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Missouri State

FB Week 2

Bears Set for Week Two Showdown at Marshall

September 02, 2025

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAME 2 - Missouri State Bears (0-1)  at Marshall Thundering Herd (0-1)
Date and Time Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025 | 5:02 p.m. (Central)
Stadium Info Joan C. Edwards Stadium (30,000) 
Tickets HerdTickets.evenue.net | (304) 696-4373
Radio KWTO (101.3 FM) (Corey Riggs, Sam Block, Tom Ladd) | Bears Radio Network | Varsity Network App
Television ESPN+ (Keith Morehouse, Mark Martin)
Fan Information 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 | Marshall | CUSA Notebook | MSU Media Guide
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#WeAreMoState | #OutHitOut Hustle | @MoStateFootball

First and Ten Notes
  • Missouri State concludes a two-game road swing to begin the 2025 campaign when the Bears travel to Huntington, W.Va. on Saturday for a 5 p.m. (Central) contest at Marshall University. The first-ever meeting between the programs will air live on ESPN+. 
  • Missouri State's 71.43 completion percentage (20-for-28) at USC on opening night puts the Bears atop the Conference USA rankings in that category.
  • The Bears have three former Marshall players on their 2025 roster, including TE Hayden Hagler (2020-21), WR Sean Reese (2022-23), and WR Antonio Robinson (2022-23). Reese and Robinson played in one game apiece at Marshall in 2023, but Hagler was a regular for the Herd in 2020, playing in 8 games and scoring a TD vs. Middle Tennessee (11/14/20).
  • Tristian Gardner's 33-yard touchdown reception from Jacob Clark in the second quarter of last Saturday's season opener at USC made him the first MoState freshman to snag a TD pass in his collegiate debut since DJ Frost did so at Northern Arizona (8/29/19).
  • S Maguire Neal (Zephyrhills, Fla.) brought down a game-high 9 ball carriers at USC, ranking him tied for 5th in CUSA in total tackles per game (9.0).
  • The Marshall game is the second of 6 night games on the 2025 slate for the Bears. This season marks the most night games for MoState since 2003 (seven). 
  • The game attendance of 62,841 at USC last week was the 5th-largest crowd ever to see a Bears game, trailing three contests at Arkansas in 2022, 2011, 2005 (respectively) and one at Iowa in 2013.
  • 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 159 passing yards to reach 5,000 for his career (19 games). He has thrown for 200 yards or more in 13-of-17 career starts.
  • Stetson transfer WR Ronnel Johnson (McDonough, Ga.) needs 102 receiving yards to eclipse 1,000 for his career. The 2023 Pioneer League Rookie of the Year has 61 career catches in 18 career appearances at Stetson and Missouri State.
  • 4th-year WR Jmariyae Robinson needs 13 pass receptions to become the 17th Bear to eclipse 100 career catches. His 1,122 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. 
  • This will be MSU's first-ever game against an opponent from West Virginia. The Bears will make two more trips to the Eastern Time Zone in November for games at Liberty (11/8) and Kennesaw State (11/22).
  • Last week at USC, the Bears were 2-for-2 on fourth-down opportunities, including a touchdown pass. Only four FBS teams had more fourth-down conversions in Week One, including Rutgers' 5-for-5 week.

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.
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