Football November 05, 2019

Bears Begin Stretch Drive With Road Contest in Carbondale

Missouri State Bears (1-7, 1-4 MVFC) at (RV) Southern Illinois Salukis (5-4, 3-2 MVFC)
Date/Kickoff:	Saturday, Nov. 9 \| 2 p.m. (CDT)
Location:	Carbondale, Ill.
Site:	Saluki Stadium (15,000)
Radio:	KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Dennis Heim) \| Listen Live \| Missouri State Football Radio Network
Watch:	MVFC-TV/ESPN3 (Scott Warmann, Danan Hughes, Kelly Burke)
Follow:	Live Stats \| Facebook \| Twitter \| Football Twitter \| Instagram \| YouTube
Game Notes:	Missouri State \| Southern Illinois \| MVFC \| Missouri State Media Guide \| Bears Weekly Media Availability (Video)
Series History/Last Meeting:	SIU 21-20 (SIU 11-9 in Carbondale) \| SIU 49-35 in Springfield (Oct. 27, 2018)

The Game

The Missouri State Bears (1-7, 1-4 MVFC) embark on their final road swing of the season Saturday (Nov. 9), when they travel to Carbondale, Ill., for a 2 p.m. (CDT) Missouri Valley Football Conference contest against the Southern Illinois Salukis (5-4, 3-2 MVFC) at Saluki Stadium.

Saturday's game will be broadcast live via MVFC-TV, streaming on ESPN3, with Scott Warmann, Danan Hughes and Kelly Burke describing the action. The game will also be carried on the Missouri State Radio Network, with Art Hains behind the microphone for his 2,500th MSU broadcast, alongside Dennis Heim with color commentary.

After dropping three straight games against ranked foes and four consecutive contests overall, Missouri State will be looking for its second conference road win of the season.
The Bears and Salukis have lit up the scoreboard in recent years, combining to score an average of 73.0 points per game in the last six meetings.
After allowing an average of 41.2 points per outing over its first five games of the season, the MSU defense has held its last three ranked opponents to an average of 28.7 points.

Series Notes

The Bears will attempt to even the overall series with SIU, which claimed a 49-35 victory last fall in Springfield to take a 21-20 all-time edge against MSU.
MSU has won two of the last three contests in the series, averaging 36.3 points during the same stretch.
The Bears will also be targeting their third win over Southern Illinois in their last four trips to Carbondale.
MSU has registered 33.0 points per contest in its last three games vs. SIU at Saluki Stadium; the Bears posted a 37-27 win in 2013, as well as a 36-28 decision two years ago in Carbondale.

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 (5,778) who ranks third on the Bears' all-time lists for total offense (6,780), completions (487) and passing yardage, as well as fourth for passing TD's (34).
Currie leads the MVFC in receptions per game (5.0), while his average of 51.0 yards per outing ranks sixth among all league receivers.
Huslig enters Saturday's game third among all MVFC quarterbacks in passing yardage (210.5 ypg.) and fourth in total offense (212.4).
Sophomore running back Jeremiah Wilson made his 2019 debut in last week's game vs. South Dakota State, breaking off the longest gain by a Bear all season with a 57-yard scoring run; his 87 rushing yards also marked a season high by a Bear.
On the defensive side of the ball, McNeece Egbim leads all Valley defenders in tackles (11.4 tpg.) during conference play, while Tyler Lovelace is tied for the MVFC lead in takeaways (2 FR, 2 INT).

The Salukis

Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Nick Hall, the Salukis are coming off three consecutive conference wins, most-recently posting a 23-14 road victory over Indiana State (Nov. 2).
Led by the MVFC's third-leading rusher, D.J. Davis (102.4 ypg.), the Salukis bring the No. 3 rushing attack (215.9) into Saturday's game.
Freshman running back Javon Williams Jr. (10.0 ppg.), paces the MVFC in scoring.
SIU's defense leads the Valley in third-down conversion percentage, allowing just 33-of-111 (29.7 percent) successful attempts by opposing offenses.

