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FIRST AND TEN
- The Missouri State Bears continue their season-opening road swing with the first of two September trips to the state of North Dakota Saturday (Sept. 9) when they take on the No. 11 North Dakota Fighting Hawks
- The Bears and Fighting Hawks will be meeting for the second time Saturday; MSU claimed a 38-0 victory in the two clubs' previous contest in Springfield on Sept. 13, 2014—the Bears' only other regular-season meeting with a Big Sky Conference opponent
- MSU is 22-88 all-time versus ranked FCS opponents; the Bears knocked off 24th-ranked Indiana State on the road last fall and have squared off against at least four ranked foes in each of the last seven seasons
- With their 43-point outburst in last Saturday's season opener at Mizzou, the Bears not only posted their best offensive performance against an NCAA Division I FBS opponent, but also their top single-game road point total in non-conference action since the 2010 season   Â
- Senior co-captain Malik Earl climbed to No. 14 on the Bears' career receiving yardage chart with his career-high 163-yard day at Mizzou; the preseason All-MVFC pick has 1,321 yards to his credit and needs just six more receiving yards to catch Cadarrius Dotson (2009-12) in the No. 13 spot on the list
- Sophmore transfer Peyton Huslig accounted for three of the Bears' six touchdowns at Mizzou, completing 24-of-35 passes for 353 yards to earn MVFC Newcomer of the Week recognition; his yardage total represents the best ever by a Bears quarterback in his debut game, as well as the seventh-best single-game total in school history
- Senior return specialist Deion Holliman inched closer to the top spot on MSU's career kickoff return yardage list last weekend, hiking his career total within 28 yards of the 2,000-mark; he enters Saturday's game 474 yards shy of Tony Gilbert's 28-year-old MSU mark of 2,446 career return yards
- MSU recorded 12 'chunk' plays of 10 yards or more as an offensive unit at Mizzou, including eight in the passing game and six total gains of at least 20 yards; the Bears also logged five different scoring drives of 75 yards after recording a total of 17 such drives in their 11 games last fall
- MSU dominated the clock in Columbia Saturday, finishing with 38:16 in time of possession, marking the Bears best single-game figure of the Dave Steckel era; the Bears' 353 passing yards also represents their best in Steckel's 23 games as head coach
- Senior Calan Crowder rushed for a pair of first-quarter touchdowns, including a career-long 75-yarder, in topping the 1,500-yard mark for his career with a 124-yard afternoon at Mizzou—his fifth 100-yard rushing game as a Bear
GAME PREVIEW
Following an encouraging opening day performance against an imposing FBS foe, the
Missouri State Bears will face another stiff test Saturday (Sept. 9) in their intial FCS matchup of the season against the No. 11
North Dakota Fighting Hawks. As part of the inaugural MVFC-Big Sky Challenge, the Bears and Fighting Hawks will square off in a 4 p.m. non-conference tilt at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, N.D.Â
The Bears (0-1) turned in an impressive offensive performance in their season opener against Missouri this past weekend, racking up 492 yards and their best-ever single-game point total (43) against an NCAA Division I FBS opponent. Quarterback
Peyton Huslig passed for 353 yards--the top total by a Bears QB since 2012--and accounted for three of MSU's six touchdowns in the 72-43 setback. Senior receiver
Malik Earl and senior tailback
Calan Crowder also enjoyed big afternoons against the Tigers. Earl hauled in a career-long 89-yard touchdown reception, after Crowder ran for a pair of first-quarter scores as part of his fifth 100-yard rushing performance as a Bear.
North Dakota (0-1) sustained a 37-16 road setback to Utah in its season opener last Thursday. The Fighting Hawks were limited to 242 yards of total offense, paced by Keaton Studsrud's 175 passing yards. On the defensive side, senior linebacker Jake Disterhaupt led the way with 14 stops.
SHOW-ME SHOWDOWN RECAP
Missouri State's season-opening 72-43 setback at Missouri last Saturday not only marked the first meeting of the two Show-Me State institutions on the gridiron in 94 years, but also provided a number of notable achievements by Bears. MSU's offense turned in a banner first-half performance, logging five different scoring drives of at least 65 yards while giving the Tigers all they could handle.Â
The Bears led 21-20 after one period, marking their second consecutive 21-point first quarter in a season opener. They led on five different occasions in the opening half, as the two teams combined to total 888 yards of offense over the first 30 minutes of play. Overall, the Bears amassed 494 yards of total offense and eclipsed their top single-game point total in 34 total contests against NCAA Division I FBS opponents, topping their 30-point output at UNLV in 1990—their last victory against an FBS foe.
COLE EARNS SPOT ON TEXANS' 53-MAN ROSTER
Former Bear linebacker
Dylan Cole became the most-recent Missouri State product to earn a spot on a National Football League roster this past weekend when the Houston Texans announced the free agent signee as a member of the club's initial 53-man roster.
