Final Stats | Quotes

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Indiana State used a dominant second-half performance against Missouri State to pull away for a 56-28 Missouri Valley Football Conference victory over the Bears Saturday afternoon at Robert W. Plaster Stadium. The No. 24 Sycamores (3-1, 1-0 MVFC) scored 28 unanswered points to overcome a second-quarter deficit and racked up 516 yards of total offense over the final three periods of play.

Missouri State (1-3, 0-1 MVFC) posted a strong start against the nationally-ranked Sycamores, using a pair of early Calan Crowder touchdown runs to take a 14-7 lead in the second quarter. The Bears finished with a season-high 197 passing yards thanks to junior quarterback Brodie Lambert, who completed 26-of-43 attempts, including a late eight-yard scoring pass to Zac Hoover.

But ISU quarterback Matt Adam spearheaded the Sycamores' rebound, completing 27-of-38 passes for 265 yards and four touchdowns, as the visitors outgained the Bears by 326 yards over the final three periods.

The turning point came early in the second period on a fourth down play from the Bears 19, as Roland Genesy broke free for a 19-yard scoring run to erase a seven-point MSU lead. From there, the Sycamores never looked back, scoring three more times--all on pass plays--before Deion Holliman briefly pulled MSU back to within 14 points with a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown with 2:41 left in the third period.

ISU scored again late in the first half to take their first lead of the day, then found the end zone on their first two possessions of the third period to build a 35-14 lead. Wideout Gary Owens, who reeled in the go-ahead scoring pass in the second quarter, completed a 22-yard touchdown strike to Jamar Brown moments after Holliman's return clipped the ISU margin to 35-21.

Adam then tossed two more TD passes to salt away the victory for ISU, which broke the Plaster Stadium scoring record for a Missouri State opponent with a late two-yard run by Taeler Porter.

Despite the lopsided final margin, the MSU offense enjoyed one of its best performances of the season, totaling a season-best for points (28) to go along with 349 total yards. The Bears, who outgained the Sycamores 159 to 28 in total offense in the opening quarter, engineered the first of two long first-half scoring drives on their second possession, marching 76 yards in 10 plays to grab an early advantage. Lambert completed four of his five pass attempts on the drive, including a connection of 17 yards to Crowder and a 23-yard toss to LeMarcus Stewart on a fourth and three play at the ISU 38. Crowder carried it in from two yards out--the first of two touchdown rushes for the sophomore in the opening half--to stake MSU to a 7-0 lead just seven minutes into the game.

With their offense struggling to move the football, the Sycamore defense and special teams joined forces to level the score late in the opening period. After the ISU defense stiffened to stop a Bears drive deep in their own territory, Tyler Denton fielded a short Chris Sullens punt at the MSU 42 and outraced everyone to the end zone for the tying touchdown.

Sullens exacted a bit of revenge on the Bears' ensuing possession, ripping off a 38-yard run around the left end on a fake punt to set up MSU deep in Sycamore territory. Lambert then found Willis Chambers for a nine-yard gain and connected with Hoover for 10 yards to the ISU 19, before Malik Earl gashed the Sycamores for 17 yards on a reverse to set up Crowder's second two-yard plunge of the game.

But Indiana State countered the Bears' big opening period with an offensive surge of its own in the second quarter, beginning with a 75-yard drive that was punctuated by Genesy's fourth-down dash. ISU followed with an 88-yard drive to take the lead for good, highlighted by a 20-yard pass completion from Adam to Robert Tonyan and a 15 yard Kelvin Cook run. Adam capped the drive by finding Owns open in the end zone for a six-yard touchdown pass with just 2:20 to play in the half.

The MSU defense logged 6.0 sacks as a unit, led by 2.0 from Colby Isbell, while Dylan Cole led the Bears for the third straight game with nine total tackles.

Up next, the Bears travel to Carbondale, Ill., for a 6 p.m. MVFC contest with Southern Illinois next Saturday (Oct. 10) at Saluki Stadium.

Noteworthy: Deion Holliman's 58-yard punt return marked the first for a Bear since LeMarcus Stewart returned a blocked punt for a touchdown last year vs. Southern Illinois (Nov. 8)...Calan Crowder established a career high with five receptions, which also matched a Missouri State season high...Punter Chris Sullens led the Bears in rushing thanks to a 38-yard run on a first-quarter punt fake; the rush is the second-longest by a Bear this season...Brodie Lambert's 26 completions marked a personal best for the junior signal caller and tied for the 11th-best single-game total in school history...ISU's 56 points broke the Plaster Stadium scoring record for a Missouri State foe, surpassing the 52 points totaled by Central Missouri (Nov. 8, 1969) and Lincoln (Nov. 18, 1972).