Last Time Out

Missouri State dropped its fourth-straight game — and third in a row versus a ranked foe — with last Saturday's 35-14 setback against No. 4 South Dakota State at Plaster Stadium.

The Jackrabbits scored the first 21 points of the afternoon and racked up 526 yards of total offense for the game, while the SDSU defense forced three turnovers, held the Bears scoreless for three quarters and permitted just 249 yards in all.
Jeremiah Wilson provided an offensive spark in his first live action of the 2019 season, rushing for 87 yards on 12 carries; the sophomore running back, who was sidelined for the first seven games of the year with a knee injury, put MSU on the board with a 57-yard scoring run early in the fourth period.
Cade Johnson hauled in five catches for 164 yards, including a back-breaking 89-yard scoring catch to help seal the outcome, while Pierre Strong and C.J. Wilson combined for 196 yards on the ground to lead the Jacks' offense.
Three SDSU passers combined for 294 yards and two touchdowns through the air.
McNeece Egbim logged his 26th start in a row at linebacker and moved into the Bears' career top 15 for tackles with a team-high 10 stops.
The Jacks handed the Bears their fourth home loss in as many games at Plaster Stadium this season.
The Bears suffered their seventh consecutive home loss dating back to an Oct. 20, 2018 setback to Western Illinois; the home skid eclipses the program record for consecutive home losses during the Division I era.

Currie Tops 1,000-Yard Plateau

Bears senior receiver Tyler Currie hauled in three receptions for 23 yards last Saturday against SDSU to become Missouri State's 21st receiver to accumulate 1,000 career receiving yards. Currie, who has collected a pass in 16 consecutive games, has snagged 82 passes for 1,015 yards in his MSU career with seven touchdowns.

Junior teammate Lorenzo Thomas is also closing in on 1,000 receiving yards, needing just 44 yards to reach the milestone with 76 catches in his 29-game career.

Captain Consistency

Bears linebacker McNeece Egbim notched a team-high 10 tackles vs. South Dakota State (Nov. 2), marking his 14th career double-figure tackle game — and fourth in six conference games this season. The senior from Rowlett, Texas, posted five solo stops and five assists against the Jackrabbits.

Egbim eclipsed 300 career tackles Oct. 26 vs. UNI and jumped into the program's all-time top 15 in career tackles last week vs. SDSU, surpassing Ken Braden for the No. 15 spot on the list. He currently sits seventh on MSU's career chart for tackles for loss (26.0) as well.

Egbim is averaging 11.4 tackles per game in Valley play. 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).

Wilson Watch

The long-awaited return of Bears' running back Jeremiah Wilson proved to be one of the highlights of Missouri State's efforts against No. 4 South Dakota State (Nov. 2). Wilson averaged 7.2 yards per carry in a reserve capacity, ripping off a 57-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter — just the team's third rushing score of the year. Wilson racked up 87 yards on a dozen carries against the Jackrabbits to match a career-best.

Huslig Leaving His Mark

Senior quarterback Peyton Huslig has started 30 consecutive games and enters Saturday's game needing 222 passing yards to reach 6,000 for his MSU career. The Andover, Kan., product would become just the third Missouri State signal caller — joining Cody Kirby (8,183) and Jeremy Hoog (6,959) — to reach that elite milestone. With 34 touchdown passes, he is also two shy of matching Mitch Ware and Hoog for second place on the Bears' career chart. Huslig also ranks third all-time at Missouri State in completions (487), passing attempts (884), plays (1,217) and total offense yards (6,780).

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. Huslig also eclipsed 5,000 career passing yards in the victory to become just the third player in MSU history to reach that milestone.

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 is averaging 41.3 yards per attempt, which ranks just behind Nathan Stokes (42.3) and Pat Hogan (41.8) on MSU's career chart. He enters the final three games of his senior year sixth in punts (185) and punting yardage (7,645), while his season punting average (42.2) ranks second in the MVFC and 24th nationally.

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.

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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