Sept. 1, 2014
Missouri State Game Notes 
| Oklahoma State Game Notes
Game 2 | Missouri State Bears (1-0) at Oklahoma State Cowboys (0-1)
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| Date | Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014 |
| Location | Boone Pickens Stadium (60,218) | Stillwater, Okla. |
| Fan Information | Game 2 Tickets | BearWear | MSU Season Tickets | Browser Theme |
| Television | FOX Sports Net with Mark Followill, Brian Baldinger and Lesley McCaslin | National Clearances | FOX Sports Plus (Mediacom 126, AT&T U-verse 695 and 1695, DirecTV 671-1, Dish Network 443 and 9581) and FOX Sports Kansas City |
| Radio | Missouri State Radio Network with Art Hains and Rob Bolks |
Online
| OSU Video Stream  | Live Audio Stream  |
MissouriStateBears.com
|  | Football Home Page |
| Connect | @MissouriStBears  | @MoStateFootball | Bears on Facebook  | Bears on Instagram  |
All-Time Series
| Oklahoma State leads 6-0 | Last meeting: OSU 57, MSU 13 (9/13/2008) |
Next Week
| Missouri State vs. North Dakota (Black Out & Home Opener) (Sept. 13, 6 p.m.) |
- The Missouri State Bears will be seeking their first-ever win against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium Saturday when the two teams square off in a 2:30 p.m. game that will be televised by FSN.
- Since moving to Division I status in 1982, Missouri State is 1-29 all-time against FBS programs; the Bears' sole FBS
win in that time frame came at UNLV (31-24) on Sept. 1, 1990. - MSU's season-opening 34-27 win at Northwestern State marked its biggest come-from-behind victory since Nov. 19, 2011, when the Bears overcame a 27-10 deficit to topple Youngstown State by a 38-34 score.
- The Bears' victory in Natchitoches extended their road win streak to three games; MSU defeated Western Illinois (38-27 on Oct. 26) and Southern Illinois (37-27 on Nov. 9) in its final two road games of the 2013 season.
- MSU has not posted a four-game road win streak since October 1997, when it topped Illinois State (Oct. 26, 1996), Indiana State (Nov. 16, 1996), Jacksonville State (Sept. 6, 1997) and Southern Illinois (Oct. 4, 1997).
- The Bears received 24 points in this week's FCS Coaches Poll, good for the 29th best total in the country; MSU is one of seven MVFC squads receiving votes in the poll, including five clubs that rank in the Top 25 this week.
- All-America safety Caleb Schaffitzel stopped eight NSU ballcarriers last week and the Fair Grove, Mo., product enters Saturday's game just two tackles shy of the 300-mark for his career.
- With his team-leading 261 total yards vs. Northwestern State, quarterback Kierra Harris cracked MSU's career top 10 for total offense (3,024); the senior ranks ninth on the Bears' all-time completions (223) list as well.
- Senior receiver Julian Burton moved into the Bears' career top 10 for all-purpose yardage with a 219-yard game in week one; he needs just eight more yards to match Steven Rush (2,807) in the No. 9 spot and 92 yards to catch former teammate Jermaine Saffold (2,891) in the eighth position on the chart.
- Burton brings an active streak of 21 consecutive games with at least one pass reception into Saturday's game, which represents the sixth-longest in school history; he also ranks just outside MSU's top 10 for career receiving yardage (12th) and receptions (13th) lists.
- Freshman defensive lineman Colby Isbell was named MVFC Newcomer of the Week and The College Sporting News FCS National Newcomer of the Week for his efforts in the season opener at Northwestern State in which he forced a pivotal turnover at the goal line, returned the fumble, blocked a field goal and brought down two ball carriers.
After rallying from a 17-point second-half deficit to knock off Northwestern State last week, the Missouri State Bears return to the road for a non-conference match-up against the Oklahoma State Cowboys Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla. MSU claimed a 34-27 victory over NSU in Natchitoches for its first season-opening road win since 1990--a 31-24 decision over UNLV that also represents the Bears' lone win over a Division I FBS opponent. Oklahoma State, meanwhile, came up on the short end of a 37-31 decision against defending FBS national champion and top-ranked Florida State Saturday.
