Lindenwood football has wrapped up its 2023 season, finishing the season with a 3-7 record.
In conference play, the team went 1-5, achieving a 2-3 home record, and a 1-4 away record in the process.
“We came up short this season, we just have more work to do, the teams we played were most definitely beatable , but we just beat ourselves,” Kobe McClendon said.
The season started off with a bang, with the Lions beating the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point 77-9 at home. The game marked Lindenwood highest scoring game of the season, with the team putting up nearly 700 yards of offense in the process.
After the first week of the season, the Lions went three consecutive weeks on the road, going 1-2 in the process. The first of the three games was a rivalry game played against Southeast Missouri State. Lindenwood dropped the game by a score of 45-7.
The following week, Lindenwood completed a come from behind victory against Western Illinois University, scoring 15 points in the final quarter, winning by a score of 43-40.
Lindenwood then wrapped up the lengthy road portion of their schedule with a loss against Illinois State University. The Lions dropped the game by a score of 48-17.
The Lions entered the two game homestand in the middle of their season with a record of 2-2, preparing to play both Austin Peay State and Tennessee Tech University. The team suffered its biggest loss of the season against Austin Peay, dropping the game by a score of 52-10.
However, they bounced back the following week, shutting out Tennessee Tech University, winning by a score of 23-0. The win acted as the team’s first shutout win since the 2005 season, and was highlighted by a 99 yard kick return by wide receiver Spencer Redd. The win moved the team to 3-3.
The remaining four weeks of the season would prove difficult for Lindenwood, as they dropped their last four games. The team spent two weeks on the road, playing both Charleston State University and Tennessee State University. The team dropped the games by scores of 24-10 and 43-20, respectively.
In the final two weeks of the season, Lindenwood played back to back home games against Eastern Illinois State University, which acted as the homecoming game, and Bryant University. Lindenwood lost the games by scores of 16-10, and 38-3.
On an individual level, four Lindenwood players were nominated for the Ohio Valley Conference All-Conference Team. Redd and fellow receiver Jeff Caldwell were nominated to the top honors. Caldwell reached the endzone eight times on the season, combining for nearly 600 yards all season. Redd found the end zone three times during the season, totaling for nearly 450 yards, and scored one of the three kickoff returns the conference saw throughout the season.
Two Lindenwood defenders earned honors for the All-Conference second team, linebacker Ethan Stuhlsatz and lineman Kobe McClendon. Stuhlsatz led the team in tackles with 70, and McClendon topped the team with sacks with 6.5. Additionally, offensive lineman Gareth Warren was Lindenwood’s nomination for the OVC’s All-Academic team.
“I am looking forward to just having fun with my guys on that field and just building up more memories, and competing with the best,” McClendon said. “A goal of mine looking forward to next season is getting defensive player of the OVC, but first going into next season we’re going to take it one game at a time, cause we have a lot of talent on this team, and we finna show the world what we made about,”
Lindenwood’s football team will return in the Fall for its 2024 season, though the schedule and opponents the team will endure has yet to be announced.
