FIRST AND TEN
- The Missouri State Bears return to the road this Saturday (Nov. 4) with a trip to Carbondale for an MVFC matchup with the Southern Illinois Salukis after posting their first Valley win of the season this past weekend
- The Salukis hold a slim 20-19 advantage in the all-time series with the Bears, including an 11-8 edge on their home turf; MSU claimed a 38-35 win last October at Plaster Stadium after rallying from a 14-point deficit
- Three Missouri State Bears--Peyton Huslig, Zach Drake and Marquis Prophete--earned weekly honors from the Missouri Valley Football Conference after last Saturday's win over Indiana State; Huslig was named the Valley's Newcomer of the Week, while Drake picked up Special Teams Player of the Week and Prophete was tabbed Offensive Lineman of the Week by the league office
- The Bears have posted their top three rushing performances of the season over the past three weeks, including a season-high 339 yards last Saturday for their first 300-yard rushing performance since 2013; MSU has totaled 790 rushing yards against SDSU, Western Illinois and Indiana State after averaging 130.6 yards per game over the first five weeks of the season  Â
- MSU's offense has scored 30 points in three consecutive games for the first time since November 2013, when the Bears totaled 124 points over a three-game stretch vs. Western Illinois, Indiana State and Southern Illinois
- MSU totaled 624 yards of total offense Saturday against Indiana State for their best single-game total since Aug. 30, 2007, when they ran up 690 yards against Missouri S&T
- Peyton Huslig's 174 rushing yards against ISU last weekend marked the best single-game rushing effort by a MSU quarterback in the history of the program; Huslig, who was also named an honorable mention national performer of the week by both the CFPA and STATS, surpassed DeAndre Smith's 148-yard day vs. UNI (9/30/89)Â
- Deion Holliman leads the Valley and ranks ninth among all FCS players in combined kick return yardage (691); the MVFC's career record holder for KR yardage also rates seventh nationally in punt return average (14.1) after bringing back his third career punt for a touchdown two weeks ago vs. South Dakota State
- Malik Earl is currently tied for fifth with Jason Cannon (1995-97) on the Bears' career receptions (136) list and also ranks eighth in all-time receiving yardage (1,779) at MSU, just 24 yards shy of Tom Hamilton (1974-77) in the No. 7 spot on the chart
- Jason Randall provided a spark out of the MSU backfield with three receptions—all for touchdowns—and a game-high 97 yards Saturday, becoming the first Bear to reel in three touchdown receptions in a game since 2003
GAME PREVIEW
Fresh off their first Missouri Valley Football Conference win of 2017, the
Missouri State Bears (2-6, 1-4 MVFC) will travel to Carbondale Saturday (Nov. 4) for a 1 p.m. contest against the
Southern Illinois Salukis (4-4, 2-3 MVFC) at Saluki Stadium.
Missouri State posted a 59-20 victory over Indiana State last weekend, racking up the best single-game yardage total in over 10 years in the process. MVFC Newcomer of the Week
Peyton Huslig accounted for 385 yards of offense and four touchdowns, including a Bears single-game rushing record by a quarterback with 174 yards on the ground.
Jason Randall enjoyed a career day as well, hauling in three TD receptions to help stake the Bears to a 38-6 halftime advantage. The MSU defense delivered as well, thanks to a Bears season-high 16 tackles from
Angelo Garbutt.
Southern Illinois suffered a 42-0 setback to South Dakota in Vermillion on Saturday to see its overall mark drop to 4-4 on the season. SIU enters the contest averaging just under 30 points per contest, with the Salukis passing offense rated as the No. 3 unit in the conference (270.2 ypg.).
MSU claimed a 38-35 win over SIU in Springfield a year ago, with
Zach Drake booting the game-winning 32-yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining in regulation. The Bears have claimed just three wins in their last 10 meetings with the Salukis, however.
BEARS TRIO EARNS VALLEY RECOGNITION
On the heels of notching their first Missouri Valley Football Conference victory of the season Saturday, three Missouri State Bears earned player of the week honors from the league. Quarterback
Peyton Huslig was tabbed MVFC Newcomer of the Week for the second time this season, while kicker
Zach Drake earned Valley Special Teams Player of the Week and
Marquis Prophete picked up Offensive Lineman of the Week laurels.
