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Missouri State’s football season reached the halfway mark on Wednesday night at Plaster Stadium. Entering the Conference USA weeknight special with a 1-4 overall record, it was a fork-in-the-road moment for the Bears.

Win and there would still be plenty of reason to believe that its second season in FBS and CUSA could be a successful one in Casey Woods’ debut as head coach. 

Lose another one, though, and the looming cold winds of November could carry an extra bite when you’re chasing six wins and bowl eligibility. 

It wasn’t pretty, but Missouri State got it done by beating defending league champion Kennesaw State 24-21 after Yousef Obeid’s 22-yard field goal as time expired in front of 9,044 fans and a CBS Sports Network audience.

“We needed it. We needed it as a team and we needed it as a staff,” an exuberant Woods said afterward. 

Woods’ first victory in CUSA and over an FBS opponent came at the perfect time, a week after the Bears were on the wrong side of a 34-13 beatdown at Western Kentucky – a good team that the Bears helped look like a Group of Six Superpower.

Calling it a debacle by the end wouldn’t be far off the mark. It led to a soul-searching week of practice which resulted in Woods’ first win against an FBS opponent and evened the Bears’ record at 1-1 in C-USA.

“It was a stressful week,” Woods said. “It was one of those that ‘man, you know you’re on the cusp of being able to do this and it’s like what are we doing wrong?’ I sat on that bus in Bowling Green, Kentucky and watched that tape, and it wasn’t (being) overmatched and it wasn’t bad play calls.

“It was poor execution. That’s something that as the head coach of this organization, I have to make sure I’m holding our staff to those standards and then I have to hold our players to that same standard. They responded. They are resilient. They are starting to figure out exactly what we want out of them on those practice days. That’s where you win games.” 

The first half was downright strange. The Bears dominated, but went to the half trailing 7-6 after Kennesaw (1-5, 0-2 CUSA) drove 74 yards in the final 40 seconds after Missouri State was stuffed on 4th-and-1 while in field goal range.

What could have been at least a 13-0 lead surely felt deflating after three trips inside the red zone yielded two field goals. The other saw a fourth-down try from inside the two end in failure. Henry Belin IV, a fifth-year transfer from Duke making his first start, threw an interception.

“That bizarre exchange at the end of the first half, it had the makings of ‘here we go again,’ but our team responded and squashed that out at halftime,” Woods said. “We stepped up to the plate and performed at a really high level.”

Missouri State’s Casey Woods checks in with the officiating crew against Kennesaw State at Plaster Stadium on Oct. 14 2026. (Photo by Bruce Stidham) Missouri State wide receiver Jmariyae Robinson reaches for the overthrown pass in the endzone on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)Missouri State defensive end Caden Wiest signals “fourth down” after a third down stop on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)Missouri State quarterback Henry Belin IV and offensive lineman Logan Scrivner mishandle the snap, causing a broken play on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)Missouri State wide receiver Isaiah Myers dashes after a catch on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)Missouri State wide receiver Isaiah Myers celebrates a catch on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)Missouri State kicker Yousef Obeid lines up for his second made field goal on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)Missouri State defensive lineman Michael Osei-Bonsu, center, tries to deflect the pass on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)Missouri State linebacker Martavis Blackmon leaps to try to deflect the pass on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)Missouri State wide receiver Isaiah Myers catches the third touchdown of the night on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)Missouri State head coach Casey Woods walks back to the sideline disappointed after another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)Missouri State head coach Casey Woods consults with referees during a review for a targeting penalty on Kennesaw State on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)Missouri State kicker Yousef Obeid kicks the game winning field goal to beat the Kennesaw State Owls on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)Players swarm assistant special teams coach Adam Ieyoub after the game winning field goal on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)The Missouri State football team celebrates the walk off win with the remnants of the student section on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)Missouri States’ Henry Belin looks for an open teammate against Kennesaw State at Plaster Stadium on Oct. 14 2026. (Photo by Bruce Stidham)Missouri State’s Connor Lair advances the ball late in the 4th quarter against Kennesaw State at Plaster Stadium on Oct. 14 2026. (Photo by Bruce Stidham)Missouri State’s Connor Lair runs for a first down late in the 4th quarter against Kennesaw State at Plaster Stadium on Oct. 14 2026. (Photo by Bruce Stidham)Missouri State’s Henry Belin runs for a first down against Kennesaw State at Plaster Stadium on Oct. 14 2026. (Photo by Bruce Stidham)Missouri State’s Dillion Hipp runs for a first down against Kennesaw State at Plaster Stadium on Oct. 14 2026. (Photo by Bruce Stidham)Missouri State’s Logan Scrivner celebrates his team’s touchdown against Kennesaw State at Plaster Stadium on Oct. 14 2026. (Photo by Bruce Stidham)Slideshow: Missouri State’s Isaiah Myers runs for a first down against Kennesaw State at Plaster Stadium on Oct. 14 2026. (Photo by Bruce Stidham)

