Missouri State Game Notes 2020-21 Game Notes Rick Kindhart Director of Athletics Communications Office: (417) 836-4585 MISSOURI STATE Cell: (417) 849-5865 Email: [email protected] 2020-21 BEARS SCHEDULE MISSOURI STATE VS. YOUNGSTOWN STATE MVFC GAME 6 SEPTEMBER Sat. 12 at (5) Oklahoma SoonerSports.TV ................. L 0-48 DATE: Saturday, April 10, 2021 (2:00 p.m.) Sat. 26 at (11) Central Arkansas ESPN3................ L 20-27 LOCATION: Robert W. Plaster Stadium (17,500) OCTOBER Springfield, Mo. Sat. 17 (11) Central Arkansas (HC) KOZL-TV .......L 24-33 SERIES: Youngstown State leads 15-5 FEBRUARY Last Meeting: YSU 38, MSU 10 (11/18/17) Sat. 27 at Western Illinois* ESPN+ .......................W 30-24 TV: ESPN+ MARCH (Don West, Corey Riggs) Sat. 6 (6) North Dakota State* ESPN+ .................L 0-25 RADIO: KWTO 101.3 FM | MSU Bears Radio Network Sat. 13 at (21) South Dakota* ESPN+ ..................W 27-24 #15 Missouri St. Youngstown St. (Art Hains, Dennis Heim) Sat. 20 at (10) Northern Iowa* ESPN+ ....................W 13-6 BEARS PENGUINS LIVE STATS: MissouriStateBears.com Sat. 27 (10) Southern Illinois* ESPN+ ................W 30-27 4-1 MVFC 1-5 MVFC TICKETS: MissouriStateBears.com | (417) 836-7678 APRIL Sat. 3 at (6) North Dakota* ..........................11:00 a.m. Sat. 10 Youngstown State* ESPN+...................2:00 p.m. FOLLOW THE BEARS Sat. 17 Illinois State* .....................................1:00 p.m. @MoStateFootball MissouriStateBears.com *Miissouri Valley Football Conference games (4-1) /MissouriStBears Valley-Football.org Home games (bold) at Robert W. Plaster Stadium, Springfield /MoStateFootball #MSUBears | #BearsUnite SERIES HISTORY FIRST AND TEN Missouri State Record vs. Youngstown State ...............5-15 at Home ......................................................................3-7 ♦ With three straight Top 25 wins, a 4-1 conference record, and a share of first place in the Missouri Valley Foot- at Youngstown ............................................................2-8 ball Conference, No. 15 Missouri State concludes the regular season Saturday when it hosts Youngstown State at First Meeting ..............................YSU 17, MSU 13 (11/9/96) Robert W. Plaster Stadium for a 2 p.m. kickoff. It will be the first meeting between the MVFC foes since Nov. 18, Most-Recent Meeting ..............YSU 38, MSU 10 (11/18/17) 2017 and the first matchup at Plaster Stadium since 2016. ♦ A win for the Bears would mean ... team’s first 4-game win streak since 2013; first winning record since 2009 STATS FCS TOP 25 POLL (6-5); first 5-win league finish since 2013 (5-3); third 5-1 league finish in Valley play in program history (1989, 1990). No. School (W-L) ..........................................Pts. Prev. ♦ The Bears rank of 15th in this week’s STATS Perform FCS Top 25 poll marks the team’s highest national 1 James Madison (4-0) .......................981 (30) 1 ranking since Nov. 4, 1996 (14th). Missouri State remains No. 23 in the AFCA coaches poll this week. 2 North Dakota State (5-1) ....................939 (6) 2 ♦ Bears defensive backs Jeremy Webb (Sr., East Mims, Fla.) and Montrae Braswell (So., Avon Park, Fla.) 3 Weber State (4-0) ...............................917 (1) 3 are tied for 2nd nationally in total interceptions with 3 apiece. Braswell was named MVFC Defensive Player of 4 South Dakota State (4-1) ...................874 (2) 4 the Week on March 14 after he scored a pair of touchdowns in MSU’s win at South Dakota (36-yard interception 5 Sam Houston (4-0) .............................848 (1) 5 return, 100-yard kickoff return), while Webb had a season-high 8 tackles in MSU’s win at UNI. 6 North Dakota (4-1) .................................. 803 6 ♦ Missouri State’s reputation as “Sack City” continues to grow as the Bears have accumulated a school-record 7 Kennesaw State (4-0) ............................. 751 7 26 total sacks this season, which shares the national lead among all FCS schools (with SFA and Central Ark.). A 8 Delaware (3-0) ........................................ 716 8 total of 17 different Bears have contributed to that sack total. MSU’s 3.0 sacks per game in MVFC play leads the 9 Eastern Washington (4-1) ....................... 689 9 league, while its 3.25 sacks overall is 12th-best in the FCS ranks. 10 Jacksonville State (8-2) ........................... 640 12 ♦ Freshman RB Celdon Manning (Allen, Texas) was named STATS National Freshman of the Week and MVFC 11 Villanova (2-1) ......................................... 535 16 Offensive Player of the Week on March 29 for his role in lifting the Bears past No. 10 Southern Illinois. He scored 12 Richmond (3-0) ....................................... 517 15 all 4 of the Bears touchdowns and racked up 182 all-purpose yards (117 receiving, 65 rushing), including a 75- 13 UC Davis (3-2) ........................................ 