The Game
The Missouri State Bears kick off a challenging mid-season stretch with a Missouri Valley Football Conference road game against the top-ranked North Dakota State Bison Saturday (Oct. 19) at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome in Fargo, N.D.
Saturday's 2:30 p.m. (CT) contest will be streamed live via ESPN+, with Brian Shawn and Lee Timmerman 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.
- The Bears, who are slated to face off against Top 25 opponents in each of their next three games, will be looking to bounce back from their first MVFC setback of the season — a 45-10 home loss to South Dakota (Oct. 12).
- NDSU, the two-time defending FCS national champions, enter the contest riding a 27-game win streak that dates back to November 2017; NDSU is off to another perfect start following a 46-14 win over UNI last weekend.
- MSU is winless in seven previous meetings with top-ranked teams, the last four of which have been against NDSU since 2012; the Bears are 0-1 vs. ranked foes this season and 24-97 all-time against Top 25 squads.
- The Bears will be looking to stop a 13-game losing streak in the Dakota states that dates back to the 2010 season; MSU has not posted a win in either North or South Dakota since October 2009 (at NDSU) and have dropped 12-straight contests overall against opponents from one of the two Dakotas dating back to November 2014.
Series Notes
- The Bison hold a 9-2 overall series edge over the Bears after claiming each of the last eight meetings with MSU since 2011.
- MSU posted a 21-17 win over NDSU in its first trip to the Fargodome in 2009, but the Bison have won the last four meetings in Fargo, averaging 46.3 points per victory over the same span.
- NDSU rode a record-setting performance by Easton Stick and a stifling effort by its defense to a 48-7 victory over MSU last fall in Springfield; Stick completed his first 11 passes of the game and matched a Plaster Stadium record to TD passes (5).
The Bears
- Led by preseason all-league selection Tyler Currie, the Bears offense brings back six starters, including quarterback Peyton Huslig, the MVFC's active leader in career passing yardage (5,302) who ranks third on the Bears' all-time lists for total offense, completions and passing yardage.
- Currie leads the MVFC in receptions per game (5.8), while his average of 67.0 yards per outing is fourth among all league receivers.
- Huslig enters Saturday's game second among all MVFC quarterbacks in passing yardage (241.6 ypg.) and total offense (248.2).
- On the defensive side of the ball, Matt McClellan's season total of 3.0 sacks rates 10th among all Valley defenders, while Tyler Lovelace leads the conference in takeaways (2 FR, 2 INT).
The Bison
- The eight-time defending MVFC champions have won 22-straight home contests, paced by the No. 2 total defense (275.0 ypg.) in the FCS ranks this fall.
- Quarterback Trey Lance ranks fourth among all Valley players in total offense (240.0), with a league-leading 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions.
- Behind an MVFC-best ground game (297.8), NDSU has outgained the opposition by 200 yards per game.
Last Time Out
Missouri State dropped its first MVFC contest of the season with a 45-10 loss to South Dakota last Saturday in Springfield.
- Behind Austin Simmons' 228 passing yards, USD rolled up 428 yards of total offense through three quarters, as a balanced Coyote offense netted 220 rushing yards and 232 yards through the air for the afternoon.
- The Coyote defense held the Bears scoreless for nearly 45 minutes, continuing its recent resurgence by forcing four turnovers and holding the MSU offense to 248 yards for the day.
- After turning the ball over on its opening possession of the game, USD scored on five of six possessions as part of a string of 45 unanswered points.
- Tyler Currie led the MSU offense with a career-high nine receptions for 87 yards, while Peyton Huslig (21-of 40) completed at least 20 passes for the third consecutive game.
- McNeece Egbim followed up a 15-tackle performance at Western Illinois (Oct. 5) with 12 stops, while Kam Carter logged a season-best 10 tackles for MSU.
- Tyler Lovelace's two fumble recoveries represented his team-leading third and fourth takeaways of the season and the sixth and seventh (3 INT, 4 FR) of his MSU career.
