Football August 26, 2019

Bears Open 2019 Slate Thursday at Northern Arizona

Missouri State Bears (0-0) at (RV) Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (0-0)
Date/Kickoff:	Aug. 29, 2019 \| 8 p.m. (CT)
Location:	Flagstaff, Ariz.
Site:	Walkup Skydome (10,000)
Radio:	KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Dennis Heim) \| Listen Live \| Missouri State Football Radio Network
Watch:	Pluto TV (Ch. 539)/NAU-TV.com
Follow:	Live Stats \| Facebook \| Twitter \| Football Twitter \| Instagram \| YouTube
Game Notes:	Missouri State \| Northern Arizona \| MVFC \| Missouri State Media Guide
Series History/Last Meeting:	MSU leads 1-0 (first meeting in Flagstaff) \| MSU won 40-8 (Sept. 15, 2018 in Springfield)

The Game

Missouri State will kick off its 108th season of varsity football Thursday (Aug. 29) when the Bears travel to Flagstaff, Ariz., for an 8 p.m., non-conference contest against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome.

The contest will be broadcast live Pluto TV (Channel 539), with Mitch Strohman, Kevin Stephens, Ryan Peretti 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.

Missouri State is 51-53-3 all-time in season openers, including a 15-22 mark since its move to Division I in 1982.
The Bears will be facing a fellow NCAA Division I FCS squad in a season opener for the first time since a 2014 win at Northwestern State; MSU is 9-5 all-time vs. FCS clubs in season openers as a Division I program.
MSU is 1-3 in season lid-lifters under head coach Dave Steckel, including road losses to FBS opponents Memphis (2015), Missouri (2017) and Oklahoma State (2018) and a home win over NAIA foe Southwestern College (2016).
Despite dropping their last two season openers, the Bears' offense averaged 30.0 points per contest in those outings.

Series Notes

The Bears and Lumberjacks are meeting for the second time; MSU claimed a 40-8 victory last September in Springfield in the two program's first-ever meeting.
MSU brings a 2-3 overall mark against the Big Sky Conference into the 2019 season.
In last year's contest, the Bears posted their best single-game rushing effort of the season with 297 yards, led by Jason Randall's career-best 181 yards.
The Bears 32-point final spread over the No. 20 Lumberjacks represented their second-largest margin of victory ever over a ranked foe.
MSU's defense forced six NAU turnovers and limited the Lumberjacks to 3-of-15 on third-down conversions.
The victory gave the Bears their first win over a ranked opponent since a 45-24 road victory at Indiana State on Oct. 1, 2016.

The Bears

Missouri State was tabbed for 10th place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference's annual preseason poll.
The Bears return 44 letterwinners and 13 total starters from last year's 4-7 squad.
MSU's defense will welcome back seven starters, led by two-time All-MVFC linebacker Angelo Garbutt and preseason all-conference picks McNeece Egbim and Matt McClellan.
Led by preseason all-league selection Tyler Currie, the Bears offense brings back six starters, including senior quarterback Peyton Huslig, who passed for 2,113 yards last fall to rank fifth all time on MSU's single-season passing chart.
Bears senior long snapper Chandler Collins was named to STATS Inc.'s 2019 FCS Preseason All-America squad, picking up third-team honors.
MSU is 469-509-3 all-time as a program and 12-32 under fifth-year head coach Dave Steckel.

The Lumberjacks

Coming off a 4-6 campaign last fall, Northern Arizona will be led by first-year head coach Chris Ball.
NAU returns 35 letterwinners from last year's club, including 17 combined offensive/defensive starters.
The Lumberjacks were picked to finish sixth in the 13-team Big Sky Conference and earned votes in both STATS and FCS Coaches Preseason Top 25 polls.
Senior defenders Jalen Goss (DT) and Khalil Dorsey (CB) were named to the Big Sky's preseason team, while All-American Case Cookus (QB) returns from an injury-riddled 2018 to lead the Lumberjacks offense.

Seven Bears Tabbed for Preseason Honors

Missouri State standouts Tyler Currie, Angelo Garbutt, McNeece Egbim and Matt McClellan were all recognized by the Missouri Valley Football Conference with Preseason All-MVFC honors, as selected by a panel of league coaches, media and communications personnel.

Currie, a native of Cordova, Tenn., earned All-MVFC honorable mention honors as a junior after starting 9-of-11 games for the Bears in 2018. He shared the team lead with 35 receptions and led MSU with 548 yards and five receiving touchdowns. He also ranked fifth in the MVFC and 79th nationally in yards per reception (15.66) while his five receiving touchdowns ranked 90th nationally and eighth in the Valley.

Garbutt was a Preseason All-MVFC standout last season as well, ultimately earning All-MVFC honorable mention laurels at season's end in 2018. He was also named by Phil Steele as an all-conference second team selection as a junior after ranking 31st nationally and fifth in the MVFC with team-best 99 total tackles. He also posted 45 solo stops and 8.0 tackles for loss with 2.5 sacks while starting all 11 games at Will linebacker. The product of Carrollton, Texas recorded 10 or more tackles in five straight games during the 2018 season.