The pick was the only blemish on Belin’s night. Belin completed 28 of 39 passes for 300 yards and two touchdowns. He was cool as this weekend’s weather forecast while flawlessly leading the game-winning drive.

Missouri State took over on its own 25 with 6:06 remaining after the Owls had tied it 21-all. The offense used every bit of the time to scoop up the victory and, perhaps, turn around the season.

“That last drive is one they’ll talk about here for a long time,” Woods said. “Shout-out to our kicker for standing in and executing that. It was a fun feeling for our entire sideline.”

There is plenty to clean up. The red zone efficiency improved markedly over the first five games, but still can get better. The defense had a challenging second half as Kennesaw found its rhythm, but did get another stellar night from linebacker Jared “Bird” Lloyd, the nation’s leading tackler. He recorded 10 stops, his sixth double-figure game in his last eight dating to 2025.

The best thing to come from the game – other than the victory – is affirmation that the Bears found their quarterback. Belin got it done with touch on deep balls, especially to senior transfer Isaiah Myers (7 catches for 135 yards).

Myers hauled in a deep sideline pass between two defenders, for a gain on 32 on the winning drive. After another penalty (the Owls had 11 for 95 yards) and a Connor Lair first-down run, Kennesaw was out of timeouts.

Lair, by the way, continues to amaze. The senior cancer survivor who runs like an old-school fullback, led the team in rushing with 65 yards – with some key third-down conversions – caught three passes for 19 and played nearly every special-teams snap.  

The Bears executed when it mattered most. Whether they’ll look back on it after Game 12 as the turning point, only time will tell. But it’s a big momentum boost, at the least, heading into a road game next Tuesday, Oct. 20, at Delaware.

There’s plenty of upside for a team that is still getting to know Woods and his staff. The first year of new coach, new staff and lots of new in the roster is a chore that often gets overlooked in degree of difficulty. 

“I think you’re starting to see it, they’re starting to come together as a team and a unit and overcome something that’s hard,” Woods said. “We had the close loss to Marshall. We couldn’t finish. There’s some frustration with that. Then we felt like we underperformed last week. We knew we were a better team than how we finished that game.

“I do think we can be a good defense. We have the nation’s best tackler and guys that are rallying around that. We had two big-time fourth-down stuff. The first time we’ve done that.

“We know we have a fantastic schedule ahead of us with a huge trip six days from now. We took a step as a team tonight. We were able to overcome some considerable adversity, overcome what looked at halftime like ‘here we go again’ Not to our team or to us, but to those watching, it was like, ‘how in the crap did that happen?’

“We came back out, stopped them and scored and man, I’m so proud of our coaches and our guys.”



Lyndal Scranton

Lyndal Scranton is a Springfield native who has covered sports in the Ozarks for more than 35 years, witnessing nearly every big sports moment in the region during the last 50 years. The Missouri Sports Hall of Famer, Springfield Area Sports Hall of Famer and live-fire cooking enthusiast also serves as PR Director for Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri and is co-host of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast. Contact him at Lscranton@sgfcitizen.org and follow him on Twitter @LyndalScranton. More by Lyndal Scranton