Now the job gets a little harder.

After losing a close one to Life and winning a close one over Davenport, Lindenwood looks to unseat Life at home, and perhaps put them in a position to win the Mid-South.

For former Parkway HS product Akbar Usmanov, it all comes down to the battle up front. He’s think that, of course, because he’s a tighthead prop, but he may well be right. Up against a hard-nosed Davenport front row that included USA-hopeful Angus MacLellan, Lindenwood did the job and won by four. 

“It was a really physical game and a lot going on in the scrums and rucks,” said Usmanov. “We expected it would be tough and I think overall we did pretty well. They had Angus up there and we took them on and held our own in the scrums.”

Holding steady in the scrums, Lindenwood needed to figure out what was going on in the lineouts Davenport didn’t pop the ball off the top as many teams do, but brought it down. The Lindenwood forwards were initially unsure how to deal with this, and continued also to struggle in other aspects of the breakdown - mostly running afoul of the referee’s definition of what is a legal poach.

“We talked about it and adjusted,” said Usmanov. “We needed to retreat more when there was a ruck and we did that, and I think the adaptations we made for the second half were a big part of why we won.”

But making adjustments might not be enough against Life.

“We have to light the fuse first,” said the prop. “We can’t come out flat and figure it out at halftime. Not against Life.”