Football November 19, 2019

Bears Welcome Sycamores to Plaster for 2019 Finale

Missouri State Bears (1-9, 1-6 MVFC) vs. Indiana State Sycamores (4-7, 2-5 MVFC)
Date/Kickoff:	Saturday, Nov. 23 \| 2:05 p.m. (CST)
Location:	Springfield, Mo.
Site:	Robert W. Plaster Stadium (17,500) \| Bearfest Village
Radio:	KTXR (101.3 FM) (Tom Ladd, Dennis Heim) \| Listen Live \| Missouri State Football Radio Network
Watch:	ESPN+ (Don West, Corey Riggs)
Follow:	Live Stats \| Facebook \| Twitter \| Football Twitter \| Instagram \| YouTube
Game Notes:	Missouri State \| Indiana State \| MVFC \| Missouri State Media Guide
Series/Last Meeting:	MSU leads 20-13 (MSU 12-4 in Springfield) \| MSU won 29-26 in Terre Haute (Oct. 13, 2018)
Tickets:	MissouriStateBears.com \| Missouri State students admitted free with BearPass ID
Promotion:	Senior Day

The Game

The Missouri State Bears (1-9, 1-6 MVFC) conclude their 2019 season Saturday (Nov. 23) when they host the Indiana State Sycamores in a 2 p.m. (CST) contest at Robert W. Plaster Stadium.

Saturday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, with Don West and Corey Riggs describing the action. It will also be carried on the Missouri State Radio Network, as Tom Ladd and Dennis Heim will have the call.

Missouri State will recognize 19 senior student-athletes as part of on-field Senior Day festivities scheduled prior to kickoff.
With Southern Illinois' entry at No. 25 into this week's FCS Coaches Poll, the Bears will have faced off against five straight Top 25 squads entering Saturday's game; the Sycamores will represent just the third FCS opponent to enter its matchup with MSU either unranked or voteless in either major FCS poll.
The Bears have forced a total of nine turnovers over their last three games, more than doubling their season total in takeaways in the process.
MSU will be looking to post its first home win of the season; the Bears have dropped seven straight games at Plaster Stadium — their longest home slide as a Division I program.
MSU also enters the game riding a seven-game November losing streak, with its last win in the month coming on Nov. 4, 2017 at Southern Illinois.
The Bears last home win came on Sept. 29, 2018 in a 24-21 decision against Illinois State.
Indiana State snapped a four-game skid with a 24-17 home victory over Youngstown State last Saturday, rushing for 242 yards and three touchdowns.

Series Notes

The Bears and Sycamores have met 33 previous times since 1986, with MSU holding a 20-13 edge.
MSU is 12-4 at home against ISU, including a 59-20 win over the Sycamores in their last trip to Springfield (Oct. 28, 2017).
MSU has won three straight contests against ISU under head coach Dave Steckel, averaging 31.0 points per victory during the streak; neither club has won four consecutive games in the series to date.
The Bears have averaged 29.7 points per outing in the series, and have topped the 30-point mark in nine of their last 11 wins over ISU.

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 (6,156) who ranks third on the Bears' all-time lists for total offense (7,175), completions (526) and passing yardage, as well as second for passing TD's (36).
On the defensive side of the ball, McNeece Egbim leads all Valley defenders in tackles (9.9 tpg.) during conference play, while Tyler Lovelace leads the MVFC in takeaways (3 FR, 3 INT); Egbim needs 11 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 43.1 yards per punt ranks second in the MVFC and 12th nationally.

The Sycamores

Under the direction of third-year head coach Curt Mallory, the Sycamores have been competitive in virtually every contest, with seven of their 10 games being decided by 10 points or less.
Indiana State's defense has posted the No. 2 pass defense in not only the MVFC (155.1 ypg.), but all of FCS football as well.
ISU's linebacker duo of Jonas Griffith and Clayton Glasco has combined for 168 tackles, 22.5 tackles for losses, 8.0 sacks and two interceptions.

Last Time Out

Missouri State dropped its sixth straight MVFC game, falling to Illinois State in a 17-12 defensive battle in Normal last weekend.

Missouri State's defense forced a season-high four turnovers and limited the Redbirds to 238 yards of offense.
Trailing by five points late in the contest, Angelo Garbutt forced a late fumble and Tyler Lovelace scooped up the loose ball to give the Bears new life at the Redbird 32 with 2:17 left on the clock.
MSU quarterback Peyton Huslig guided the Bears to the ISU 3 in the final minute, but the ISU pass defense stiffened, forcing a pair of incompletions before Luther Kirk caught Huslig from behind for a nine-yard sack on fourth down, ending the threat and effectively sealing the outcome.
James Robinson, the MVFC's leading rusher, carried the load for ISU with 155 rushing yards on 29 carries, and Brady Davis completed 8-of-11 passes for 65 yards and two first-half touchdowns before leaving the game with an apparent injury.
ISU held the Bears to 1-of-11 conversions on third down and sacked Huslig five times, with Tuvone Clark and Zek Vandenburgh each accounting for 2.0 sacks, and Dylan Draka leading the Redbirds' with nine tackles.
Jeremiah Wilson turned in the longest scoring run by a Bear since 2017 with a 74-yard scoring burst in the opening quarter.
Titus Wall led all MSU tacklers with eight stops, and Garbutt logged seven tackles and 2.0 tackles for losses to go along with his two takeaways.

