Bears Set to Open Season and FBS Era at USC

GAME 1 - Missouri State Bears (0-0) at (RV) USC Trojans (0-0)
Date and Time	Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025 \| 6:35 p.m. (Central)
Stadium Info	United Airlines Field at LA Memorial Coliseum (77,500) \| Parking Information \| Bag Policy \| Tailgating Info \| GameDay Info
Tickets	USCTrojans.evenue.net \| (213) 740-4672
Radio	KWTO (101.3 FM) (Corey Riggs Tom Mast) \| Bears Radio Network \| Varsity Network App
Television	B1G Network (Guy Haberman, Yogi Roth, Rhett Lewis)
Fan Information	Alumni & Fan Event \| Shop BearWear \| Weather \| Top 25 Polls
Coverage	Ryan Beard Weekly Presser \| MoState Update / Audio Clips
Series	First Meeting
Live Stats	Live Stats
Game Notes	Missouri State \| USC \| CUSA Notebook \| MSU Media Guide
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) \| Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Follow	Athletics Facebook \| Athletics Twitter \| Football Facebook \| Football Twitter \| Instagram \| #WeAreMoState \| #OutHitOut Hustle \| @MoStateFootball

First and Ten Notes

Missouri State kicks off its 114th season of college football -- and first season as an FBS program -- on Saturday (Aug. 30) when the Bears travel to Southern Cal (6:30 p.m. CT, B1G Network).
MoState is 52-58-3 all-time in season openers with 2025 marking the ninth straight year the Bears have opened the season on the road.
The Trojans were 7-6 a year ago with a win over Texas A&M in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl.
The Bears are 5-7 all-time in the month of August and are opening the season in August for the second straight season. MSU's last August win came on 8/28/14 with a season-opening 34-27 victory at Northwestern (La.) State.
Missouri State's only previous matchup against a B1G foe was on Sept. 7, 2013 in a 28-14 loss at Iowa. The Bears trailed 21-14 with 14:15 left in the game, thanks in part to a pair of early fourth-quarter scores. A 27-yard Kierra Harris TD pass to Julian Burton and a 28-yard interception return for a TD by Rique (REEK) Bentley 10 seconds later got the Bears within striking distance. The Hawkeyes engineered a 65-yard scoring march behind QB Jake Rudock with just under 10 minutes to play to end MSU's upset hopes.
The Bears have squared off with Lincoln Riley once before, falling 48-0 on Sept. 12, 2020 in a COVID-era, limited-attendance season opener at No. 6 Oklahoma. The game was coach Bobby Petrino's debut as Bears' head coach and marked the first (and only) time in his career he had been shut out. Spencer Rattler led the Sooners, throwing for 290 yards and 4 touchdowns.
USC wide receiver Corey Simms is from St. Louis CBC High where he was teammates with Missouri State freshmen WR Brycen Dorsey and TE Jackson Kohl.
The Bears have five players from the state of California, including WR Makai Cope (Los Angeles), OL Justin Curtis (Santa Clarita), OL Mark Hutchinson (Hayward), RB Josh Joyner (Oxnard), and LB Kanye Young (Menifee). While at Utah, Cope played 3 games against USC in 2022 and 2023 (3-0).
On Aug. 20, QB Jacob Clark (Rockwall, Texas) was named to the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Watch List. Last season, Clark finished 262-of-376 (.697) for 3,604 yards, 26 touchdowns, 169.8 efficiency and 3,608 yards total offense. He ranked 2nd in the nation (FCS) in yards per pass attempt (9.59), 4th in pass efficiency and 4th in passing yards per game (300.3).
QB Jacob Clark needs 267 passing yards to reach 5,000 for his career (18 games). He has thrown for 200 yards or more in 13-of-16 career starts.
Stetson transfer WR Ronnel Johnson needs 119 receiving yards to eclipse 1,000 for his career. The 2023 Pioneer League Rookie of the Year has 59 career catches in 17 appearances at Stetson.
4th-year WR Jmariyae Robinson needs 16 pass receptions to become the 17th Bear to eclipse 100 career catches. His 1,092 career receiving yards currently ranks 24th on MSU's career list. Also, his 9 career rushes (52 yds., 4 TD), makes him the only DI player with 4 career rushing TD's and less than 20 carries.
Missouri State's 48-14 loss at Pacific (9/26/92), then in the Big West Conference, is the club's only previous game in the Golden State.

Series History

First Meeting

Coach Ryan Beard

Missouri State University officially presented Ryan Beard as its new head football coach on Dec. 19, 2022. At the time of his hire, Beard was the program's youngest coach on record and was the 22nd person to hold the football Bears' top coaching position.
At 36 years old, coach Beard enters the 2025 season as the fifth-youngest head coach in the FBS ranks.
Last season (2024), the Bears' final campaign at the FCS level, Beard guided MoState to an 8-4 overall record and No. 23 national ranking with 12 all-conference standouts and three All-Americans in his camp. Quarterback Jacob Clark finished 14th in the Walter Payton FCS Player of the Year voting, while running back Jacardia Wright signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Seahawks after the season. The Bears reeled off eight straight wins from Sept. 14 to Nov. 9, the squad's longest since a stretch from 1988-89.
The 2024 Bears finished 6-2 in Valley play to tie for fourth place (one game behind tri-champions NDSU, SDSU and USD) and match the team record for conference victories (1978, 2021), including MSU's first 6-0 start in conference play since 1978. Likewise, the Bears started 8-2 overall for the first time since 1990 and reached eight overall wins for the ninth time in program history -- first since the 2021 NCAA playoff team. Likewise, MSU's four-game road win streak was its first since a split-season stretch from 1996-97.
Beard's 2024 squad boasted one of the nation's most efficient offensive attacks, racking up 306.2 yards per game through the air (5th), 424.8 total yards per game (17th) and 34.8 points per outing (13th), all of which ranked in the top 20 nationally.
In his inaugural head coaching season (2023), Beard guided the Bears to a 4-7 overall record and a 3-5 ledger in the MVFC. The team's strong November surge included and a 35-16 home win over No. 18-ranked Northern Iowa.
The 2023 Bears finished No. 5 in the nation in passing offense (300.3), No. 7 in pass efficiency (158.77), 26th in total offense (400.8) and 31st in scoring (29.8).
Missouri State was rewarded with seven All-MVFC selections in Beard's first campaign as head coach, including first-teamers Grant Burkett (P) and Raylen Sharpe (WR). Sharpe finished fourth in the MVFC Offensive Player of the Year voting. Likewise, Burkett (second team) and Sharpe (third team) were named to the Associated Press FCS All-America Team, while the Bears also boasted three Phil Steele Freshman All-America honorees, including first-teamers Cash Hudson (OL) and Avery Powell (CB).
At the end of the 2023 campaign, Beard was named to the American Football Coaches Association's exclusive 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute.
During his three seasons as MSU's defensive coordinator (2020-22), Beard played a significant role in the team's resurgence under coach Bobby Petrino, managing a defensive unit that boasted 18 all-conference selections, four All-Americans and three professional players in his tenure at MoState.
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 DB coach at WKU (2016), Beard was part of a CUSA championship Boca Raton Bowl win.
He 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. A native of Bowling Green, Ky., Beard was a four-year letterman 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.

Bears Set to Open Season and FBS Era at USC

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Grant Burkett

Jacob Clark

Makai Cope

Justin Curtis

Brycen Dorsey

Cash Hudson

Mark Hutchinson

Ronnel Johnson

Josh Joyner

Jackson Kohl

Avery Powell

Jmariyae Robinson

Jacardia Wright

Kanye Young

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Bears Set to Open Season and FBS Era at USC

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Grant Burkett

Jacob Clark

Makai Cope

Justin Curtis

Brycen Dorsey

Cash Hudson

Mark Hutchinson

Ronnel Johnson

Josh Joyner

Jackson Kohl

Avery Powell

Jmariyae Robinson

Jacardia Wright

Kanye Young

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