Football October 30, 2018

Bears Ready for Seventh-Ranked Jackrabbits

Missouri State Bears (4-4, 2-3 MVFC) at No. 7 South Dakota State Jackrabbits (5-2, 3-2 MVFC)
Date/Kickoff:	Nov. 3, 2018 \| 2:05 p.m. (CDT)
Location:	Brookings, S.D.
Site:	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium (19,340)
Radio:	KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Dennis Heim) \| Listen Live \| Missouri State Football Radio Network
Watch:	ESPN+ (Tom Nieman, Hank McCall, Elaina Lanson)
Follow:	Live Stats \| Facebook \| Twitter \| Football Twitter \| Instagram \| YouTube
Game Notes:	Missouri State \| South Dakota State \| MVFC \| Missouri State Media Guide
Series History:	SDSU leads 9-1 (MSU 0-5 in Brookings) \| SDSU won 62-30 (Oct. 21, 2017)

THE GAME

The Missouri State Bears (4-4, 2-3 MVFC) will look to stop a two-game slide Saturday (Nov. 3) when they open a challenging stretch with a 2 p.m., road contest against the No. 7 South Dakota State Jackrabbits (5-2, 3-2 MVFC) at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings, S.D.

Saturday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, with Tom Nieman and Hank McCall describing the action. The game will also be carried on the Missouri State Radio Network, as Art Hains and Dennis Heim will once again have the call.

Saturday's game kicks off a three-game, season-ending stretch in which the Bears could square off against three Top 25 opponents; MSU is 2-1 vs. ranked foes this season, with wins over No. 20 Northern Arizona and No. 9 Illinois State.
The Bears have dropped two consecutive games for the first time this season; MSU has allowed an average of 40.0 points and 262 rushing yards per outing during its slide.
MSU is averaging 260.6 passing yards per game during MVFC play, which ranks third among all league aerial attacks.
Junior quarterback Peyton Huslig needs three rushing yards to crack the 1,000-yard mark for his MSU career; Huslig leads the conference in total offense (298.4 ypg.) during MVFC play.
Missouri State's defense features two of the top five tacklers in the Valley during league action, with Angelo Garbutt (52 tackles) and McNeece Egbim (51) ranking third and fourth, respectively.
The Bears enter the home stretch of their 2018 season seeking their fifth win for the first time under head coach Dave Steckel; MSU last won five games in a season in 2013.

SERIES NOTES

The Bears will be looking for just their second win in 11 total meetings with the Jackrabbits; MSU is 0-5 against SDSU in Brookings.
MSU's lone win in the series came in 2013 in Springfield — a 35-21 decision.
The Jacks have won four straight in the series, averaging 45.5 points per game over the same stretch.
MSU has lost 11 straight games in the Dakotas dating back to 2010; its lone win in 13 combined trips to North and South Dakota came in 2009 at NDSU.

THE BEARS

The Bears (4-4, 2-3 MVFC) return 36 letterwinners and 15 total starters from last year's 3-8 squad.
Peyton Huslig ranks 24th in all of FCS football in total offense (274.5 ypg.) and passing yards (1,820).
MSU's defense has racked up 21 sacks on the season, led by Matt McClellan's 5.5 sacks.
McNeece Egbim paces the Bears with 74 tackles to rank fourth overall in the MVFC, while Angelo Garbutt's 72 stops rate sixth in the league.
MSU special teams have been among the best in the Valley, with the Bears leading the conference and ranking second nationally in both net punt average (41.4) and punt return defense (0.73); The Bears also lead the league in field goal percentage (1.000), while MSU ranks second in kickoff return average (22.9).

THE JACKRABBITS

Under 22nd year head coach John Stiegelmeier, the Jackrabbits (5-2, 3-2 MVFC) are coming off a 38-28 road win over Illinois State.
SDSU leads the MVFC in scoring (41.3 ppg.), total offense (487.7 ypg.) and passing offense (286.3 ypg.).
Quarterback Taryn Christion leads the conference in pass efficiency (166.0), while Cade Johnson is the MVFC's leading receiver (98.0 ypg.).
Kicker Chase Vinatieri paces the league in scoring (8.6 ppg.) and booted the MVFC's longest field goal of the season (57 yards).

LAST TIME OUT...
The Bears suffered their second-straight setback last weekend, dropping a 49-35 decision to Southern Illinois at Plaster Stadium.