Huslig turned in a memorable performance in the Bears' 59-20 victory over Indiana State. The Andover, Kan., product racked up 385 yards of total offense by completing 12-of-14 passes for 211 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while eclipsing DeAndre Smith's Bears rushing record by a QB with 174 yards and two more TDs on just seven carries to help the offense roll up 624 yards of total offense.Â
Drake continued a string of successful kicks against the Sycamores, nailing his fifth-straight field goal attempt and all eight PAT tries to help the Bears register their best single-game scoring effort of the
Dave Steckel era. Drake opened the scoring with a 28-yard field goal and has now successfully converted each of his last 16 field goal/PAT attempts over the last three games.
Prophete anchored a Missouri State offensive line that paved the way to a season-high 339 rushing yards and 624 yards of total offense in Saturday's win. It marked the best single-game offensive total for the Bears in 10 years, as well as their best team rushing performance since the 2013 season. Prophete posted a 100-percent assignment grade and 89-percent execution grade as part of the winning effort.
HUSLIG HAULING THE ROCK
Sophomore quarterback
Peyton Huslig turned in his second 100-yard rushing game in a row Saturday, breaking the Bears' single-game mark for rushing yards by a quarterback with his 174-yard performance against Indiana State. The Andover, Kan., product racked up 385 yards of total offense by completing 12-of-14 passes for 211 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while eclipsing DeAndre Smith's Bears rushing record by a quarterback. He also teamed up with
J.T. Granato to complete 14 straight passes in the first half, good for the second-longest streak in program history.Â
The previous week, Huslig led all rushers with 123 yards on 16 carries vs. South Dakota State, becoming the first MSU signal-caller to turn in a 100-yard rushing performance since the 2011 season. Huslig, who has logged career-best rushing days in five of the Bears' last six outings, also passed for 189 yards, giving the transfer 312 yards of total offense for the day. Trevor Wooden was the last Bear QB to crack the 100-yard mark with his 121-yard day at Youngstown State on Nov. 19, 2011.Â
Additionally, Huslig became just the third MSU quarterback to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 yards in a game during the same season. Mitch Ware was the first to accomplish the feat, passing for 313 yards vs. Pitt State and rushing for 141 against Arkansas Tech in 1979, before Jeremy Hoog followed suit in 1995, totaling 351 passing yards against Western Illinois and 109 rushing yards vs. SEMO.
METEORIC MALIK
Senior wide receiver
Malik Earl registered a day to remember in the Bears' setback at Western Illinois (Oct. 14), breaking a Missouri State program record with his 14 receptions against the Leathernecks. The Oklahoma City native eclipsed Jeff Hewitt's single-game Bears record of 13 catches, set on Oct. 7, 2000 at Indiana State, and matched the fourth-best single-game reception effort in MVFC history. Earl, who also rushed for a 30-yard touchdown to help stake the Bears to a 21-13 halftime lead, finished his day with 145 receiving yards.Â
With a total of eight more catches against SDSU (Oct. 21) and Indiana State (Oct. 28), he moved into a tie for fifth place on the Bears' career receptions chart with 136 and enters Saturday's contest just 14 catches shy of Clay Harbor's school record 150 career receptions.
With four catches for 73 yards in the Bears' MVFC opener with Illinois State (Sept. 23), Earl moved past three Bears to move into MSU's career top 10 for receiving yardage as well. With 1,779 yards, Earl enters the weekend just 24 yards away from Tom Hamilton (1974-77) in the No. 7 position on the chart and 442 yards away from Jermaine Saffold's school record of 2,221 yards.
RANDALL TO THE RESCUE
Faced with an injury-depleted backfield, the Bears received a large lift from junior
Jason Randall Saturday against Indiana State. Randall hauled in his first three receiving touchdowns of the season to help the Bears build a 32-point halftime lead, then added a rushing TD in the second half to help seal MSU's first Valley win of the season. In doing so, Randall became the first Bear since 2003 to reel in three scoring receptions in a game, as well as the first MSU player to score four touchdowns since Cody Kirby accomplished the feat in 2010.Â
OFFENSE ON THE MOVE
The Bears recorded their best single-game offensive output Saturday since their 2007 season opener against Missouri S&T with 624 yards of total offense, as well as their top single-game scoring output (59) under
Dave Steckel. Over their last three contests, the Bears have totaled 1,482 yards of offense—an average of 494 per game—while topping the 30-point plateau in each outing. MSU has scored at a 39.7 point per game clip, marking their best three-game showing since the 2013 season, when they scored 124 points over a three-game stretch from Oct. 26-Nov. 9.Â
