Ethan Decker

The “road warriors” finished 5-6 and 4-4 in their third season in the Great Lakes Valley Conference after a grueling schedule. The Bulldogs were one of three NCAA Division II schools that played seven road games in 2015. Truman travelled nearly 5,000 miles this season with trips to Witchita Falls, Texas, Detroit, Mich., Indianapolis, Ind., and Chicago, Ill.

After starting the season 1-4, with two of those losses by a total of four points, the Bulldogs won three straight to even their record at 4-4. They then dropped a heartbreaker at Quincy (Ill.) on national television by four points with the Hawks scoring 10 points in the final 1:55 to win. Truman finished with two at home and defeated Saint Joseph’s (Ind.) 10-7 before falling in the season finale to McKendree (Ill.) 31-3.

Eight Bulldogs earned all-conference honors with junior defensive back Austin Zoda earning first-team honors. He was joined on the first team by senior offensive lineman Ethan Decker. Jordan Brown, Nick Reichert, Joey Schenck and Ben Wellman were second-team picks and Brian Craft and Derek Hammann were named honorable mention.

The Bulldog defense was consistently near the top in Division II as they gave up 20.1 points per game and held opponents to less than 340 yards of total offense.

Offensively, the Bulldogs were led by true freshman Andy Satulla. The Rolla, Mo., native earned the GLVC Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 172 yards and two touchdowns in a non-conference win over Saint Francis, then scored four touchdowns in a victory over William Jewell (Mo.)