A consensus first-team FCS All-America selection as a senior, Cole averaged 12.9 tackles per game in 2016 to lead all FCS players. The Rogersville, Mo., product recorded at least 13 tackles in nine different games as a senior, including 19 in the Bears' win over Southern Illinois. The All-MVFC first-team selection racked up 85 solo tackles, eight tackles for loss, two interceptions, four pass breakups and three forced fumbles.
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Cole finished third in the 2016 Buck Buchanan Award voting as the top defensive player in the FCS ranks, played in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl and earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors as well as MVFC Scholar-Athlete Team laurels. He capped his career with 457 tackles in 46 games—all starts—finishing third on the Bears' career tackles chart and ninth all-time in Missouri Valley Football Conference history.
CHUNK THIS
The Bears once again displayed their big-play capabilities in Saturday's season opener, logging 12 different offensive gains of at least 10 yards in 74 total plays. The MSU passing game clicked to notch including eight such plays, while the offense logged six gains overall of at least 20 yards. The Bears also logged five different scoring drives of 75 yards after recording a total of 17 such drives in their 11 games last fall.
Missouri State's propensity for big plays was on display throughout the 2016 season, with the Bears posting 25 offensive plays of 25 yards or more last fall. That figure easily surpassed the total of the 2015 Bears, who registered just 15 such 'chunk' gains for their entire 11-game season.Â
Additionally, MSU produced 17 scoring drives of 75 yards or more in 2016, as well as 15 different scoring series extending at least nine plays, up from 2015 totals of just seven and 11, respectively.
WELCOME TO THE PARTY
Led by quarterback
Peyton Huslig's 353-yard passing day, the Bears received significant contributions from several new faces making their Missouri State debuts last weekend in Columbia. Huslig's passing total marked the top single-game performance by an MSU signal-caller since Ashton Glaser's 357 yards vs. Murray State in 2012, while freshman safety
Titus Wall led all defenders with nine tackles. In all, 16 Bears saw their first game action against the Tigers, including two starters (Huslig and tight end
Jordan Frazier).
Missouri State's cause will receive a boost by an influx of talent in 2017, with 30 newcomers adorning the Bears' roster entering the regular season. Head coach
Dave Steckel and his staff welcomed 22 freshmen, as well as eight transfers to campus at the start of fall camp. MSU expects to see an immediate impact from its decorated group of newcomers, as three true freshmen found spots on the season-opening two-deep roster. Additionally, 20 redshirt freshmen who sat out last fall are expected to contribute this season.Â
MSU's talented crop of newcomers will be aiming to continue a tradition of excellence displayed by Bear rookies over the last two decades. In the history of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, only Western Illinois (80) and Illinois State (79) have produced more MVFC All-Newcomer selections than the Bears, who have collected 77 such honors since the league began recognizing an all-rookie team in 1994. On this year's roster, five Bears have been listed on previous MVFC All-Newcomer squads: 2014 -
Cecil Bratton (DL),
Calan Crowder (RB); 2015 -
Jared Beshore (S) and 2016 -
Coleman Clanton (OL) and
McNeece Egbim (LB).
SENIORS SHINE IN OPENER, TOO
The MSU newcomers weren't the only ones factoring prominently in the Bears' first game of 2017, as senior standouts
Calan Crowder and
Malik Earl registered big opening day performances as well. Crowder ripped off scoring runs of 75 (a career long) and 34 yards in a shootout of a first half, totaling 121 of his 124 rushing yards in the game's first 30 minutes.Â
Earl fueled the Bears' passing game, hauling in 163 yards—a personal best that stands and the 15th-best single-game total on record at Missouri State—to help spark MSU's best-ever offensive showing against an FBS squad. The Oklahoma City native caught eight passes overall, including a career-long 89-yard touchdown reception from
Peyton Huslig that handed the Bears a 35-34 lead late in the first half. With his third career 100-yard receiving day, Earl moved into the Bears' top 15 for all-time receiving yardage as well, climbing to No. 14 after upping his career total to 1,321 yards. Tight end
Erik Furmanek also notched a career high with 91 yards, as four MSU seniors combined to account for 303 of the Bears' 353 receiving yards.
HUSLIG HONORED BY VALLEY
On the heels of an impressive debut at Mizzou to open the 2017 season, Missouri State quarterback
Peyton Huslig was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Week on Sunday.
A sophomore from Andover, Kan., Huslig turned in the best-ever debut performance by a Bear quarterback in Columbia, completing 24-of-35 passes for 353 yards while accounting for three of Missouri State's six touchdowns (2 pass/1 rush). He guided the MSU offense to touchdowns in each of its first three possessions, as the Bears converted their first five third-down tries and ran up their best-ever point total (43) against an FBS foe.Â
Huslig threw for 230 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the first 30 minutes of play, including an 89-yarder to
Malik Earl that gave the Bears a one-point lead with just over five minutes to play before intermission. He added a 10-yard rushing TD in the fourth quarter, and his 353 passing yards rank as the seventh-best single-game total in the 106-year history of the MSU program.
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