Southern Illinois seized control of a nip-and-tuck contest by scoring 28 unanswered points over an eight-minute stretch en route to its first MVFC victory of the season.
With 11 seconds left in the first half, Matt DeSomer's four-yard touchdown pass to Nigel Kirby pulled SIU even at 21-21 and set off a scoring bonanza that would ultimately see the Salukis score on four consecutive offensive series — as well as a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown by Michael Elbert — to take a 42-21 lead midway through the third period.
Peyton Huslig turned in the third-best single-game passing performance in school history, finishing 27-for-46 with four touchdown tosses and 404 yards through the air.
Angelo Garbutt logged a game-high 12 stops for MSU, giving the junior four straight double-digit tackle performances dating back to Oct. 6 at South Dakota.
Lorenzo Thomas's 173 receiving yards represented the most in a single game by a Bear since the 2014 season, when Julian Burton logged a 194-yard effort at Central Arkansas.

HUSLIG LEAVES HIS MARK

Peyton Huslig accounted for 419 yards of total offense, including a career-high 404 passing yards, in last week's game against Southern Illinois. Both efforts rank No. 3 all-time in Bears' single-game history and represent the best numbers by a Bears QB since A.J. Porter's 460 passing yards and 426 total offensive yards against Illinois State in 2003.

Likewise, Huslig's four TD passes against the Salukis tied the junior for the fifth-best total by a Bears signal caller, and most since Brodie Lambert's five touchdown tosses against WIU in 2015. Huslig's 27 completions and 46 pass attempts in the SIU game also rank seventh and fifth, respectively, all-time on the MSU single-game list. The game was Huslig's fifth 200-yard passing game of the season and eighth of his 19-game-career.

'ZO' ON THE GO

Sophomore wide receiver Lorenzo Thomas gathered in eight passes for 173 yards against Southern Illinois on Saturday — both career highs — and extended his streak of double-figure reception games to seven straight. Seven of his receptions against the Salukis went for first downs with catches of 44, 39, 32 and 17 yards among his many highlights on the day, averaging 21.6 yards per reception.

DRIVE FOR FIVE

The Bears head into the month of November looking for their fifth win of the season, a milestone that would be a first under fourth-year head coach Dave Steckel and MSU's first five-win season since 2013.

Missouri State has three ranked foes on its November slate, including this week's game at South Dakota State and a date with top-ranked North Dakota state on Nov. 10 in the home finale.

GARBUTT GRINDING

Junior linebacker Angelo Garbutt has been the Bears' top tackler of late, registering double-figure stops in four straight ball games. Garbutt matched a career high with his 12 tackles last week against Southern Illinois, and his 72 stops on the season rank sixth overall in the MVFC. In conference games this fall, he is averaging 10.4 tackles, which is the third-best mark in the circuit. His 29 assisted tackles ranks second in the league in Valley contests.

THE JURY ON CURRIE

Junior receiver Tyler Currie, who had just seven receptions all last season, snagged seven passes for a career-best 113 yards and a TD at South Dakota on Oct. 6. That effort marked the first 100-yard receiving game by a Bear this season. For the season, Currie shares the team lead (with Jordan Murray) for touchdown receptions with four.

MAROON AND WHITE SPECIAL

The Bears' breakthrough wideout has tallied 25 catches in MSU's last five games, and is tied for fifth among all MVFC receivers in receptions per game (5.0) during league action.

MSU special teams have been a consistent force for the Bears during the Dave Steckel era, with the Bears ranking among the top five among all MVFC units in both punt average and punt return average each of the last three seasons.

The 2018 campaign has been no different, as Missouri State entered the week ranked second nationally in both net punting (41.4) and punt return defense (0.73). Missouri State's Brendan Withrow ranks 25th nationally in punting average with 42.1 yards per attempt, including 17 of his 39 attempts downed inside the 20 — good for second in the MVFC. Furthermore, the Bears' kickoff return unit has averaged 22.9 yards per attempt, which is good for 31st nationally.

Last fall, MSU ranked second in punt return average (13.0), and fourth in net punt average (37.5), thanks to the leg of Withrow, who ranked 35th nationally with an average of 41.0 yards per punt. Additionally, the Bears kickoff return unit averaged 22.2 yards per return to rank third in the MVFC, behind all-time return leader Deion Holliman's third-consecutive All-MVFC performance.

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