After a huge upset over Missouri Western two weeks ago, the Missouri Southern football team was back in action last weekend at home taking on Northwest Missouri State.

Unfortunately, the success the Lions had in St. Joseph didn’t carry over to the contest against the Bearcats.

“Our communication side of it was very poor, and we addressed it this week,” Head Coach Daryl Daye said. “We had some busts that we haven’t seen since the first game, so that’s disappointing.”

The Lion offense committed six fumbles against the Bearcats, five coming from missed pitches on the option. The silver lining is that Northwest didn’t recover a single fumble on the day.

The visitors did, however, intercept two Kellen Cox passes. Cox was 0-11 passing.

“It partly could have been that this was the first big game a lot of them had played in, maybe ever, here in a long time, so that could have had something to do with it,” Daye said. “But I’m going to take responsibility as a coach, and as a coaching staff, we have to do a better job.”

Cox, the senior quarterback, has had some shoulder issues the last few weeks, but he should be ready to play again this weekend as the team travels to St. Charles to take on conference newcomer Lindenwood in a battle of the Lions.

The game will be the MIAA Conference Television Network Game of the Week.

Lindenwood has changed quarterbacks and more in the middle of the season, providing teams with three fairly different offensive attacks. While the Lion defense is one of the best in the conference, the diverse offense will still provide a challenge.

“It’s tough to prepare for,” Daye said. “We’re not 100 percent sure what they’ll come out and feature, but we know this: They’re very athletic and they’re playing with a lot of confidence and they’re a very good football team. They took two top five, top 10 teams to the final bell, and they’re feeling very confident.”

Lindenwood comes to the MIAA and Division-II from the NAIA where they’ve been dominant in recent years, playing in the national championship game in 2009.

They’ve seen some success in the MIAA, going 5-3 on the season thus far and hanging with perennial conference powerhouse Washburn until the final minutes.

“From what I’ve heard, they have a great facility over there, they’ve got a very nice school,” Daye said. “And they’re right there in St. Louis, so they can be out on Fridays watching a lot of good football players, so it’s not surprising to me because you look up and down their roster, and they have quality players.”

The St. Louis game will be a homecoming of sorts for senior defensive tackle Brandon Williams, who is originally from Kirkwood, Mo. Williams took sole possession of the all-time Missouri Southern sack record against Northwest Missouri, and he’ll look to add to his legacy in front of his family.

“That’s always a great time because all my family is from St. Louis,” he said. “They all have their signs, their banners, and you can hear them over the crowd. It’s great.”

Despite their different offensive looks, Lindenwood matches up well with Southern, coming in with a strong passing attack that averages nearly 300 yards per game. 

Their running game, however, only racks up about 115 yards per game, something that plays into Southern’s strengths. The Lions have the No. 34 rush defense in all of Division-II. Daye has high expectations of his players for this game and for the rest of the season.

“We’re sitting here with an opportunity to win eight ballgames,” Daye said. “We’re sitting here with an opportunity to play for a bowl game or potentially the playoffs, still. We have a lot to play for, a winning season, we have a lot to play for, so our kids are playing hard.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 Saturday afternoon in St. Charles.