Saturday's game at Oklahoma State will be Missouri State's seventh trip to Boone Pickens Stadium, where they have appeared two previous times under head coach Terry Allen (2006 and 2008). Allen has led the Bears against a Big 12 opponent in six of his nine seasons at MSU. Among the memorable moments in the Bears' series against the Cowboys was a 23-20 loss in 1996, the first official overtime game in Division I FBS history. The Bears have averaged 10.0 points per game in their six previous trips to OSU.
The Bears welcome back 34 lettermen and 12 starters back from a 2013 squad that 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.
Saturday's game at Oklahoma State will be Missouri State's seventh trip to Boone Pickens Stadium, where they have appeared two previous times under head coach Terry Allen (2006 and 2008). Allen has led the Bears against a Big 12 opponent in six of his nine seasons at MSU. Among the memorable moments in the Bears' series against the Cowboys was a 23-20 loss in 1996, the first official overtime game in Division I FBS history. The Bears have averaged 10.0 points per game in their six previous trips to OSU.
Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 6-0, including a 57-13 win over the Bears in the most-recent outing on Sept. 13, 2008.
Missouri State head coach Terry 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, he 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 129-115 (.529) in his 22nd year as a head coach and 34-56 (.378) in his ninth season 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).
He is 0-5 all-time against Oklahoma State -- 0-3 while at Kansas and 0-2 with the Bears.
Allen recorded his 60th career MVFC victory with MSU's 37-10 win over Illinois State on Sept. 28, 2013. 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 Missouri Valley Football Conference victories.
Missouri State kicked off the 2014 season in grand style, rallying from a 17-point second-half deficit to pull out a 34-27 victory over Northwestern State at Turpin Stadium. Kierra Harris matched a career high by passing for three touchdowns, including a 13-yard scoring strike to Gannon Sinclair with just over five minutes remaining in the game to put the Bears on top for good.
Trailing 24-7 midway through the third period with Northwestern State nearing the goal line once more, the Bears received the first of two key defensive plays by freshman Colby Isbell that helped turn the tide in MSU's favor. After NSU quarterback Zach Adkins passed for 223 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the first half to stake the Demons to 17-point leads on two different occasions, the home team picked up right where it left off to start the second half, as the Demons moved the ball inside the Bears' 5-yard line with a 14-play drive that covered 85 yards.
But Isbell stripped a hard-charging Garrett Atzenweiler of the football at the goal line, then scooped up the loose ball to thwart the scoring threat and provide perhaps the biggest momentum swing of the night.
Harris and the Bears offense followed with their best drive of the night, marching 97 yards on 14 plays to find pay dirt, using a 15-yard Harris touchdown toss to Eric Christophel to slice the NSU lead to 24-14 with 3:00 left in the third period. MSU's senior signal-caller led the charge, reeling off first-down runs of seven yards or more on three separate occasions, before capping the drive with his second TD pass of the game.
After NSU's Chris Moore booted his second field goal of the game -- a 44-yarder -- just six seconds into the fourth quarter, Harris went to work through the air this time, hooking up with Burton on a 61-yard pass play that set up the Bears with a first and goal at the NSU 4. Three plays later, Harris took it over the goal line himself to draw the Bears to within 27-21 at the 13:23 mark.
NSU had a chance to put the game away on its ensuing drive when Adkins connected with Ed Eagan for a pair of key completions to move the ball to the Bears' 35. But the MSU defense held, this time forcing a 48-yard try by Moore that would have stretched the lead to nine points with just over nine minutes to play. Once again, Isbell played the role of spoiler, getting a hand on Moore's kick to leave it well short of the goal posts to set up his offense for one final push.
It would be the tandem of Calan Crowder and Sinclair who would keep the Demons on their collective heals throughout the decisive drive. Harris hit Sinclair with a 14-yard pass to the bring the Bears past midfield, before Crowder would chew up 30 yards on the ground over the following eight plays to move the ball to the NSU 19. The third prong of the Bears' second-half ground attack -- Phoenix Johnson -- picked up six yards to give MSU a first down at the 13, and Sinclair took over from there, hauling in Harris' pass and stretching the ball across the goal line for the go-ahead touchdown with 5:15 to play.
MSU will come home for the inaugural game at the newly-renovated Robert W. Plaster Stadium to take on visiting North Dakota at 6 p.m. The NEW BearFest Village pregame tailgating party starts at 3 p.m., with free postgame fireworks and special events throughout the evening at the "Black Out" event against UND.
