Nov. 17, 2014
Missouri State Game Notes 
| UNI Game Notes
- Missouri State takes on its fifth straight ranked opponent Saturday (Nov. 22) when it closes out the 2014 campaign against No. 11 UNI in a 4 p.m. (CST) game at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
- Under head coach Terry Allen, the Bears are 5-3 in season finales; MSU has lost eight straight against the Panthers and seven consecutive road games in the series.
- Allen brings a 48-8 (.857) career record in the UNI-Dome into Saturday's contest, but is 0-4 in Cedar Falls since taking over the reins of the MSU program.
- UNI will be the Bears' seventh ranked opponent of the season, all of which have come during MVFC play; the seven ranked foes represent the most MSU has ever faced in a single season.
- MSU's 2014 schedule is rated as the fifth toughest in the nation by NCAA in terms of cumulative opposition win percentage; the Bears' 12 opponents have posted a .628 win percentage to date.
- Gannon Sinclair hauled in his seventh scoring pass of the season Saturday and needs only one more TD reception to match the MSU single-season mark currently shared by Jeff Hewitt (1998), Steven Rush (2004) and Jermaine Saffold (2011).
- Julian Burton's 145 career receptions is just five shy of Clay Harbor's Missouri State record; additionally, Burton has caught at least one pass in 31 straight games, which is tied for the third-longest such streak in school history.
- Calan Crowder rushed for 44 yards vs. NDSU to eclipse Kingjack Washington's MSU freshman record of 674 yards; Crowder leads the team with an average of 62.2 rushing yards per game, which is good for 10th in the MVFC.
- Caleb Schaffitzel ranks fourth in the MVFC in total tackles per game (8.3) and fifth in the league in passes defended (1.09); Dylan Cole's season total of 13.5 tackles for loss is the fourth-best in the conference.
- Behind the punting of Chris Sullens, Missouri State leads the conference in net punting average (39.2) during MVFC play; Sullens ranks third overall in league play with an average of 42.1 yards per punt, while a league-high 31 of his school-record 73 punts have been downed inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
Missouri State will close the books on its 103rd season of varsity football Saturday (Nov. 22) when it travels to Cedar Falls, Iowa for a 4 p.m. game against the UNI Panthers at the UNI-Dome. MSU, which has dropped four consecutive games and six total contests against ranked opponents this season, will be looking for its first win over the Panthers since 2005.
Conversely, UNI has posted four consecutive victories since starting the season 3-4. The Panthers have won 15 of the previous 17 games against the Bears in Cedar Falls and 29 of the previous 34 games in the series overall.
Missouri State has endured a series of frustrating outcomes on the heels of a 3-1 start that saw the Bears earn their first Top 25 ranking since 1997. MSU has sustained six losses to ranked opponents in league play, four of which have been by 10 points or less. Receiver Julian Burton and quarterback Kierra Harris have turned in strong senior seasons for MSU, with Burton just nine receptions shy of the school's single-season record. Harris, meanwhile, has thrown for 19 touchdowns and ran for a team-high seven more.
The Panthers are keyed by a stout defense that ranks among the FCS's leaders in rushing defense (94.5 ypg) and team sacks (42). Jake Farley ranks second in the MVFC in tackles (8.5), while David Johnson leads an efficient offensive attack with 104.4 rushing yards and a league-best 169.5 all-purpose yards per contest. UNI's offense has converted 37 of 38 scoring chances in the red zone this season to lead the nation.
Northern Iowa has dominated the all-time series, 29-5, including a 15-2 record all-time in Cedar Falls. Missouri State's last win in Cedar Falls came via a 24-21 decision on Oct. 3, 1998. UNI has won seven in a row at home against MSU since then.
Last year in Springfield, the Panthers ended MSU's four-game win streak to end the year with a 17-10 victory over the Bears. David Johnson rushed for 167 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead the UNI attack, while the Bears were led by Andrew Beisel and Caelb Schaffitzel with 16 and 15 tackles, respectively in the season finale.
While the UNI-Dome has proven to be an inhospitable environment for the Bears over the years, the home of the Panthers has been historically kind to MSU head coach Terry Allen, who brings a 48-8 career mark in the dome into Saturday's game. The former UNI head coach posted a remarkable .923 home win percentage in his eight seasons leading the Panthers, including a 25-game win streak in the dome (1989-92).
Furthermore, two additional MSU staffers with ties to the UNI will be returning to familiar territory this weekend. Defensive coordinator D.J. Vokolek served under UNI head coach Mark Farley from 2003-05, before joining Allen's initial MSU staff. Defensive backs coach B.J. Stotser played under both Farley and Vokolek in the UNI secondary druing his own collegiate playing career, spanning the 2001-05 seasons.
North Dakota State rode a season-best rushing day from John Crockett and a big performance from its defense to score 42 unanswered points against Missouri State in a decisive 45-10 victory. Crockett plowed through the Bears' defense for 177 yards on 27 carries, while quarterback Carson Wentz recovered from a shaky start to toss five touchdown passes for the fourth-ranked Bison.
It was the play of the North Dakota State defense that set the tone for the Bison's lopsided victory, however. NDSU limited the Bears to 240 yards of total offense, including a season-low 12 first downs, and held MSU scoreless for over 38 minutes to give its offense time to click. The NDSU defense would not yield a scoring drive without the help of a turnover until early in the fourth period, with the Bison already holding a commanding 42-3 lead.
Crockett, who also caught two passes for 49 yards, registered 226 all-purpose yards in the game, and Wentz completed 15-of-22 passes for 247 yards after failing to record a single completion in the opening quarter.
Defense was the name of the game for both squads in the opening quarter, as the two offenses combined for just 62 yards of total offense and three first downs over the first 15 minutes of play. MSU's defense struck the first blow on NDSU's second possession of the day, as Andrew Beisel stepped in front of a Wentz pass at the NDSU 29 and returned the ball all the way to the Bison 3.
The visitors stood their ground, however, stopping Calan Crowder for a loss of a yard and forcing a pair of incompletions to limit the damage to a 21-yard Marcelo Bonani field goal.
North Dakota State took advantage of a short field to put its first points of the game on the board early in the second period. Crockett, one of the few offensive participants to enjoy any success in the opening half, carried the load for the Bison on a 12-play drive that ate 6:35 off the clock. NDSU's senior running back toted the ball seven times for 32 yards, including a six-yard jaunt that put the Bison in the end zone with 7:55 to play in the half.
With just one completion on the day through the first 27 minutes of the game, Wentz suddenly heated up to lead NDSU to pay dirt again. After Crockett ripped off a 16-yard run to the Bison 48, Wentz connected on five consecutive pass attempts - the biggest of which came to Zach Vraa, who was ruled to have pulled in a catch near the sideline for a 20-yard gain that moved the sticks to the MSU 27. Wentz hit Vraa two more times for a total of 14 yards, before the junior's strike to Connor Wentz resulted in a 13-yard scoring play and a 14-3 Bison lead.
With just over one minute left on the clock, the Bears attempted to mount a late drive. But Harris's third-down pass was picked off by Travis Beck and the MSU 37 and returned 21 yards. Wentz needed just one play to cash in for NDSU, finding a wide-open Andrew Bonnet for a 16-yard scoring completion with just 22 seconds to play.
Harris completed 12-of-23 passes for 141 yards on the day, becoming the fifth MSU quarterback to surpass the 4,000-yard mark in career passing yardage. Additionally, Crowder finished his day with 44 rushing yards to increase his season total to 684, which eclipsed the Missouri State freshman rushing record set by Kingjack Washington (674) in 2007.
