Mules football returned to practice last week to prepare for its 2018 campaign in which they have already garnered national attention.

The Mules enter the season ranked 18th in the American Football Coaches Association preseason top-25 rankings and were picked to finish third in the MIAA behind Northwest Missouri State and Fort Hays State in both the media and coaches polls. Central Missouri received first-place votes in both polls.

The Mules return four All-Americans from a season ago when they finished 8-3 and capped the season with a 38-28 win over Minnesota-Duluth in the Mineral Water Bowl. Among them is senior quarterback Brook Bolles, who returns for his final year after putting up a monstrous stat line last season. Bolles used his arm and ability to carry the ball to rack up more than 4,000 yards of total offense to lead the country.

Bolles won’t have to do it all by himself though. Fellow All-American Devante Turner will look

to continue his success from 2017 when he carried the ball for 972 yards and 17 touchdowns while averaging 6.2 yard per carry.

“We don’t have any reason to believe Turner can’t have just as much if not more success than he did last season,” said head coach Jim Svoboda. “He’s another year older and stronger now.”

On top of both offensive weapons, the Mules possess a strong corps of offensive linemen to ensure that Bolles and Turner are given ample space to keep putting up numbers.

The defensive side of the ball is where the Mules need to improve if they want to compete for the top spot in the MIAA. At the MIAA Media Day at Children’s Mercy Park last month, Svoboda said the defense was not in the right spot by the end of last season.

“We had an intersquad game on Saturday and we already see the defense improving when it comes to penalties and creating turnovers,” Svoboda said.

Svoboda said the team lacked leadership at points. He said getting guys to become leaders and bringing the younger, less experienced players along is important to the team’s success, especially on defense. Svoboda highlighted senior linebackers Austin Miller and Mike Tannehill as players he expects to use experience to help the defense as a whole. Miller led the team in sacks last season with four while converting two turnovers to touchdowns for the Mules defense.

With the juggernaut-like offense and improved defense, the Mules have the look of a team ready to enter the fray with Northwest Missouri State and Fort Hays State and compete for the top spot in the conference.

The first game of the regular season will serve as an excellent test as the Mules will travel to Hays, Kansas, to take on the defending conference champions. Fort Hays State dominated the Mules 35-6 in their meeting last season.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Svoboda said. “They had a really good team last year and we didn’t play nearly as good as we could have.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 30 at Lewis Field in Hays, Kansas.