Aug. 25, 2014
Missouri State Game Notes 
| Northwestern State Notes
- The Missouri State Bears kick off their 103rd season of football Thursday (Aug. 28) when they travel to Natchitoches, La., for a 6 p.m. non-conference contest against the Northwestern State Demons at Turpin Stadium.
- Ninth-year head coach Terry Allen returns 34 lettermen and 12 starters from 2013, when his MSU club went 5-3 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference to post its best league finish (t-2nd) since 1996.
- Missouri State will be part of history Thursday, wearing their dark home uniforms for a road game at Northwestern State while the home club will wear white jerseys for the first time ever at Turpin Stadium.
- Northwestern State has taken two of the previous three meetings (all season openers) in the series, with NSU claiming a 24-8 win in Natchitoches in 1988, and the Bears returning the favor the following year with a 20-10 decision over the eighth-ranked Demons at Plaster Field; the Demons claimed the 2013 season opener by a 23-17 score in Springfield.
- Five Bears earned preseason All-MVFC recognition, as returning All-Americans Caleb Schaffitzel and Robert Booker picked up first-team honors, while Andrew Biesel, Zack Cooley and Richard Galbierz were honorable mention selections.
- Both Schaffitzel and Booker were tabbed as the top FCS players at their respective positions in Phil Steele's College Football Preview, as well as preseason All-Americans by a host of organizations; Booker, a third-team AP All-American in 2013, was a first-team preseason pick this year.
- Schaffitzel is a consensus preseason All-America choice for the second straight year after leading the Bears with 111 tackles and four interceptions; the Fair Grove, Mo., product was named to the Buck Buchanan Award watch list.
- The Bears will rely on the quartet of Schaffitzel, Beisel, Mike Crutcher and Christian Hoffmann, with a combined total of 100 career starts, to lead a youthful defense that could feature as many as four freshman starters.
- On the offensive side of the ball, fourth-year quarterback Kierra Harris and senior receiver Julian Burton will
look to improve on strong 2013 performances behind a line that features four returners who started all 12 games last fall. - Burton brings an active streak of 20 consecutive games with at least one pass reception, which represents the seventh-longest in school history; he was also named to the CFPA's Wide Receiver Watch List and ranks just outside the Bears' career top 10 lists for all-purpose yards, receptions and receiving yards.
The 103rd season of Missouri State football gets underway Thursday (Aug. 28), when the Bears travel to Natchitoches, La., to take on the Northwestern State Demons at Turpin Stadium. Ninth-year MSU head coach Terry Allen will have 34 returning lettermen and 12 starters back from the Bears' 2013 squad which won four of its final five games to post a second-place finish in Missouri Valley Football Conference play.
Preseason All-America picks Caleb Schaffitzel and Robert Booker headline the list of returners for the Maroon and White, which finished 5-7 overall a year ago. Both Schafftizel, a senior safety, and Booker, a junior center, were ranked as the top FCS players at their respective positions in Phil Steele's College Football Preview this summer following standout 2013 campaigns that saw each earn All-America honors for the Bears.
Thursday's meeting will mark the second straight season opener for the Bears agaisnt Northwestern State, which defeated MSU by a 23-17 score in Springfield to christen the 2013 campaign. The Demons return a whopping 57 letterwinners, including 14 regular starters, from last year's 6-6 team. Second-year head coach Jay Thomas will ask senior quarterback Zach Adkins--who set seven NSU single-season school records last fall--to once again lead the Demons' offense. On the defensive side of the ball, senior nose tackle Deon Simon leads a unit that ranked second in the Southland Conference in total defense last season.
The Bears and Demons will meet for the fourth time and second year in a row after Northwestern State escaped Springfield with a 23-17 victory in last year's season opener for both clubs. With the win, NSU took a 2-1 edge in the series, which dates back to 1988.
The Bears lost a 24-8 decision to NSU in their only previous trip to Turpin Stadium (9/3/88), before recording a 20-10 win at Plaster Field in the middle of MSU's conference title run in 1989 (9/21/89).
NSU is 3-5 all-time against MVFC programs, while the Bears are 7-20-1 all-time against current members of the Southland. Terry Allen is 0-1 against NSU, and Jay Thomas is 1-0 against the Bears.
Missouri State head coach Terry Allen recorded his 60th career MVFC victory with MSU's 37-10 win over Illinois State on Sept. 28. With a 64-42 record in 16 seasons as a head coach at UNI (1989-96) and Missouri State (2006-present) in league play, Allen trails only current UNI sideline boss Mark Farley (67 wins) in all-time conference victories.
Allen enters the 2014 season 13th in victories among active FCS head coaches and 32nd on the NCAA's all-time FCS victories list. Additionally, Allen sits in third on Missouri State's all-time conference wins list, trailing only Jesse Branch (31 wins) and Rich Johanningmeier (27). Overall, Allen is 128-115 (.527) in his 22nd year as a head coach and 33-56 (.371) in eight years at Missouri State. The 1979 UNI graduate is is a five-time MVFC Coach of the Year and has previous head coaching stints at UNI (1989-96) and Kansas (1997-2001).
This is the 2014 season opener for both the Bears and Demons.
MSU will travel to Oklahoma State on Sept. 6 for a 2:30 p.m., kickoff at Boone Pickens Stadium (60,218). The game will be televised live on FOX Sports Net. OSU and ninth-year head coach Mike Gundy (OSU, 1990) are coming off a 10-3 campaign.
