Sept. 8, 2014
Missouri State Game Notes 
| North Dakota Game Notes
- The Missouri State Bears will be seeking their first 2-1 start to a season in five years Saturday when they open the home portion of their 2014 schedule against North Dakota at Robert W. Plaster Stadium.
- The Bears are 4-4 in home openers under their ninth-year head coach Terry Allen; Allen is 8-1 all-time against teams from the Big Sky Conference.
- MSU will be playing its first home game since Plaster Stadium underwent a massive makeover during the offseason; the Bears are 205-155-12 (.568) in 72 seasons at Plaster.
- The Bears have piled recorded at least 20 first downs in each of their first two contests after doing so just twice in 12 games last fall; MSU's offense has recorded seven plays that have netted at least 25 yards.
- MSU has also logged six scoring drives of 65 yards or more, four of which have covered at least 10 plays.
- The Bears received 17 points in this week's FCS Coaches Poll, good for the 30th 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.
- Sophomore linebacker Dylan Cole set a Missouri State single-game record with 6.0 tackles for loss in last week's game at Oklahoma State; that total rates as the sixth-highest in FCS history and second all-time among MVFC players.
- Kierra Harris leads the MVFC and ranks fifth nationally with 5 touchdown passes through the first two games of the season; additionally Harris's 170.2 pass efficiency rating is the sixth-best in the FCS ranks to date, while the senior also ranks among the top 25 in points responsible for, passing yards per completion and total offense per game.
- After moving into the Bears' career top 10 for all-purpose yardage (2,915) in the season opener, senior receiver Julian Burton cracked MSU's top 10 for pass receptions (102) and receiving yardage (1,446) in last week's game; He needs 90 additional all-purpose yards to become the seventh player in school history to reach the 3,000-yard mark.
- Burton, who leads the MVFC in both total receiving yards (226) and receiving touchdowns (3) this season, brings an active streak of 22 consecutive games with at least one pass reception into Saturday's game, which represents the fourth-longest in school history.
Missouri State ushers in a new era in its 103-year football history Saturday (Sept. 13) when the Bears (1-1) dedicate the newly-renovated (and renamed) Robert W. Plaster Stadium with a 6:05 p.m. non-conference game against North Dakota (1-1). The Bears split a pair of road games to start the season, storming from behind to defeat Northwestern State (Aug. 28) in the opener, before giving Big 12 power Oklahoma State (Sept. 6) a battle in an eventual 40-23 setback.
MSU, which saw its three-game road win streak come to an end last weekend in Stillwater, will be seeking its first 2-1 start to a season since 2009. On the offensive side of the ball, the Bears have been sparked by the play of quarterback Kierra Harris, who has thrown for five touchdowns in the first two contests of the year to rank fifth nationally. His top target, Julian Burton, has hauled in three of those scoring passes, as well as 226 receiving yards this season. Defensively, linebacker Dylan Cole registered a school-record 6.0 tackles for loss at OSU and ranks third in the FCS ranks in that category.
A member of the Big Sky Conference, North Dakota lost a 42-10 decision at San Jose State in its opener before clipping Robert Morris, 16-13, last week. Starting signal-caller Joe Mollberg has thrown for 281 yards so far this year, including six completions to R.J. McGill. Will Ratelle has led UND's defense with 22 tackles to date.
This is the first-ever meeting between the Bears and North Dakota. UND is the only Division I program without an official mascot.
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 129-116 (.527) in his 22nd year as a head coach and 34-57 (.374) 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).
This is his first game against North Dakota.
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.
Oklahoma State took control of a tightly-contested game with a second-quarter offensive surge, then withstood Missouri State's second-half rally for a 40-23 non-conference victory at Boone Pickens Stadium.
Kierra Harris notched his fourth career 200-yard passing game for MSU, completing 14-of-21 passes--including two long touchdown strikes to senior receiver Julian Burton. But Oklahoma State received a lift from backup quarterback Daxx Garman, who came through with a series of clutch third-down completions, while the Cowboys' defense held the Bears scoreless for over 30 minutes to seal the first victory of the season for OSU.
After being out-gained by Missouri State in the first quarter, OSU (1-1) racked up 179 yards of offense in the second quarter and reeled off 27 unanswered points to establish a 37-6 lead before the Bears (1-1) would score 17 of the game's final 20 points.
MSU, which posted its best offensive day in its all-time series with OSU, notched its highest point total against an NCAA FBS opponent since 48-24 setback at Kansas State in 2010. Harris finished with 206 passing yards and rushed for 45 more, while Burton caught six passes for a total of 85 yards to extend his streak of consecutive games with at least one reception to 22.
Subbing for injured Cowboys' starting quarterback J.W. Walsh, Garman completed 16-of-26 for 244 yards--158 in the second quarter alone--to lead the decisive OSU onslaught. Garman delivered the biggest blow of the day on a critical 3rd-and-19 play at the OSU 13, finding an open Brandon Sheperd across the middle for a momentum-swinging 87-yard touchdown that turned an 11-point game into a 24-6 Cowboy lead with 6:52 to play in the first half.
Moments earlier, the Bears had appeared poised to cut into the Cowboys' cushion after a 25-yard Calan Crowder rush and a pair of Harris completions moved the ball to the OSU 22. The Cowboys' defense held, however, stifling two MSU runs and forcing an incompletion on third down before the OSU special teams came up with its Big 12 Conference-record third blocked kick of the half on a Marcelo Bonani 39-yard field goal attempt.
MSU's Dylan Cole notched the Bears' first sack of the season on OSU's first play of the ensuing drive, and Garman's second-down pass resulted in a three-yard loss to bring up a 3rd-and-long situation. But Garman hit Sheperd near midfield, and the junior receiver beat a pair of MSU defenders to the goal line to cap the longest Cowboy pass completion since 2008.
Oklahoma State kept the heat on early in the second half, as Garman hit Seales with a 26-yard scoring pass after Tyreek Hill's 44-yard run carried the Cowboys deep into MSU territory. Grogan tacked on another three points on OSU's next possession, capping a 42-yard drive with a 34-yard kick that extended the margin to 37-6.
MSU will close out the non-conference portion of its 2014 schedule with a trip to Southland Conference power Central Arkansas. The 6 p.m. kickoff from First Security Field at Estes Stadium (8,500) will air live on the Missouri State Bears Radio Network.
