Sept. 29, 2014
Missouri State Game Notes 
| Youngstown State Game Notes
- No. 23 Missouri State returns to Robert W. Plaster Stadium Saturday to open its 30th Missouri Valley Football Conference season against No. 12 Youngstown State; MSU is 13-16 all-time in MVFC openers after posting a 37-10 win over Illinois State last September that stopped an eight-game losing streak in league lid-lifters.
- Missouri State ranked 23rd in this week's FCS Coaches Poll, marking the second consecutive week they have garnered a Top 25 spot; MSU is one of seven MVFC squads ranking in the Top 25 this week.
- The Bears are 40-22-1 all time as a ranked team at the Division I level, including a 5-9 mark against ranked opponents.
- Saturday's game will mark the first matchup of ranked teams at Plaster Stadium since the Bears (ranked No. 6) played the Penguins (No. 23) on Nov. 9, 1996 -- a 17-13 victory for Youngstown State.
- MSU brings a four-game win streak vs. Youngstown State into Saturday's game; the Bears have averaged 33.0 points per game over the course of the streak after failing to score more than 21 points in all but one of their first 12 meetings with the Penguins.
- Jesse Branch, who coached MSU to back-to-back conference titles and FCS playoff appearances in 1989 and 1990, will lead the team's BearWalk to the field just prior to kickoff. Branch and members of the 1989 team will be recognized at halftime to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the memorable campaign.
- The Bears have scored in 62 consecutive games dating back to Nov. 15, 2008, which represents the third-longest such streak in school history; MSU has suffered just two shutouts since 1991, putting points on the board in 246 of its last 248 contests over the same stretch.
- Kierra Harris leads the MVFC and ranks fourth nationally in yards per pass attempt (9.49) this season; additionally Harris's total of 10 TD passes is the eighth-best in the country and his career total of 24 touchdown tosses is tied for fifth on MSU's career chart.
- Caleb Schaffitzel is the active FCS leader in assisted tackles (181), while Andrew Beisel is second on the same list; Schaffitzel also ranks second on the FCS's total tackles (322) list and fifth in career interceptions (5).
- Julian Burton brings a streak of 24 consecutive games with at least one reception into Saturday's contest, which respresents the fourth-longest in school history.
Off to their best start in seven years and ranked among the nation's top 25 programs for the first time since 1997, the Missouri State Bears return to Robert W. Plaster Stadium this afternoon to renew their rivalry with Youngstown State.
The Bears (3-1) have won seven of their last nine games, dating back to last season, including a thrilling 33-31 win at Central Arkansas on Sept. 20. Marcelo Bonani's 53-yard field goal as time expired lifted the Bears past UCA in Conway after Kierra Harris passed for a career-high 342 yards, and MVFC Offensive Player of the Week Julian Burton snagged 10 passes for 194 yards.
Youngstown State (3-1) comes to Springfield riding a three-game winning streak. The Penguins are led by running back Martin Ruiz, the 2013 MVFC Newcomer of the Year, who averages 113.5 rushing yards per game, while quarterback Dante Nania has thrown for 645 yards and 5 touchdowns so far this fall.
The league rivals have not met since 2011, but MSU has won four straight in the series, which dates back to 1996. YSU has not won in Springfield since 2006.
As part of the #AllieStrong movement on the Missouri State University campus, the Bears' football team will don orange helmet decals this weekend to support MSU softball player Allie Alvstad's, who was recently diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, and to raise awareness of the disease.
Orange is the official awareness color for leukemia.
Senior football players Caleb Schaffitzel and Hunter Hays have taken the lead role in making the helmet modification for Saturday's game.
On Sept. 1, Alvstad, a sophomore from Tulsa, Okla., was admitted to the hospital, and four days later was diagnosed with the disease. Acute myeloid leukemia is a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow in the body.
Alvstad began chemotherapy on Sept. 9 and is awaiting a bone marrow transplant once the chemotherapy has done its job. Orange wristbands with the inscription "Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can't Lose! #AllieStrong" have been distributed to all Missouri State teams, and support from the MSU community has been tremendous.
The softball team will be collecting donations at BearFest Village and Robert W. Plaster Stadium on Saturday to help defray the Alvstad family's medical expenses. The Missouri State Bookstore will also be releasing an exclusive #AllieStrong tshirt at its main location on the Springfield campus, starting Wednesday, with proceeds going to the cause. .
Even though Youngstown State leads the all-time series, 11-5, Missouri State has won four in a row in a series that dates back to 1996. The league rivals have not met since 2011, due to Valley scheduling, meaning YSU's last win over the Bears came back in 2007, and the Penguins' last win in Springfield came in 2006.
Missouri State overcame a 17-point second-half deficit to dash YSU's playoff hopes in the most-recent meeting (11/19/11) in Youngstown, Ohio. The Bears rallied for a 38-34 victory in that game with Trevor Wooden's 2-yard touchdown pass to Cadarrius Dotson with 10 seconds left serving as the game-winning score.
MSU is 3-5 all-time at Plaster Stadium against the Penguins.
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 Northern Iowa (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 entered 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 131-116 (.530) in his 22nd year as a head coach and 36-57 (.387) in nine 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).
Missouri State, which has won seven of its last nine games, is coming off its only idle week of the 2014 season.
Two weeks ago at Central Arkansas, Marcelo Bonani's 53-yard field goal as time expired lifted Missouri State to a 33-31 victory over UCA, capping a wild finish at Estes Stadium. A battered Kierra Harris drove the Bears 43 yards in the final minute before Bonani's career-long kick sealed MSU's first 3-1 start in seven years.
After UCA scored on a Willie Matthews 1-yard touchdown run with 59 seconds left in regulation to take a one-point lead, Harris hooked up with Julian Burton three times for a total of 44 yards on the game's deciding drive to move the Bears within Bonani's striking distance. The biggest blow came on a second-and-6 play at the MSU 40, when Harris connected with Burton across the middle for a 29-yard gain that carried the ball to the UCA 31.
Out of timeouts with just 20 seconds to play, Missouri State was whistled for a false start on the ensuing play as Harris attempted to spike the ball. A mandatory 10-second runoff and an incomplete pass left the Bears needing their longest field goal in five years to pull out the victory.
Bonani, who missed an extra-point late in the first half, redeemed himself by wedging a kick just inside the left upright, setting off a jubilant celebration on the MSU sideline. The 53-yarder tied Bonani for the sixth-longest field goal in Bears history, and MSU's longest since Matt Hottelman connected from the same distance at Arkansas in 2009.
The heart-stopping win handed the Bears their best start to a season since 2007, and capped career nights for both Harris and Burton, who helped MSU notch its most productive offensive performance in four years with 579 yards of total offense. Harris, who left the game for three plays late in the third quarter after being shaken up, logged a personal-best 342 yards on 20-of-35 passing, including two touchdowns passes and two more rushing scores. Burton, meanwhile, hauled in 10 catches to tie eight others for the fourth-best single-game total in school history, totaling 194 receiving yards-both career highs for the senior receiver.
Despite the dramatic rally, the Bears appeared poised to lock down the win with a strong second-half push that saw them build a 10-point fourth-quarter lead. After trailing by a point at halftime, MSU scored 14 of the first 17 points after the break to take a 27-17 point lead midway through the final period.
UCA went to work immediately, needing just five plays and 1:21 of clock time to cover 63 yards and cut the lead to three on Matthews' 13-yard scoring run 7:48 to play. Missouri State answered with a 12-play drive of its own that chewed up 4:15 and ended with a 34-yard Bonani field goal with 3:32 left on the clock.
Needing to stop UCA on a fourth-and-10 to seal the victory, MSU permitted Howard to find Desmond Smith for a 26-yard gain to midfield. Howard then hit Courtney Whitehead for 13 yards, before back-to-back 12-yard rushes moved the chains to the MSU 13 before Matthews pushed the pile over the goal line and Denker's PAT put the home team on top, 31-30.
After a 21-yard kick return by Burton and an incompletion on first down, Harris found his favorite target for two yards, then again for 13 more to set up the biggest play of the series.
MSU will continue Missouri Valley Conference play on Saturday, Oct. 11 when the Bears travel to South Dakota State for a 6 p.m., kickoff at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium (15,000). The Bears' 35-21 win over the Jackrabbits last year at Plaster Field is their only win in the series that dates back to 2008.
