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Missouri State

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Bears Wrap Football Season with Shot at Top-Ranked SDSU

November 14, 2023

Game 11 - Missouri State Bears (4-6, 3-4 MVFC) at #1 South Dakota State Jackrabbits (10-0 , 7-0 MVFC)
Date and Time Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023 | 2:02 p.m. (Central)
Location Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium (19,300) | Brookings, South Dakota
Tickets GoJacks.com | (605) 688-5422
Radio KWTO (101.3 FM) (Steve Savard, Tom Ladd) | Bears Radio Network | Listen Live |  The Varsity App/Listen Live
Television Midco/ESPN+ (Tom Nieman, Kurtiss Riggs) | Watch
Series South Dakota State leads, 12-1 | Last Meeting: SDSU 28, MSU 14 (9/24/22) | Final Stats
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | South Dakota State | MVFC | MSU Media Guide
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Coach Beard Weekly Presser | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite | #OutHitOut Hustle | @MoStateFootball

First and Ten
  • Missouri State wraps up the 2023 season Saturday when the Bears travel to top-ranked South Dakota State for a 2 p.m. kickoff (Midco/ESPN+) in Brookings, S.D. Fresh off a lopsided home win over No. 15 Northern Iowa last week, the Bears look to play the role of spoiler for the second straight week while looking for their first-ever win at Dana Dykhouse Stadium.
  • All-America candidate Raylen Sharpe (WR, Allen, Texas) is this week's MVFC Offensive Player of the Week after he pulled in 11 receptions for a career-high 160 yards and 2 TD's in MSU's win over No. 15 UNI last week. His 6th 100-yard receiving game of the season -- third in a row -- matches a club season record, while he moved within one reception (65) and one touchdown (7) of Missouri State single-season records. Sharpe leads the MVFC in both receiving yards per game (100.6) and receptions per game (7.2), which rank 3rd and 5th, respectively, among all FCS players, while his 7 touchdowns ranks 17th nationally and 2nd in The Valley.
  • MSU leads the MVFC and ranks 6th nationally in passing offense, racking up 304.2 yards per game through the air. MSU also ranks 9th in pass efficiency (159.95), 15th in completion percentage (.659) and 20th in the FCS in yards per completion (13.46). MSU's 3,042 passing yards this year ranks No. 2 all-time in program history  -- behind the 2021 squad's 3,399 yards -- while its passing yards per game is on pace for a new club record.
  • The Bears have scored in 33-of-36 (.917) red-zone opportunities this season which ranks 5th among all FCS programs. Likewise, MoState ranks 25th among the FCS ranks in 3rd down efficiency (.443), while its impressive .778 efficiency on 4th down (14-of-18), ranks 2nd.
  • With its 4 passing touchdowns against UNI last week, the Bears eclipsed a new single-season record with 27. The combination of Jordan Pachot's 17 TD passes and Jacob Clark's 10, moved the 2023 squad past the previous team record of 25, set in 1999.
  • Standout safety Todric McGee (So., Wichita Kan.) ranks 16th nationally in solo tackles per contest (5.3), which is 1st in The Valley, while his 9.5 total tackles per game ranks 20th nationally and is tied for 1st in the MVFC. He is just 5 tackles shy of 100 for the season, which would make him the first Bear since Tylar Wiltz (2021) to do so.
  • MSU is averaging 31.1 points per game, which ranks 26th nationally. Since 2000, the Bears have averaged 30+ points per game just three times -- 2007 (36.3), 2021 (34.3) and 2010 (30.4). Likewise, MSU has eclipsed 4,000 yards of total offense for the 18th time in team history, which ranks 26th nationally (406.6). 
  • With 10 picks this season, the MSU defense ranks 26th nationally in total interceptions, the squad's second-highest total over the last 9 seasons (15 in 2021). 
  • QB Jordan Pachot (Jr., Highland, Calif.) is the 13th QB in MSU history to pass for 2,000 yards in a season. He  ranks 10th nationally in pass efficiency (156.0), 11th in completion percentage (.678), 13th in passing yards per attempt (8.58) and 22nd in TD passes (17). In his 6 starts, Pachot (3-3) is averaging 288.3 pass yards per game. 
  • Wide receiver Terique Owens (Sr., Pleasanton, Calif.) leads the MVFC and ranks 11th nationally in yards per reception (18.86). He has 28 receptions for 528 yards and 4 touchdowns this season. 
  • Behind All-America punter Grant Burkett (Jr., Joplin, Mo.), the Bears rank 10th nationally in net punting (40.64). Burkett is the FCS active career leader in punting average (44.0), and his 43.29 average this season ranks 14th nationally. He has 194 career punts with 50 boots of 50+ yards and 47 downed inside the 20. 
  • The defending FCS national champion Jackrabbits have won 24 straight games, which matches the fourth-longest in FCS history. The Jackrabbits have also won 17 straight home homes and 16 consecutive MVFC contests.
  • Missouri State (Ryan Beard) and South Dakota State (Jimmy Rogers) both feature first-year head coaches who were both defensive coordinators for their respective schools last season under legendary head coaches -- MSU's Bobby Petrino and SDSU's John Stiegelmeier. 
       
