The Game
The
Missouri State Bears (1-8, 1-5 MVFC) return to the state of Illinois for their final road game of the 2019 season Saturday (Nov. 16), when they square off against the No. 7
Illinois State Redbirds (7-3, 4-2 MVFC) at Hancock Stadium in Normal.
Saturday's 12 p.m. (CST) game will be broadcast live on
ESPN+. The contest will also be carried on the
Missouri State Radio Network, as
Art Hains and Dennis Heim will once again have the call.
- Missouri State will be looking to halt a five-game losing streak, which represents the Bears' longest since dropping nine straight contests in 2015.
- The Bears have forced a total of five turnovers over their last two games, nearly doubling their season total in takeaways in the process; ISU has converted nine turnovers into 29 total points in its last two wins over South Dakota State and Western Illinois.
- Illinois State enters the game ranked as high as No. 7 (STATS) in this week's polls, marking MSU's fifth Top 25 opponent on the year and the sixth-straight season (and nine of the last 10 seasons since 2010) in which the Bears will have played at least five ranked foes.
Series Notes
- The Redbirds hold a 21-17-1 all-time edge in the series with MSU, including an 11-8 advantage in Normal.
- Saturday's game will represent the seventh meeting with a ranked Redbirds team for the Bears since 2012; MSU has claimed three of the previous six such contests, topping an 11th-ranked ISU squad in Normal by a 24-17 score on Oct. 20, 2012, before posting a pair of home wins in 2013 and 2018.
- MSU has five wins in 11 overall meetings with nationally-ranked ISU teams since 1998.
- ISU has held the Bears to nine points or fewer in four of the last five games in the series, including a 37-0 blanking of MSU in the last meeting at Hancock Stadium in 2016.
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 (5,971) who ranks third on the Bears' all-time lists for total offense (6,990), completions (507) and passing yardage, as well as second for passing TD's (36).
- Currie leads the MVFC in receptions per game (5.1), while his average of 51.6 yards per outing ranks seventh among all league receivers.
- Huslig enters Saturday's game third among all MVFC quarterbacks in passing yardage (208.6 ypg.).
- On the defensive side of the ball, McNeece Egbim leads all Valley defenders in tackles (11.2 tpg.) during conference play, while Tyler Lovelace leads the MVFC in takeaways (2 FR, 3 INT); Egbim needs 13 tackles to match the career total of Dennis Heim in then No. 13 spot on MSU's career tackles list.
- Brendan Withrow's average of 42.7 yards per punt ranks second in the MVFC and 14th nationally.
The Redbirds
- Under the direction of 11th-year head coach Brock Spack, the Redbirds enter their final home game of the season riding a string of four wins in their last five MVFC contests.
- ISU is led by the MVFC's leading rusher and scorer, James Robinson (107.9 ypg.), a STATS FCS Walter Payton Award candidate.
- Defensively, ISU ranks fourth nationally in sacks per game (3.5), paced by Romeo McKnight's 8.0 sacks.
- ISU is allowing just 117.6 rushing yards per outing, which is good for second in the MVFC and 21st among all FCS defenses.
Last Time Out
Missouri State dropped its fifth conference game in a row with a 37-14 road setback to Southern Illinois.
- After a slow start, Peyton Huslig was 11-for-17 in the second half with a pair of touchdown passes to finish the game with 193 passing yards.
- With the pair of second-half scoring strikes, Huslig moved into a tie for second place on Missouri State's career touchdown passing list with 36; he matched Jeremy Hoog (1994-97) and Mitch Ware (1976-79) for the No. 2 spot on the all-time MSU chart, trailing only Cody Kirby (2007-10), who passed for 47 TDs in his tenure.
- Tyler Lovelace's third interception of the campaign set up a 10-yard scoring pass from Huslig to Lorenzo Thomas for the Bears' first touchdown of the game.
