The Lindenwood Lions held their final training camp practice before the start of the 2023 season, Saturday night at Hunter Stadium. (Photo: Cedric Williams)
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
ST. CHARLES, MO — The Lindenwood University football team held its final training camp practice before the start of the 2023 season, Saturday night at Hunter Stadium.
It was an open practice, giving fans and media their first chance to see what the new-look Lindenwood Lions might look like this season.
A crowd of nearly 500 people attended and watched the Lions play a simulated four-quarter game, where the first, second, and third team offenses battled their counterparts from the defense. Head coach Jed Stugart conducted the show, mostly by standing behind the offense on each play, while his assistants ran things on the sidelines.
Lindenwood will play its first real game of the season on Thursday, August 31, and everyone around the team seemed very excited about getting the season started.
“It is the exciting time of the year,” Stugart said, following a night where the offense scored five touchdowns and kicked four field goals, while the defense made seven stops, and returned an interception for a touchdown. “We’ve all been working so hard this offseason. All the workouts. All the meetings. All the coaches. All the players. We’ve all been just working getting ready for now. We’re all so excited about getting this thing started.”
One of the most exciting aspects of Saturday night’s open practice was the chance to see Lindenwood’s new starters in action. The Lions lost several key players from last year’s 7-3 team and will have many new faces all over the field.
The most obvious new starter will be at quarterback, where longtime backup Cole Dugger will finally get his chance to start.
Dugger was a premium high school standout in his days at Owasso High in Owasso, Okla., — a four-star performer according to 24/7 Sports — but found himself waiting in the wings behind four-year starter Cade Brister. Lots of players find themselves in that situation when they get to college, and instead of waiting, many choose to transfer to another school to get a spot on the field.
But Dugger chose to stay at Lindenwood and wait his turn. And it was obvious, watching him during the practice, that the 6’2 redshirt junior is excited about getting his chance to start and lead the team.
“It was tough. It really was,” Dugger said. “But I never really thought about leaving. I love it here. I’ve loved it since I got here. I always knew this was where I wanted to be and where I wanted to play. And I feel like I’m ready to be the guy to lead this team and lead this offense, you know, as we get started with a new year.”
Though this season is Dugger’s first chance to begin the year as the starting QB, it won’t be his first chance to play for Lindenwood. He’s appeared in 15 games over the course of his career, including several starts back in 2021 when Brister was injured.
In that time, Dugger has shown he can do the job. It was limited duty, but Dugger does have 49 completions for 749 yards and 12 touchdown passes. He also has one rushing touchdown, which came in 2021.
But it was even before then that Stugart knew Dugger would be ready when his turn came.
“I knew he’d be ready after what he showed us his freshman year,” Stugart said. “Cade got hurt in the middle of a big game. We’re on the road against top 10 ranked University of Indianapolis. It’s third and long, we’re in trouble. Cade gets hurt, so we have to send Cole out there. And on his first play, they blitz, and he stands in there and launches a perfect long pass. We get the completion. We score. We win the game. That’s when I knew, there’s no reason to doubt Cole Dugger. This kid is ready.”
Other new starters on the offense will include receivers Spencer Redd, Jeff Caldwell, and Ronnie Thomas, Jr., and Colorado State transfer center George Miki-Han. But the Lions will also have several players returning from last year’s starting unit, including preseason all-conference selections Ethan Johnson and Gareth Warren, and tight end Chase Lanckriet.
“We’ve got a lot of new faces for sure,” Dugger said. “But I’ve seen that I can trust all these guys. We’ve got playmakers everywhere. A bunch of these guys are like me. They’ve been waiting their turn, and they’ve been working their butts off to be ready to go now that that time is here. We’ve worked together so much that we’ve learned how each other plays and we’re ready to go out there and do it on the field.”
Lanckreit and Redd are the top two returning receiving targets. The 6-5 tight end had 26 catches for 321 yards and two touchdowns last year, while Redd had 16 catches for 177 yards. Redd will also serve as Lindenwood’s top punt and kickoff return man, where he scored three touchdowns (two punts, one kickoff) in 2021.
On defense, Lindenwood has a number of key returnees, including defensive line standouts Moses Ale and Kobe McClendon, and defensive back core of Darion Bolden, Wesley Hines, Mann McGruder, and Jayden Patrick.
Lindenwood’s linebackers will be a completely new starting crew, featuring redshirt sophomore Matt Barnett, redshirt freshman Khalid Stewart, and another transfer from Colorado State in 6’2, 230-pound redshirt junior Devon Edwards.
“We’re gonna be leaning on those guys a lot,” Stugart said. “We’ve got some guys returning and we’ve got some new faces over there, but they’ve working hard to learn each other and learn how we play. What I’m most excited about is the size we have over there. We noticed last year, we were just a little small on that side of the ball. So we wanted to get some guys with a little more size out there. And we like what who we’ve got over there. We’ve got good depth too. We’ve got a good group for sure.”
Lindenwood’s Thursday night opener will be against Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Kickoff at Hunter Stadium that evening is set for 7 p.m.
“We’re ready to go,” Stugart said. “Our guys have been waiting and working for eight months for this. We’re ready to get this going.”
| 2023 Lindenwood Lions Football Schedule |
| Thu., August 31 — vs. Wisconsin-Stevens Point — 7 pm |
| Sat., September 9 — at Southeast Missouri State* — 6 pm |
| Sat., September 16 — at Western Illinois — 6 pm |
| Sat., September 23 — at Illinois State — 12 pm |
| Sat., September 30 — vs. Austin Peay — 1 pm |
| Sat., October 7 — vs. Tennessee Tech* — 6 pm |
| Sat., October 14 — at Charleston Southern* — 3 pm |
| Sat., October 28 — at Tennessee State* — 2 pm |
| Sat., November 4 — vs. Eastern Illinois* — 2 pm |
| Sat., November 11 — vs. Bryant* — 1 pm |
| * – denotes Big South-Ohio Valley Conference game |
| All Lindenwood home games will be played at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium |