LYNCHBURG, Va. – Missouri State quarterback Jacob Clark completed all four passes on the final drive of the game, including a 13-yard touchdown pass to freshman Tristian Gardner with 27 seconds left, to stun home standing Liberty, 21-17, here Saturday.
 
Clark finished 20-of-33 for 286 yards and a pair of second-half TD passes. He also rushed for MSU's first go-ahead score early in the fourth quarter.
 
The stunning road victory – the fourth of the season for the upstart Bears – seemed unlikely after they were held to just 84 yards and 6 first downs in the first half while trailing 10-0 at the break. But Missouri State (6-3, 4-1 CUSA) was up to the task on both sides of the ball in the last 30 minutes with the defense allowing the Flames just 145 total yards, while Clark and the offense accumulated 248 in that span.
 
The Bears manufactured touchdown drives on three of their final four drives of the game and almost snagged the lead with a defensive takeaway with under two minutes to play.
 
Clark got the Bears on the board for the first time with a remarkable 28-yard scoring pass to Jmariyae Robinson in the left corner of the end zone on a clutch third-down strike that made it 10-7. The visitors' first scoring drive of the afternoon gave Clark his 50^th career TD pass and also included a clutch 31-yard completion to Gardner on third-and-14 to sustain the march.
 
After forcing a Liberty punt on its next possession, Clark and the Bears took over on their own 20 late in the third period and took the lead briefly when Clark called his own number from the one-yard line with 11:54 left in the fourth. The eight-play, 80-yard scoring march was the 21^st TD drive of 80 or more yards in Clark's career and gave MoState a 14-10 lead.
 
Liberty (4-5, 3-2 CUSA) was able to regain the lead midway through the fourth when QB Ethan Vasko scored from three-yards to give the Flames a 17-14 advantage. Running back Evan Dickens carried three times on the drive to help set up the score with 8:10 to play.
 
The Bears reached midfield on their ensuing possession but had to punt the ball away when the drive stalled there, giving the Flames the ball on their own 17 with 5:24 remaining. Coming out of the two-minute timeout and facing a third-and-three at the MSU 47, Vasko fumbled the snap which was ultimately picked up by Bears defensive end DJ Wesolak at the 38. He returned the ball to the Liberty one before it was knocked loose by Liberty, and Vasko recovered it in the end zone for a touchback.
 
With a new set of downs and 1:49 to go from their own 20, Liberty tried to run the clock out, but MSU held strong, strategically using its three timeouts and emerging with a solid defensive finish to ultimately force a punt at the 1:27 mark.
 
With the game in the balance, Clark and the Bears took over on their own 30 and immediately went to work. Clark knifed through Liberty's defense with a 22-yard pass to Robinson, a 20-yarder to Gardner and a 15-yard completion to Ronnell Johnson to the 13 before Clark's game-winning strike to Gardner left the crowd of 18,407 at Williams Stadium stunned.

Liberty's final hopes were dashed on a Jordan Dunbar interception on the Flames' final possession, allowing the Bears to take a knee and leave town with their sixth victory of the campaign.
 
Gardner had 5 catches for 80 yards to lead all players, while Robinson caught 5 receptions for 69 yards.
 
The Bears finished the game with 20 first downs and 332 total yards. Shomari Lawrence carried 13 times for 48 yards to lead the Bears.
 
Defensively, Thomas Anderson led the sleuth with 8 stops, 7 solos and 3 pass breakups.
 
Liberty was led by Vasko's 196 passing yards on 18-of-35 passing, while Dickens carried 28 times for 127 yards and a touchdown.
 
In the first half, the Bears were held to just 84 total yards and trailed 10-0 at the midway point.
 
Liberty scored on the first and last drives of the half, taking the game's opening possession down the field in seven plays to take an early 7-0 advantage on a one-yard TD run from Evan Dickens at the 11:24 mark.
 
The Bears punted on three of their four opening-half possessions, but got into Flames' territory twice. MSU's first drive of the second quarter reached the LU 30 before a 47-yard field goal attempt by Yousef Obeid narrowly missed left to keep the visitors off the scoreboard.
 
MSU's final punt of the first half was a 71-yarder by Stewart McDonald that pinned Liberty in at its own 9-yard line with 1:48 to go. But the home side chipped away with three clutch third-down conversions before the drive halted at the MSU 20. Liberty then settled for a 38-yard Jay Billingsley field goal as time expired to make it 10-0 at the intermission.
 
Liberty was 6-for-10 on third down in the opening half and racked up 253 total yards, including 160 aerial yards from Vasko who completed his first 8 attempts of the game before MSU's defense forced six incompletions on his last nine attempts before the intermission.
 
With six wins in his pocket and a guaranteed .500 season in his FBS debut campaign, coach Ryan Beard and his Missouri State squad return home next Saturday (Nov. 15) for a homecoming matchup against UTEP at 2 p.m.
 
Tickets for the UTEP game are available at MissouriStateBears.com or by visiting the Athletics Box Office at Great Southern Bank Arena, (417) 836-7678, during regular box office hours.