at Missouri State.
“I’m excited for our guys to rebound. We’ve had a sour taste in our mouth for especially the last six quarters, and we have to get back to playing like we did in the first half of the Stony Brook game,” Stugart said.
He added, “It’s all about confidence and not doubting ourselves – trusting our assignments and doing our job. We get another shot this week. We want to play with great effort every single play, trust each other, and see where the chips fall.”
On Eastern Michigan:
- Eastern Michigan is 1-3 overall (1-0 MAC). The opening week 28-17 win over Sacramento State was the 500th in program history. Losses are to San Jose State (27-21), Michigan State (35-7) and Wisconsin (54-10).
- This will be the first meeting between Eastern Michigan and Lindenwood. Eastern Michigan is 12-11 against first-time opponents.
Local talent:
- #54 Quincy Byas, sophomore defensive lineman, is the all-time sack leader at De Smet. Byas leads Eastern Michigan in tackles for loss and quarterback hits.
- #66 Joshua Anderson, senior offensive lineman, Westminster. Anderson has started 19 games for Eastern Michigan.
- #14 Armaad Sharp, freshman tight end, East St. Louis, helped the Flyers win three state titles.
Current Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, who played collegiately at Eastern Michigan, is the Assistant General Manager of EMU Football, assisting in evaluating high school and transfer portal talent and helping to manage the team’s NIL/revenue share budget.