1999 MULES' FOOTBALL FACT SHEET - GAME 5

The Game: CMSU at Washburn University, Sept. 30, 7 p.m.; Washburn's Moore Bowl (7,200 - natural grass), Topeka, Kan.; game will be televised live by Metro Sports of Kansas City, Mo.; broadcast also will be available on Central Missouri State's PBS station, KMOS-TV; actual kickoff is scheduled for 7:08 p.m.

The Mules (2-2-0, 0-2-0 MIAA): The Mules' frustration against Pittsburg State University continued last Saturday at home, as they lost to the Gorillas 14-7, the 18th straight time they have lost to PSU. A face mask penalty against CMSU kept alive a Pittsburg State drive in the third quarter that eventually resulted in the Gorillas' second touchdown. Trailing 14-7 in the fourth quarter the Mules drove to the PSU 16, only to lose the ball on a fumble. Pittsburg State rushed for 308 yards, while CMSU had 116. In the air, the Gorillas had just 26 passing yards, while the Mules had 48. CMSU had just six first downs in the game. Dexter Ford was the Mules' rushing leader with 70 yards in 18 tries. Quarterbacks John Holmes and Ryan Koob were a combined five of 14 passing with one interception. Defensively, RheQuan Robinson led CMSU with 13 tackles, while Lamont Truitt had 12 and Andy Sims added 11. For the season, the Mules are averaging 176.8 yards per game rushing and 75.0 yards per game passing. Ford is CMSU's leading rusher with 340 yards in 53 carries (85.0 yards per game). Holmes and Koob have completed just 39.4% of their passes for a total of 300 yards. Greg Schmidt and Kevin Nickerson are the Mules' top receivers, each with seven. Robinson and Truitt lead CMSU defensively with 37 and 30 tackles, respectively.

The Ichabods (3-1-0, 1-1-0 MIAA): After winning their first three games, the Ichabods suffered their first loss of the season last Saturday, falling 42-10 at Missouri Western State College. WU led 10-7 late in the first quarter, but the Griffons ran off 35 unanswered points the rest of the game. Quarterback Barry Galbraith completed 14 of 28 for 161 yards, but was sacked nine times and intercepted once. Marc Nardella caught six passes for 87 yards. Brandon Rainer was the Ichabods' leading rusher with 72 yards on 20 carries. For the season, Washburn is averaging 165.8 yard per game rushing and 188.0 yards per game passing. Galbraith has completed 53.4% of his passes for 752 yards. Nardella, who led the MIAA last season with 64 catches for 1,136 yards, has caught 24 this season for 323 yards. Rainer is the Ichabods' rushing leader with 211 yards in 48 carries (70.3 yards per game). Linebacker Corey Phipps is WU's leading tackler with 47.

The Coaches: Willie Fritz is in his third season at CMSU with a record of 15-11-0. The Mules were 8-3-0 last season after going 5-6-0 in 1997. Fritz came to CMSU after four years as head coach at Blinn College (Texas), where he compiled a 39-5-1 mark. His last two teams at Blinn each went 12-0-0 and won the junior college national championship each year (1995 & 1996). Fritz is 2-0-0 vs. Washburn. Tony DeMeo is in his sixth season at Washburn with a record of 20-36-0. He is 2-3-0 vs. CMSU.

The Series: The Ichabods lead the series 15-13 and there have been two ties. The Mules have won the last two meetings and seven of the 10 meetings since Washburn began MIAA competition in 1989. The Ichabods' last win in the series was a 23-7 decision at Topeka in 1996.

Last Year: The Mules won 37-0 at Topeka to snap a three-game losing streak and record their third shutout of the season. Because of heavy rain, the field was a quagmire and the Mules threw only two passes in the game, both of them incomplete. Dexter Ford rushed for a career-high 169 yards in just eight carries, including touchdown runs of 63 and 35 yards. The Mules limited the Ichabods to just 75 yards in total offense. Despite the poor field conditions, CMSU did not have a turnover in the game, while the Ichabods lost three fumbles and an interception.

Mules' Injuries: The Mules did not have any serious injuries in the Pittsburg State game.

Mules on Metro Sports: This will be the Mules' fifth appearance on Metro Sports. They beat Missouri Southern State College 31-10 at Warrensburg in 1997. Last year they beat the University of Nebraska-Omaha 42-26 at Warrensburg, lost at Pittsburg State 32-13 and beat Missouri Western 38-28 at Warrensburg.

Mules on radio: KLRQ-FM (96.1) in Clinton will broadcast the game live with Bob Jackson and Chris Shaeffer calling the game. Air time will be 6:45 p.m. The broadcast also will be available on the TEAMLINE telephone service by calling (800) 846-4700, then entering 3946 and following the instructions for credit card billing. KLRQ also will have the broadcast available on its Web site at http://www.klrq.com.

Next Game: The Mules play at home against Truman State University Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. in the third Metro Sports TV game of the MIAA season. Washburn plays at home Oct. 9 against the University of Missouri-Rolla in a 2 p.m. game.