441 11 yard touchdown reception on the first play of the game. 14 VMI (5-1) ................................................. 413 10 15 Missouri State (4-4) ............................... 343 19 ♦ Kicker Jose Pizano (So., Lehi, Utah) converted the game-winning 33-yard field goal as time expired to lift the 16 Southern Illinois (4-3) .............................. 330 18 Bears past No. 10 Southern Illinois on March 27. The transfer from Snow College (Utah) is 11-of-13 (.846) on field 17 Murray State (5-1) ................................... 294 14 goal tries this season and 15-for-15 on extra points, ranking 16th nationally in FG per game (1.38) and 16th in 18 Nicholls (4-2) ........................................... 293 13 FG accuracy. He was named MVFC Special Teams Player of the Week after he converted a pair of critical field 19 UIW (3-1) ................................................. 255 20 goals and the game’s only extra point in MSU’s 13-6 win at UNI on March 20. Pizano’s 33-yard field goal with 4:30 20 Monmouth (2-0) ....................................... 250 NR remaining helped the Bears secure their first win at the UNI-Dome since 1998. 21 ETSU (4-1) .............................................. 245 NR ♦ The Bears continue to lead the MVFC in third-down defense, holding opponents to just a 30.1 percent con- 22 Rhode Island (2-1) .................................. 243 22 version rate in league games and 29.7 percent (14th nationally) overall. Missouri State’s defense also ranks 10th 23 Southeastern Louisiana (3-2) .................. 190 25 nationally in take-aways (13), 17th in red zone defense (.692) and 21st in rushing defense (111.9). 24 UNI (3-3) ................................................. 171 23 ♦ Quarterback Matt Struck (Sr., Central Point, Ore.) is 2-0 as a starter and earned MVFC Newcomer of the 25 Duquesne (4-0) ......................................... 94 NR Week honors after he completed 18-of-26 (.692) passes for 245 yards and a touchdown in MSU’s win over No. 10 25 Austin Peay (4-5) ...................................... 94 NR Southern Illinois on March 27. He made his first start in the Bears victory over No. 10 UNI (March 20), completing As of 4/5/21. 19-of-25 (.760) passes for 174 yards and a touchdown. Struck joined the squad in January after he started 11-of- Others Receiving Votes: Furman (42), Davidson (20), 12 games as a junior at Idaho State, completing 164-of-320 passes for 2,334 yards with 20 touchdowns in 2019. Gardner-Webb (18), New Hampshire (15), Idaho (10), Southern ♦ Jordan Murray (Jr., Lee’s Summit, Mo.) has recorded a pass reception in 28 consecutive games, the fifth-lon- University (10), Maine (10), Mercer (6), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (3). gest streak in program history. For his career, Murray has 72 catches for 843 yards and 9 TDs. BEARS IN THE POLLS ♦ Damoriea Vick (Jr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) has 485 receiving yards this season which ranks 12th nationally. In Poll Date ....................................................STATS AFCA league games, he ranks 2nd in receiving yards per game (78.0) and is 6th in receptions per game (5.2). March 22-23 .........................................................-- RV ♦ Defensive tackle Eric Johnson (Sr., Plainfield, Ill.) has played in 41 straight games, the team’s top active streak. March 29-30 ....................................................... 19 23 ♦ In league games, the Bears have surrendered just 18 second-half points this season (3.6 ppg) with its five April 5-6 ............................................................. 15 23 MVFC foes to date punting on 16-of-27 second-half drives with 5 turnovers, 2 TDs and 1 field goal. Game 9 - Missouri State vs. Youngstown State April 10, 2021 Missouri State Game Notes MISSOURI STATE QUICK FACTS OFFENSE TWO DEEP Missouri State University Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. Exp. Hometown Notes Founded ....................................................................................1905 LT 65 Ian Fitzgerald 6-5 284 So. 2SQ Hawthorn Woods, Ill. MVFC Off.-Line of Week vs. SIU - 98% grade Location ....................................................................Springfield, Mo. 76 Jake Swope 6-7 290 RFr. 1SQ West Plains, Mo. Played in 2 games in fall Address ............................................................ 901 S. National Ave. .................................................................Springfield, MO 65897 LG 73 Landon Bebee* 6-3 291 So. 1L/2SQ Webb City, Mo. Started last 5 games | Played in 10g in 2019 Enrollment (Fall 2019) ...........................................26,016 (fall 2020) 64 Nick Gallo 6-3 295 So. TR Lewisville, Texas Saw action