Sept. 7, 2015
- The Missouri State Bears open their 2015 home schedule Saturday (Sept. 12) with a 2:04 p.m. non-conference game against the Chadron State Eagles at Robert W. Plaster Stadium; the Bears are 23-8-2 in home openers since their move to the Division I ranks in 1982
- First-year Missouri State head coach Dave Steckel will make his home debut Saturday; Bears head coaches have previously gone 11-6-2 in their first home contests with MSU
- MSU will be opening its 74th season at Plaster Stadium with an all-time record of 207-158-12 (.565) at the facility
- Last season, the Bears averaged 11,665 spectators per home contest to rank 18th in all of NCAA Division I FCS football; MSU set a program single-game record with their home-opening crowd of 18,386 vs. North Dakota
- Not only will Saturday's home opener highlight Missouri State's Family Weekend, but the game has also been designated as MSU's annual "White Out" game
- Senior punter Chris Sullens broke the Bears' career record for punt yardage at Memphis, surpassing Jordan Chiles' all-time mark of 8,986; Sullens is just 14 punts short of Warren Baker's MSU career record of 239 total punts
- A total of 13 MSU freshmen saw action in last Saturday's season opener at Memphis, including five starters; 12 redshirt freshmen and one true freshman played in the contest
- Senior center Robert Booker made his 25th consecutive start on the Bears' offensive line Saturday; Dylan Cole stretched his string of starting assignments to 22 straight, while Christian Hoffmann ran his streak of consecutive starts to 20 in a row
- A total of seven players made their first starts for the Bears Saturday, including quarterback Breck Ruddick, offensive tackles Aaron Clardy and Jordan Turner, guard Jake Lasater, linebacker Alexz Jones and safeties Anthony Upchurch and Jared Beshore
- With four receptions apiece vs. Memphis, both Malik Earl and LeMarcus Stewart established single-game highs; Earl hauled in a two-yard scoring strike from Ruddick for the Bears' lone touchdown of the game--and the first career TD pass and catch for each
Bears Set to Open 2015 Home Slate
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After a forgettable season opener at FBS American Athletic Conference favorite Memphis last weekend, the Missouri State Bears will be shooting for a home opener to remember this Saturday (Sept. 12) at Robert W. Plaster Stadium when they host the Division II Chadron State Eagles as part of MSU's Family Weekend.
Memphis rolled to four first-quarter touchdowns en route to building a 49-point lead last Saturday in an eventual 63-7 victory over the Bears. MSU was limited to 125 yards of total offense in the loss, while the Tigers topped the 300-yard rushing mark and totaled 519 total yards of offense. Breck Ruddick completed 14-of-24 passes in his collegiate debut as the Bears' starting quarterback, connecting with Malik Earl on a two-yard touchdown pass for MSU's lone score of the contest.
Chadron State enjoyed a big offensive showing in its 40-27 season-opening victory at Missouri S&T last week. Fourth-year head coach Jay Long's Eagles rushed for 278 yards, including 132 from Cody Paul, while TD Stein passed for 206 yards.
Missouri State welcomed a host of new faces to its opening night lineup Saturday, as 13 freshmen saw game action against Memphis, including five starters. Overall, 11 different players made their MSU debuts in Dave Steckel's inaugural contest as the Bears' head coach.
The newly-renovated Robert W. Plaster Stadium opened to rave reviews last fall, as the Bears drew 58,324 fans through the turnstiles in their five home contests, an average of 11,665 per game -- good for 18th nationally. The club's net total attendance last fall marked its best in five-game home schedule since 1996 and the top season figure overall since 2007.
A record-drawing crowd of 18,386 witnessed Missouri State's 38-0 victory over North Dakota (Sept. 13) in its 2014 home opener. The standing-room-only crowd translated to 105 percent of the stadium's new capacity and represented the top home crowd in Bears' history, surpassing the previous 17-year-old record of 16,672, established Aug. 28, 1997 vs. Pittsburg State. The opening-night attendance also equaled the 26th-largest crowd -- home or away -- to see a Missouri State football game in the 103-year history of the program.
MSU is expected to challenge the single-game record crowd again this Saturday, with just a handful of reserved seats available as of Monday.
Sullens Solidifies Spot in Record Book
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Senior punter Chris Sullens eclipsed the Missouri State career record for punting yardage (9,060) in Saturday's season-opening setback at Memphis, passing Jordan Chiles (8,986) for the Bears' all-time mark after averaging 39.9 yards on his nine boots.
The senior from Camdenton, Mo. recorded a long of 53 yards and pinned the Tigers inside their own 20 on two occasions. His 399 punting yards represented a career best and the ninth-highest single-game total in school history. Sullens set the Bears' single-season mark for total punts (81) last fall and will surpass Warren Baker's career record for punts (239) with 15 additional kicks this season.
Missouri State can once again make a valid claim as having one of the toughest schedules in the Division I FCS ranks this fall. Based on this week's FCS Coaches Poll, the Bears are slated to meet six different top 25 teams in addition to traveling to FBS opponents Memphis (Sept. 5) and Arkansas State (Sept. 19).
MSU opens the 2015 MVFC slate with a home game against No. 21 Indiana State, one of five Valley teams that qualified for postseason play last year. Next another home game against FCS national runner-up and current No. 5 Illinois State looms on Oct. 17, followed by four straight contests against ranked squads rounds out the Bears' regular-season schedule. MSU hosts No. 10 South Dakota State on Oct. 31, before road dates with No. 17 Youngstown State (Nov. 7) and four-time defending national champ (No. 2) North Dakota State (Nov. 21) sandwich a Nov. 14 home game with UNI.
Last year, MSU faced a school-record seven FCS teams ranked in the Top 25, including a string of five in a row to close out the season.