Senior Sendoff

Nineteen Missouri State seniors will be recognized during pregame ceremonies Saturday, including co-captains McNeece Egbim and Peyton Huslig.

In addition to Egbim (LB), Kam Carter (S), Chandler Collins (LS), Aaron Denson (WR), Austin Henderson (S), Darius Joseph (CB) and Taiwo Oluwafunmila (DE) are all three-time lettermen for the Bears. Huslig (QB) heads a list of two-year letter-winners that includes Tyler Currie (WR), Angelo Garbutt (LB) and Brendan Withrow (P). Other senior honorees are Mauricio Chio (TE), J.T. Granato (QB), Matt McClellan (DE), Matt Platko (OL), Kendall Stewart (WR), Kylin Washington (DT), Antwan Woods (WR) and Alan Worsham (RB).

Honoring No. 20

Another member of this year's senior class, Richard Nelson, will be honored Saturday as well. 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 season with the Bears in 2016.

The Bears have honored Nelson with his number "20" on their helmets over the past three seasons. The team also has a standing memorial to Nelson in the MSU Football facility.

Thomas Joins 1,000-Yard Club

Two weeks after fellow Bear receiver Tyler Currie became Missouri State's 21st receiver to accumulate 1,000 career receiving yards, junior wideout Lorenzo Thomas followed suit in last week's loss at Illinois State.

Thomas caught four passses for 33 yards against the Redbirds, hiking his MSU totals to 85 receptions and 1,031 yards in 31 career games for the Bears. Currie, who has collected a pass in 18 consecutive games, has snagged 89 passes for 1,074 yards in his MSU career with seven touchdowns.

Getting Defensive

Missouri State's four takeaways at No. 7 Illinois State (Nov. 16) not only marked a season high by its defense, but its best single-game effort since forcing six Northern Arizona turnovers on Sept. 15, 2018. The Bears allowed just 3.8 yards per play and 15 total first downs while holding the Redbirds to a season-low 238 yards of total offense.

In its last three contests, MSU has forced a total of nine turnovers. Tyler Lovelace has played a direct role in six of the Bears' 16 takeaways this fall, recovering three fumbles and picking off three passes.

Captain Consistency

Senior co-captain McNeece Egbim notched a team-high 10 tackles at Southern Illinois (Nov. 9), marking his 15th career double-figure tackle game — and fifth this season. The linebacker from Rowlett, Texas, posted eight solo stops and a pair of assists against the Salukis. Egbim is averaging 9.9 tackles per game in Valley play to lead all MVFC defenders.

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 Saturday's game with 327 total tackles, which is 11 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 (26.5) and needs two more TFL's to catch Nick Canavan (2010-13) in the sixth position on the list.

Wilson's Way

Jeremiah Wilson made his first start of the season in the Bears' backfield at Illinois State (Nov. 16). The sophomore's 74-yard, first-quarter rush marked the longest rush and longest scoring run by a Bear since Calan Crowder's 75-yard TD run at Missouri on Sept. 2, 2017. In just two appearances this season, Wilson is MSU's top net rusher and averages 11.0 yards per carry.

Strength of Schedule

Missouri State can once again make a valid claim as having one of the toughest schedules in the Division I FCS ranks this fall. Last Saturday's game at No. 7 Illinois State marked 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 54 top 25 clubs in the last 10 seasons alone.

Withrow Earns MVFC Honor

For the second time this season, Missouri State punter Brendan Withrow was named Missouri Valley Football Conference Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday following a big performance at Illinois State (Nov. 16).

The senior from Imperial, Mo., averaged 49.2 yards per attempt to help the Bears control the field position battle in the narrow 17-12 loss in Normal. He booted a game-long 62-yarder in the second half and accounted for two 50-plus yarders on the day to push his season total to 18 punts of 50 yards or better.

Withrow is one of just three punters in the FCS to eclipse 3,000 punt yards this season and currently ranks 12th nationally with a punting average of 43.1. He earned Valley Special Teams Player of the Week and STATS FCS National Special Teams Player of the Week on Oct. 7, following his efforts in helping the Bears pick up their first win of the season at Western Illinois.

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