Missouri Western kicks off its 2021 season Thursday, September 2 at 7:00 p.m. as they travel to Edmond for a showdown with Central Oklahoma.  The Griffons will play their first regular season football game that counts in 635 days as the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The last game that counted in the records books was a 35-14 win against Henderson State in the Live United Bowl that capped off a 9-3 campaign for MWSU.
 
The Griffons look to continue the momentum built from that 2019 season as that was the first nine-win season since 2012.  Missouri Western did play two games last fall at Central Arkansas and at home against Pittsburg State as they were one of 10 NCAA Division II programs to play at least one game last fall.  The NCAA did not count the statistics in those games toward individual or team career numbers.
 
Central Oklahoma did play one scrimmage game this past spring as they defeated Southern Nazarene 30-26.  The Bronchos are coming off a 5-6 season in 2019, which snapped a streak of two straight eight-win seasons.  UCO head coach Nick Bobeck enters his 10^th season in Edmond and has a record of 43-47 overall at UCO and he's 40-46 in the MIAA.
 
SERIES HISTORY
MWSU is 7-3 all-time against UCO after the Griffons won a wild 50-43 game in Edmond in 2019.  The two teams have split the last six meetings and each one of those games has been decided by 10 points for less.  The last three have all been one possession games.  Missouri Western is 3-2 in games played at Wantland Stadium.
 
SEASON OPENERS
The Griffons are 29-19-2 all-time in season openers, but they have struggled to get off to a good start in recent years.  MWSU has dropped three-straight openers and four of the last five.  Coach Williamson is looking to start the season 1-0 for the first time since taking over the program.  Missouri Western has also lost three straight season openers on the road as they are 9-10-2 all-time when playing their first game away from home.
 
ROAD OPENERS
MWSU is 21-25-4 all-time in road openers, including a 28-17 win at #25 Fort Hays State in their second game of 2019.  The Griffons are 2-2 in their last four road openers and 6-5 in the last 11 games that were their first road games.
 
VAVAL RETURNS AFTER RECORD SETTING 2019
Sophomore CB Trey Vaval is back in 2021 after earning All-America honors as a true freshman in 2019.  He is one of just two true freshmen over the 27-year history of the D2CCA All-America program to earn that honor.  Vaval led NCAA Division II with 1,335 combined return yards and that ranked second in all levels of NCAA football.  The Blue Springs, Missouri native averaged 34.3 yards per kick return, which was third best in DII and broke a 27-year-old MIAA record. As a punt returner, Vaval ranked second in DII with an average of 21.1 yards per return.  All of Vaval's numbers in 2019 were new records at MWSU.
 
RETURNING ALL-MIAA MEMBERS
Missouri Western returns seven players who earned All-MIAA honors in 2019.  Senior CB Sam Webb and sophomore PR/KR Trey Vaval were each named First Team All-MIAA.  Webb led the Griffons in interceptions (3) and pass breakups (12) as he finished with 29 tackles, while Vaval set numerous records in the return game.  The Griffons also had five players named Honorable Mention All-MIAA as junior TE Cam Grandy, junior DE Arnold Crayton, sophomore DE C.J. Ravenell, senior LB Evan Chohon and junior CB D.J. Stirgus were honored in 2019.
 
CONTINUING TO BUILD
The Griffons have been able to increase their win total in each of Matt Williamson's first three seasons on the sideline and they've capped off the last two with postseason appearances.  After winning four games during a 4-7 season in 2017, Missouri Western finished 7-5 in 2018 and defeated Southern Arkansas in the Live United Bowl.  MWSU then increased its win total to nine in 2019 and just missed out on the NCAA Division II playoffs.  The only losses came to playoff teams Northwest Missouri State and Central Missouri, and to a bowl team in Nebraska-Kearney.  The Griffs capped off 2019 with a 35-14 victory over Henderson State as they made a return trip to the Live United Bowl.
 
PRESEASON MIAA RANKINGS
Missouri Western is picked to finish fourth in the preseason MIAA media poll and they're selected to finished fifth by the league's coaches. Those preseason rankings are the highest for MWSU during Coach Williamson's tenure.  The Griffon have finished higher than they were picked in the preseason poll each of the last two year, including in 2019 when they were selected seventh in both preseason polls and they finished tied for third.
 
VETS ON DEFENSE
The Griffons have a very experienced defense coming into the 2021 season, while the offensive side of the football is the exact opposite.  MWSU returns nine starters from their 2019 team and seven of the projected 11 have started at least 10 games in their careers.  On offense, 10 of the 11 projected starters have made only one start or no starts in their careers.
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered the Missouri Western roster over the last year.  Like all other teams, no Griffon lost a season of eligibility last fall and it has made their roster very young and inexperienced.  MWSU has 117 players on their current roster and 73 of those players are freshman.  15 are in their third season at MWSU as they redshirted in 2019, while 31 of those freshmen are in their second season and 27 are true freshman.  The Griffons have 22 sophomores, 16 of which are in their fourth season and six more in their third year.  Missouri Western has only 22 upperclassmen on its roster this season.  They have 14 juniors and eight seniors.
 
DOMINANT AWAY FROM THE SPRATT
MWSU has been a much better team away from Spratt Stadium under Coach Williamson than they have been a home team.  The Griffons have won 11 straight games away from The Spratt.  Nine are true road games and two neutral site games at the Live United Bowl.  Missouri Western started Coach Williamson tenure by going 1-6 in the first seven road games and they have lost away from St. Joseph since week 2 of 2018.  MWSU has had struggles at home though in recent years as they've gone just 8-9 overall under Coach Williamson and they're 2-6 at Spratt Stadium in their last eight home games.