Football October 29, 2019

Bears Host Nationally-Ranked Jackrabbits Saturday

Missouri State Bears (1-6, 1-3 MVFC) vs. No. 4 South Dakota State Jackrabbits (6-2, 3-1 MVFC)
Date/Kickoff:	Saturday, Nov. 2 \| 2:05 p.m. (CT)
Location:	Springfield, Mo.
Site:	Robert W. Plaster Stadium (17,500) \| Bearfest Village
Radio:	KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Dennis Heim) \| Listen Live \| Missouri State Football Radio Network
Watch:	ESPN3 (Don West, Corey Riggs)
Follow:	Live Stats \| Facebook \| Twitter \| Football Twitter \| Instagram \| YouTube
Game Notes:	Missouri State \| South Dakota State \| MVFC \| Missouri State Media Guide \| Bears Weekly Media Availability (Video)
Series/Last Meeting:	SDSU leads 10-1 (SDSU leads 4-1 in Springfield) \| SDSU won 59-7 in Brookings (Nov. 3, 2018)
Tickets:	MissouriStateBears.com \| Missouri State students admitted free with BearPass ID
Promotion:	Hosting Heroes Day

The Game

Despite logging impressive defensive performances against two of the top programs in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in back-to-back outings, the Missouri State Bears (1-6, 1-3 MVFC) enter Saturday's (Nov. 2) contest against the fourth-ranked South Dakota State Jackrabbits (6-2, 3-1 MVFC) looking to stop a three-game skid. The Bears and Jacks will meet for a 2 p.m. MVFC game at Robert W. Plaster Stadium to kick off the final month of the 2019 regular season.

Saturday's 2:05 p.m. (CT) contest will be streamed live via ESPN3, with Don West and Corey Riggs 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 marks the third consecutive meeting with a ranked foe for Missouri State, which dropped a 22-0 road tilt at No. 1 North Dakota State (Oct. 19) and a 29-6 home contest with No. 11 UNI (Oct. 26) in its last two outings.
MSU has allowed an average of just 381.0 yards of total offense over its last two games, including just 149.5 rushing yards per outing.
The Bears are winless in three games at Plaster Stadium this season and have dropped their last six home games overall dating back to an Oct. 20, 2018 loss to Western Illinois; MSU's current slide matches its longest home losing streak as a Division I program (Oct. 1, 2011 to Sept. 22, 2012).

Series Notes

The Bears will be looking for just their second win in 12 total meetings with the Jackrabbits; MSU is 1-4 against SDSU in Springfield.
MSU's lone win in the series came in 2013 in Springfield — a 35-21 decision.
The Jacks have won five consecutive games in the series, averaging 48.2 points per game over the same stretch.
MSU has dropped 13 straight contests overall against opponents from one of the two Dakota states dating back to November 2014.

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 (5,619) who ranks third on the Bears' all-time lists for total offense (6,625), completions (472) and passing yardage, as well as fourth for passing TD's (33).
Currie leads the MVFC in receptions per game (5.3), while his average of 55.0 yards per outing is tied for sixth among all league receivers.
Huslig enters Saturday's game third among all MVFC quarterbacks in passing yardage (217.9 ypg.) and fourth in total offense (220.6).
On the defensive side of the ball, McNeece Egbim leads all Valley defenders in tackles (11.8 tpg.) during conference play, while Tyler Lovelace paces the conference in takeaways (2 FR, 2 INT).

The Jackrabbits

Under the direction of 23rd year head coach John Stiegelmeier, the Jackrabbits enter the contest coming off just their second loss of the season, a 23-16 home setback to top-ranked NDSU last Saturday.
Pierre Strong leads the league in both rushing yards per game (138.5) and all-purpose yards (598) during MVFC play; Cade Johnson's average of 84.5 receiving yards per game rates second overall in the MVFC.
Linebacker Christian Rozeboom is the league's fourth-leading tackler in conference play, headlining a unit that ranks second in the league in both scoring (16.5 ppg.) and total (304.4 ypg.) defense.

Last Time Out

Missouri State suffered its third-straight defeat with a 29-6 homecoming loss to UNI last Saturday at Plaster Stadium.

The Panthers turned a pair of special teams turnovers into nine points as part of a 19-point second-quarter surge that proved to be the difference.
UNI stifled the Missouri State offense, blanking the Bears through three quarters while allowing just 74 yards of offense and four first downs over the first 45 minutes of the contest.
Quarterback Will McElvain passed for 238 yards to lead the Panthers offense, rushing for one touchdown and throwing for another as part of UNI's second-period outburst.
Missouri State's defense rose to the occasion against a Top 25 foe for the second week in a row, limiting the Panthers to 315 yards of total offense and 12 first downs for the game.
The Bears shut down the UNI ground game, holding the Panthers to 77 yards — a season-low by an MSU opponent — and just 2-of-14 on third-down conversion attempts.
Peyton Huslig found Antwan Woods for a 17-yard scoring pass and catch — the 33rd passing touchdown of Huslig's MSU career — late in the game to cap a 15-play, 90-yard scoring drive.
UNI's Isaiah Weston tallied a game-high five catches for 157 yards and two touchdown receptions.

Closing In On 1,000

Bears senior receiver Tyler Currie is on the verge of become Missouri State's 21st receiver to accumulate 1,000 career receiving yards. Currie, who has collected a pass in 15 consecutive games, has snagged 79 passes for 992 yards in his MSU career with seven touchdowns.

Junior teammate Lorenzo Thomas is also closing in on 1,000 receiving yards, needing just 57 yards to reach the milestone with 75 catches in his 28-game career.

Don't Worry With Currie

Senior receiver Tyler Currie snagged a career-high nine passes against South Dakota in week two of Valley play.With four more catches vs. UNI last weekend, Currie hiked his MVFC-leading average to 5.3 catches per game.

In three home games this season, Currie has 19 catches (6.3 per game) for 185 yards (61.7). The All-MVFC standout has multiple receptions in all seven games this season.

Captain Consistency

Bears linebacker McNeece Egbim notched a game-high 14 tackles at North Dakota State on Oct. 19, marking his 13th career double-figure tackle game — and third in four conference games this season. The senior from Rowlett, Texas posted seven solo stops and 3.5 tackles for loss against the top-ranked Bison with five stops on third-down plays.

Egbim is averaging 11.8 tackles per game in Valley play with back-to-back double-digit stops in the Bears' first four 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, before recording 12 tackles against South Dakota (Oct. 12).

Egbim eclipsed 300 career tackles Oct. 26 vs. UNI, bringing down six ball-carriers to push his total to 305 stops. He is just seven tackles shy of jumping into the program's all-time top 15 in career tackles and currently sits seventh on MSU's career chart for tackles for loss (26.0).

Maroon and White Special

MSU special teams have been a consistent force 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 three of the last four seasons.

The Bears have been one of the best punting units in the FCS ranks so far this fall. With a net punting average of 38.61, Missouri State ranks 18th nationally — and ranks second in the MVFC in that key category. Senior punter Brendan Withrow has a 42.4 punting average, which ranks 25th nationally, including 13 (of 51) punts over 50 yards and 14 downed inside the 20. Last fall, Withrow ranked 40th nationally in punting average with 41.0 yards per attempt, including 22 of his 62 attempts downed inside the 20. Withrow's career punt average of 41.3 yards per kick rates third on the Bears' career chart as well.

Huslig Leaves 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.

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.

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