- Southern Illinois racked up 395 yards of total offense in the first half – and 555 for the game – to dominate the line of scrimmage early; the Salukis scored on five-of-six first-half possessions.
- SIU's Kare Lyles finished 18-of-24 for 232 yards and four TD strikes, including a 13-yard pass to Avante Cox in the fourth quarter for SIU's final score. Â
- Landon Lenoir caught nine passes, all in the first half, for 124 yards with Cox also scoring twice and finishing with five receptions for 67 yards for the Salukis.
- Tyler Currie caught six passes for 56 yards and Thomas snagged five receptions for 42.
- McNeece Egbim logged his 15th career double-figure tackle game with 10 stops, including seven in the second half.
- Brendan Withrow overcame an early blocked punt to finish with a 47.8 punting average on six kicks, including three of 60 yards or better and a long of 69.
Rank and File
Missouri State can once again make a valid claim as having one of the toughest schedules in the Division I FCS ranks this fall. Saturday's game will mark the Bears' fifth contest against a top 25 team this season. MSU has played at least five ranked teams in six straight seasons and the Bears have played no fewer than three ranked opponents in any of the last 15 seasons. MSU has taken on a total of 53 top 25 clubs in the last 10 seasons alone.
Currie Tops 1,000-Yard Plateau
Bears senior receiver
Tyler Currie hauled in three receptions for 23 yards against SDSU (Nov. 2) to become Missouri State's 21st receiver to accumulate 1,000 career receiving yards. Currie, who has collected a pass in 17 consecutive games, has snagged 88 passes for 1,071 yards in his MSU career with seven touchdowns.
Junior teammate
Lorenzo Thomas is also closing in on 1,000 receiving yards, needing just two yards to reach the milestone with 81 catches in his 30-game career.
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Captain Consistency
Bears linebacker
McNeece Egbim notched a team-high 10 tackles at Southern Illinois (Nov. 9), marking his 15th career double-figure tackle game — and fifth in seventh conference games this season. The senior from Rowlett, Texas, posted eight solo stops and a pair of assists against the Salukis.
Egbim eclipsed 300 career tackles Oct. 26 vs. UNI and jumpted into the program's all-time top 15 in career tackles with a 10-tackle effort vs. SDSU (Nov. 2) before moving past Mike Murphy into the No. 14 spot on the list. He enters Saturdray's game with 325 total tackles, which is 13 behind Dennis Heim (1974-77) in the 13th position on the chart. Egbim also sits seventh on MSU's career chart for tackles for loss (26.0).
Egbim is averaging 11.2 tackles per game in Valley play to lead all Valley defenders.
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Huslig Racking Up Milestones
Senior quarterback
Peyton Huslig continues to accumulate career passing milestones as he braces for his 32nd consecutive start this weekend at Illinois State. The senior signal caller needs just 29 more passing yards to reach 6,000 for his career, something only two Bears have ever achieved. He moved into a tie for second place on MSU's career TD passes list in last week's game at SIU with a pair of scoring passes to give him 36 for his career. Huslig also eclipsed 500 career completions in the SIU game, also joining Cody Kirby (2007-10) and Jeremy Hoog (1994-97) on that elite list.
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 third-year quarterback 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). Huslig finished 28-of-44 with no interceptions and 315 passing yards — the third-best single-game passing output of his career. He accounted for 231 passing yards in the second half and overtime alone.
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. Missouri State senior punter
Brendan Withrow matched the fourth-best single-game punting average in school history in last Saturday's game at SIU, accumulating six punts for a 47.8 average, including three punts of 60 yards or better and a long of 69. His season punting average (42.7) is currently the third-highest all-time at MSU and ranks 14th nationally. Withrow, who now has 33 punts of 50 yards or better in his career, is also on pace to become just the fifth player in program history to rack up 200 or more career punts.He enters the final two games of his senior year sixth in punts (191) and punting yardage (7,932), while his career average (41.5) ranks third in MSU history.
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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.