Egbim, a senior from Rowlett, Texas, was a team co-captain as a junior and earned All-MVFC honorable mention honors at linebacker. He ranked 44th nationally and sixth in MVFC in total tackles per game (8.7) after bringing down 96 ball carriers with 9.0 tackles for loss, both of which ranked second on the club. He also led all MSU players with 48 solo stops and posted double-figure tackles in three straight games in 2018.

McClellan, a senior from Ferguson, Mo., earned a spot on the 2018 MVFC All-Newcomer Team. He led the Bears with 10.5 tackles for loss and shared the team lead with 6.0 sacks. He ranked 67th nationally with 0.55 sacks per game which was eighth in the MVFC. He also finished his first season in Springfield with 39 total tackles and 14 solo efforts with at least one sack in his first six games at MSU.

Additionally, three more Bears earned preseason All-MVFC laurels from Phil Steele's annual preview. Long snapper Chandler Collins joined Currie, Egbim, Garbutt and defensive lineman Claudio Martin on the publication's list of second-team honorees, while offensive lineman Casey O'Brien picked up third-team recognition.

Fab Frosh to Super Sophs?

Missouri State's offense received a notable boost from a pair of rookie receivers last fall. Jordan Murray eclipsed the Bears' freshman record for receptions with 33, while Damoriea Vick finished the season second all-time among MSU rookie receivers in both catches (30) and receiving yards (401). The dynamic duo combined for more than 34 percent of the Bears' pass receptions for the year.

Murray also owns MSU's rookie mark for touchdown catches after hauling in his fourth scoring catch of the season against Southern Illinois (Oct. 27). The tight end earned Freshman All-America honors from HERO Sports at the conclusion of the season.

Murray joined fellow newcomer Matt McClellan on the MVFC's All-Newcomer Team last fall. MSU's talented crop of newcomers continued a tradition of excellence displayed by Bear rookies over the last two decades. Since the MVFC began recognizing an all-rookie team in 1994, only Western Illinois (84) and Illinois State (87) have produced more MVFC All-Newcomer selections than the Bears, who have collected 81 such honors.

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.

Doing It With Defense

In Missouri State's 40-8 win over NAU last September, the Bears forced six Lumberjack turnovers and held the NAU offense to 3-of-15 on third down in the club's first home win over a ranked opponent since 2013.

The six takeaways represented the most by a Bears defense since an Oct. 27, 2007 home victory over Indiana State. The defensive surge also saw MSU break up six passes and tally 5.0 tackles for loss in the rout, grabbing three interceptions and 2.0 sacks as well.

The Jury on Currie

Senior All-MVFC receiver Tyler Currie, who had just seven receptions in 2017, registered a breakthrough 2018 campaign that included team-best totals for receptions (35), receiving yards (548) and receiving TD's (5).

Currie snagged seven passes for a career-best 113 yards and a touchdown at South Dakota on Oct. 6. That effort marked the first 100-yard receiving game by a Bear on the year. Currie ranked eighth among all MVFC receivers with his five TD receptions.

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 second on MSU's single-season plays list (453) — just 10 shy of the club's single-season record — and seventh on the single-season total offense list (2,479) and sixth on the Bears' passing yards list (2,113). For his 22-game career, he also ranks high on MSU's all-time passing list with the No. 5 passing yardage total (4,094) and the sixth-best total offense total (5,081) in program history.

Huslig accounted for 419 yards of total offense, including a career-high 404 passing yards against Southern Illinois (Oct. 27). Both efforts ranked No. 3 all-time in Bears' single-game history and represent the best numbers by a Bears QB since A.J. Porter's 460 passing yards and 426 total offensive yards against Illinois State in 2003.

Huslig's four TD passes against the Salukis tied the junior for the fifth-best total by a Bears signal-caller, and most since Brodie Lambert's five touchdown tosses against WIU in 2015. Huslig's 27 completions and 46 pass attempts in the SIU game also ranked seventh and fifth, respectively, all-time on the MSU single-game list.

Garbutt Grinding

Two-time All-MVFC linebacker Angelo Garbutt has been the Bears' top tackler in each of his two seasons in Maroon and White. The 2019 Preseason All-Valley choice registered 99 stops last fall, after logging a team-best 84 tackles in 2017. Garbutt ranked fifth overall in the MVFC in tackles per game (9.0), while his 9.9 stops per outing in league play rated third overall in the Valley.

Strength in Scheduling

Missouri State can once again make a valid claim as having one of the toughest schedules in the Division I FCS ranks this fall. Based on STATS' Preseason FCS Poll, the Bears are slated to meet 10 teams ranked among the top 25 or receiving votes in the poll.

Seven of the Bears' eight MVFC foes enter the season either ranked in the top 25 or receiving votes from the STATS voters. Over the last five seasons, MSU has squared off against a total of 29 ranked opponents. In fact, the Bears have played no fewer than three ranked opponents in any of the last 14 seasons. MSU has taken on a total of 49 top 25 clubs in the last nine seasons alone and brings a record of 24-97 against ranked foes into the 2017 campaign. The Bears posted a pair of top 25 wins last fall, defeating No. 20 NAU (40-8) and No. 9 Illinois State (24-21) at Plaster Stadium.

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