Bears Fall to No. 8 Texas A&M in Season Debut

Saturday, September 5

College Station, Texas

6:00 p.m.

Missouri State University

0-1 , 0-0

Texas A&M

1-0 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Missouri St.	0	0	0	0	0
Texas A&M	9	10	14	17	50

Bears Fall to No. 8 Texas A&M in Season Debut

September 05, 2026 | Football

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)Photo Gallery

By: MSU Athletics Communications

FINAL STATS

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Missouri State's Jared Lloyd logged a career-high 13 tackles, while Mo State newcomer Joel Boamah produced five solo stops and three pass breakups in his debut. But the No. 8-ranked Texas A&M Aggies scored on seven straight possessions after the opening quarter and logged 505 total yards on the evening to push past the visiting Bears, 50-0, in the season opener for both squads here Saturday.

The crowd of 107,782 at Kyle Field was the largest opening-night crowd ever for Texas A&M, which was ranked No. 8 in both the AP and AFCA polls this week. It was also the largest crowd in the history of Missouri State's program.

A handful of first-half mishaps kept Missouri State off the board in the opening half with Texas A&M pushing ahead 19-0 at the intermission.

In the opening quarter, the Aggies held the Bears to 14 total yards and forced three punts in the frame while putting up a pair of scores of their own to take an early 9-0 lead.

Texas A&M's initial score came on its opening drive of the game with a 15-yard pass from Marcel Reed to Isaiah Horton, capping an eight-play drive just five-and-a-half minutes in. Later in the opening stanza -- after back-to-back Missouri State sacks of Reed – A&M's first punt of the night was muffed by the Bears who subsequently kicked the ball in the end zone which resulted in a safety call against the Bears to make it 9-0.

New Bears cornerback Boahmah turned the tides for the visitors early in the second quarter with a strip and fumble recovery to halt a Texas A&M red-zone threat at the 15. The Bears were able to produce a pair of first downs on the ensuing possession and moved the ball beyond midfield with 26 ground yards on five carries by Breezy Dubar on the series. Unfortunately, the drive stalled at midfield on a failed fourth-and-one attempt at the TAMU 49.

Two-and-a-half minutes later, the Aggies tacked on a 28-yard field goal by David Olano to extend their lead to 12-0 before capitalizing on a Bears fumble two plays later to push ahead 19-0 at the break.

Reed finished 21-of-30 for 233 passing yards and a pair of touchdown passes on the night, while Rueben Owens II carried 17 times for a game-high 77 rushing yards.

Skyler Locklear finished 8-of-17 for 30 yards through the air in his first start with the Bears, who were playing on ESPN for the first time in program history. Dubar was MSU's top rusher, carrying 7 times for 20 yards, while Jmariyae Robinson had 4 pass receptions for 14 yards.

Robinson extended his school-record streak of consecutive games with a pass reception to 36 while moving into the school's top 10 in career receiving yards.

Texas A&M added four second-half touchdowns and a field goal to put things out of reach with the Aggies manufacturing three drives of 11 plays or more in that span.

The Bears return to Robert W. Plaster Stadium for their next two games starting with a 6 p.m. kickoff against visiting Lindenwood (1-1) next Saturday (Sept. 12).

Tickets for the 2026 home opener are available online at MissouriStateBears.com, at Great Southern Bank Arena Box office, (417) 836-7678, during regular box office hours. It will be Heroes Day and Extra Yards for Teachers in addition to the Dennis Heim jersey retirement ceremony.

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