- Missouri State suffered its fifth consecutive home loss, dating back to an Oct. 13, 2018 setback to Indiana State; the home skid marks the Bears' longest during Dave Steckel's tenure as head coach.
Don't Worry With Currie
Senior receiver
Tyler Currie snagged a career-high nine passes against South Dakota in week two of Valley play to increase his MVFC-leading reception total to 29 for the season.
In two home games this season, Currie has 15 catches (7.5 per game) for 154 yards (77.0). The All-MVFC standout has multiple receptions in all five games this season and has posted 16 receptions for 200 yards in two career games against the Coyotes.
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Bears Against the Top Dogs
This Saturday's game will mark the eighth time in program history the Bears have squared off against a No. 1 nationally-ranked team. It is also the fifth time MSU has played a No. 1-ranked NDSU team — the second time in Fargo — and the third time the Bears have played a top-ranked team on the road.
Even though Missouri State has yet to knock off a top-ranked foe, the highest-ranked team ever defeated by the Bears was a road win at No. 3 McNeese State on Sept 7, 1996. Last year, the Bears dropped a top 10 team with a 24-21 home win over Illinois State (Sept. 29, 2018).
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Captain Consistency
Bears linebacker
McNeece Egbim started his 23rd consecutive game last week against USD and celebrated the milestone by registering his second straight double-digit tackle performance with 12 stops. He posted four solo stops and eight assists against the Coyotes with a tackle for loss in his 12th career double-figure tackle performance.
Egbim is averaging 13.5 tackles per game in Valley play with back-to-back double-digit stops in the Bears' first two league contests. At Western Illinois in MSU's MVFC opener, he recorded a season-high 15 tackles to lead a resurgent Bears defense. The All-MVFC performer also set a personal best with 13 solo stops in the contest and broke up a pair of WIU passes. The senior from Rowlett, Texas has recorded at least five tackles in 17 of MSU's last 18 games.
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Huslig Leaving His Mark
Peyton Huslig eclipsed several statistical milestones in 2018, including topping 4,000 career passing yards, 5,000 career yards of total offense and 2,000 passing yards for the season. The dual-threat signal caller ranked seventh on the single-season total offense list (2,479) and sixth on the Bears' passing yards list (2,113).
MSU's senior signal-caller matched career highs with 28 completions and four passing touchdowns to help lead the Bears to a triple-overtime road win over Western Illinois (Oct. 5) in their Valley opener. Huslig finished 28-of-44 with no interceptions and 315 passing yards — his third-best single-game passing output of his career. He accounted for 231 passing yards in the second half and overtime alone. Huslig also eclipsed 5,000 career passing yards in the victory to become just the third player in MSU history to reach that milestone while securing his 11th career 200-yard passing effort. His 41-yard TD strike to
Tyler Currie midway through the fourth quarter capped a 21-0 run and gave the Bears their first lead of the game after trailing by 14 points early, while his 25-yard scoring pass to
Lorenzo Thomas on the first play of overtime set a blistering pace in the extra time.
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Leading the Sleuth
A pair of repeat selections as team captains in senior quarterback
Peyton Huslig and senior linebacker
McNeece Egbim will help steer the Bears during the 2019 season. Huslig and Egbim filled the same roles last fall for MSU. Additionally, junior safety
Titus Wall was chosen by his teammates for a team captain role and will help lead the Bears defense this fall.
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Honoring No. 20
For the third straight season, Missouri State's players will be honoring former teammate
Richard Nelson with his number "20" on their helmets.
Nelson was shot and killed in his hometown of Las Vegas, Nev., on Jan. 14, 2017, while attempting to intervene in an attack on his sister. Nelson, who was just 18 years old, was a tailback on the team and redshirted during his first and only with the Bears in 2016. He was a graduate of Chaparral High School in Las Vegas.
The team also has a standing memorial to Nelson in the MSU Football facility with the words "Always A Bear" over a large photo of Nelson.
