MISSOURI STATE BEARS (2-1, 0-0 MVFC) at INDIANA STATE SYCAMORES (3-1, 1-0 MVFC)
FIRST AND 10
- The Missouri State Bears open their 32nd season of Missouri Valley Football Conference play Saturday when they travel to Terre Haute to take on the Indiana State Sycamores at Memorial Stadium
- MSU is 13-18 all-time in MVFC openers, including a 56-28 setback to the Sycamores in last year's league opener; the Bears are opening the Valley slate on the road for the first time since 2011
- Saturday's contest will mark the fifth time the Bears and Sycamores have met in MSU's Valley opener; ISU claimed last year's league opener (56-28) in Springfield, while MSU won the 1993 meeting by a 31-21 margin (at Plaster Stadium), as well as its 1989 (33-26 in Springfield) and 1990 (31-10 in Terre Haute) MVFC openers vs. ISU
- Indiana State will be the first ranked opponent the Bears have faced in 2016 after squaring off against a total of 13 ranked foes over the last two years combined; MSU is 21-84 all-time against ranked opponents, with its last win over a top 25 squad coming on Oct. 19, 2014 vs. No. 15 South Dakota State (35-21)
- The Bears enter Saturday's game with both the No. 7 total defense (271.3 ypg.) in the country, as well as the No. 8 rush defense (89.3 ypg.) in FCS football; MSU has yielded just 41 first downs, which ranks as the sixth-fewest in the nation, while its third-down conversion percentage defense (0.279) is 14th nationally
- Preseason All-America linebacker Dylan Cole ranks third on the Bears' career chart for tackles for loss (33.0) and needs just 13 more stops to move into the Bears' all-time top 10 for tackles; Cole has logged double-digit tackle totals in 14 games as a Bear and has started all 38 games of his career
- Junior Deion Holliman ranks ninth in the nation in kick return average (31.5) after pacing all FCS players in combined kick return yardage in 2015; he has logged at least 100 kick return yards in six of MSU's last 12 games
- MSU's offensive line allowed just one sack in the Bears' three non-conference games, good for the third-fewest in all of FCS football
- Senior tailback Phoenix Johnson needs just 77 yards to reach the 1,000-yard rushing plateau for his MSU career
- Junior receiver Malik Earl saw his 14-game streak of recording at least one catch come to an end this past Saturday at Kansas State; Earl has logged at least one reception in 22 of the Bears' last 24 games dating back to the 2014 campaign
GAME PREVIEW
The
Missouri State Bears (2-1, 0-0 MVFC) will take aim at their second road victory of the 2016 season Saturday (Oct. 1) when they open their 32nd season of Missouri Valley Football Conference play against the
Indiana State Sycamores (3-1, 1-0 MVFC) at Memorial Stadium in Terre Haute, Ind. Saturday's contest will mark the 10th time in 11 years the Bears will have played a ranked opponent in their Valley opener. MSU has faced off against ranked opponents in 20 of its previous 31 Valley openers overall.
Missouri State will bring one of the top defensive units in the conference into MVFC play, with the Bears allowing a league-low of 271.3 yards per outing to date. The MSU pass defense (182.0 ypg.) rates second overall in the league, while the Bears' run defense (89.3) is third through the non-conference portion of the schedule. Led by the duo of senior linebacker
Dylan Cole and junior defensive end
Colby Isbell, the Bears are allowing an average of just 19.0 points per game, just 1.0 point behind Youngstown State for the Valley lead in scoring defense. Cole ranks 14th in the MVFC in tackles per game (7.5), while Isbell is second in the circuit in tackles for loss (5.5).
Conversely, Indiana State boasts the No. 2 passing offense in the Valley, led by sophomore quarterback Isaac Harker, whose 1,091 passing yards and 10 TD passes lead the conference. The Sycamores are coming off a 34-31 victory over then-No. 9 Illinois State last Saturday in their MVFC opener. ISU was led by 196 all-purpose yards from junior receiver Bob Pugh, who earned MVFC Newcomer of the Week honors for his performance.
LET'S GET IT STARTED
Missouri State is 13-18 in MVFC openers since joining the league in 1985. This season's MVFC opening game marks the 10th time in 11 years the Bears will have played a ranked opponent in their Valley opener. MSU has faced off against ranked opponents in 20 of its previous 31 Valley openers, compiling a 5-15 mark in those contests.
VALLEY MAKING ITS MARK
The Missouri Valley Football Conference is off to another strong start in 2016, with seven teams ranked in the top 25 of the FCS Coaches Poll this week. The league is 3-2 against ranked FCS teams in 2016, marking the 14th time in the league's 32-year history with multiple regular-season top-25 non-conference wins. During the past two-plus seasons, the MVFC has a combined 23-8 record against ranked FCS teams (regular-season and playoff games combined).
In addition to serving as the conference home of five-time defending NCAA Division I FCS national champion North Dakota State, the Missouri Valley Football Conference has enjoyed a string of recent success against FBS opponents. The Valley's 10 members have combined for 15 wins vs. FBS teams over the last seven seasons, including four (North Dakota State at Iowa, Illlinois State at Northwestern, UNI at Iowa State and Western Illinois at Northern Illinois) in the first four weeks of 2016 alone. In all, the MVFC has posted 42 victories against FBS opponents since 1985 including at least one such win in each of the last seven seasons.
Last year, the league placed five teams in the FCS playoffs for the second consecutive season. Dating back to 2013, MVFC schools have combined to post a 52-4 home record against non-league opponents, and the Valley has gone 130-30 vs. non-conference FCS opposition over the past six years.
SECOND-HALF SURGE
The Bears have saved their best for the second half this season, entering MVFC play having outscored the opposition by a 40-9 margin after intermission. MSU has converted 8-of-17 third-down attempts in the third and fourth quarters, while limiting its opponents to just 4-of 16 second-half tries.
BIG-TIME D
With a pair of victories under their belt to kick off the 2016 season, the Bears have received sizable contributions from both sides of the line of scrimmage. In particular, the Missouri State defense enters the week ranked among the nation's stingiest units.
The Bears have allowed an average of just 19.0 points per outing — good for the second-best mark in the MVFC and the 13th-best scoring defense in the country — while their rush defense (89.3 ypg.) is third in the league and ranked eighth among the 122 FCS teams. Furthermore, the Bears' total defense (271.3 ypg.) ranks seventh in the nation, while their total of 41 first downs allowed is the sixth-best in the FCS ranks.