Coach Ryan Beard
  • Missouri State University officially presented Ryan Beard as its new head football coach on Dec. 19, 2022 during a news conference in Great Southern Bank Arena on the Springfield campus.
  • At 34, Beard is the program's youngest head coach on record and is the 22nd person to hold the football Bears' top coaching position. His elevation to head coach came on the heels of three seasons as MSU's defensive coordinator (2020-22) under former head coach Bobby Petrino.
  • Beard has played a significant role in Missouri State's resurgence on the gridiron, managing a defensive unit that has boasted 18 all-conference selections, four All-Americans and three professional players in his tenure at MoState.
  • In his first campaign in Springfield in 2020-21, Beard and his defensive unit broke the program record for sacks with 27, created 15 turnovers, and held every Missouri Valley Football Conference foe under 30 points for the first time since 1989. His inaugural season at MSU culminated in five all-conference selections, while the Bears captured a share of the MVFC championship and earned an NCAA playoff berth.
  • As an encore effort in 2021, Beard's second year with the program saw the Bears top the club sack record again (30) while racking up 25 takeaways and securing 15 interceptions. In addition to making a second straight NCAA playoff appearance in 2021, MSU finished in sole possession of second place in the rugged Missouri Valley Football Conference, ranked ninth nationally in turnovers gained and finished 14th in interceptions per game. The 2021 Bears also boasted five all-conference players on the defensive side of the ball while Bears' defensive lineman Eric Johnson was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
  • The 2022 Bears defense gave up just 15.8 points per game over their last four games with defensive end Kevin Ellis leading the nation in fumble recoveries, and four MSU defenders earning all-conference laurels. Five-time All-MVFC pick Montrae Braswell signed a free agent deal with the Seattle Seahawks.
  • Before coming to Missouri State, Beard spent the 2019 season at Central Michigan as the special teams and safeties coach for head coach Jim McElwain. He joined the Central Michigan staff in February of 2019 and helped lead the Chippewas to an 8-6 campaign on a defensive secondary that created 13 interceptions.
  • Beard served as an assistant at Louisville during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, starting as the defensive backs coach and in quality control before moving on to become the Cardinals' linebackers coach and their co-special teams coordinator. As the defensive backs coach at Western Kentucky in 2016, Beard helped lead the Hilltoppers to the Conference USA championship and a win in the Boca Raton Bowl.
  • Beard was a standout defensive back at Western Kentucky himself from 2007-11. He was a two-time All-Sun Belt Conference selection and was named to the league's All-Freshman squad and its All-Academic team. In 2011, he earned the Western Kentucky Iron Man Award.
  • A native of Bowling Green, Ky., Beard was a four-year letterwinner at Bowling Green High for coach Kevin Wallace, where his efforts helped the Purples advance to the state 3A championship contest each of his last two years.
  • Beard holds two degrees from Western Kentucky: a bachelor of science in Business Management (2012), and a master of science in Recreation and Sport Administration (2014).
  • He is married to the former Katie Petrino. The couple have four children with son Beau and daughter Lainey, in addition to twins Jacob and Kailey born in the spring of 2022.

Series History
  • South Dakota State leads the all-time series between the teams, 12-1, with the Jackrabbits reeling off 7 straight wins. MSU's only win in the series came on Oct. 19, 2013, with a 35-21 win at Plaster Stadium. 
  • MSU is 1-6 at home and 0-6 in Brookings in the series. This will be the first meeting in Brookings since 2018. 
  • Two meetings ago (Nov. 2, 2019), SDSU made a 14-point first-half lead stand up in an eventual 35-14 victory in Springfield. The No. 4 Jackrabbits scored the first 21 points of the afternoon and racked up 526 total yards, 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 for the Bears, rushing for 87 yards on 12 carries, including a 57-yard scoring run early in the fourth period. SDSU's Cade Johnson hauled in 5 catches for 164 yards, including a back-breaking 89-yard TD catch, while Pierre Strong and C.J. Wilson combined for 196 yards on the ground.
  • Last season in Springfield (9/24/22), No. 2 SDSU rallied for 14 points in the game's final eight minutes to break up a fourth-quarter tie and defeat the No. 4 Bears, 28-14, in the MVFC opener. The Bears fell behind 14-0 early in the second half but rallied behind a pair of third-quarter scoring drives to tie things up. Jacardia Wright's 15-yard TD run capped a six-play, 71-yard scoring drive for MSU ahead of a 67-yard scoring strike from quarterback Jason Shelley to Raylen Sharpe on the home squad's next possession. Sharpe's dash down the field knotted the score with 2:55 to go in the third period and seemed to have the Plaster Stadium crowd of 13,189 back in the game. MoState came up with its only take-away on SDSU's next possession when Kevin Ellis jumped on a fourth-and-one Jackrabbits' fumble at the MSU 33. But, the Bears came out of the momentum-changing play with a personal foul that backed them up to their own 19 and could not capitalize. The momentum shifted again, and the eventual national champions converted a pair of third downs en route to capturing the go-ahead score with 7:59 to play. | Final Stats
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