OPINION|
One week after the biggest victory of its brief time in the Football Bowl Subdivision — and perhaps the most significant triumph in program history — even more was on the line for Missouri State on a magnificent Saturday at Plaster Stadium.
The Bears broke out “Bowl-Bound” T-shirts following their sixth victory of the season on Nov. 8 at Liberty, a top-shelf program in Conference USA with immaculate facilities and endless resources. Missouri State, as a program in transition to FBS, is not eligible for a bowl due to an NCAA rule that the school plans to appeal.
As they say, if you talk the talk, you better be able to walk the walk. Losing at home to a two-win UTEP team — on homecoming with alums on hand to check out the new era of Bears’ football — wouldn’t have been a good look. Well, the Bears came out and looked good. Really good, for a half.
Then had a terrible third quarter as UTEP wiped out a 17-point lead and left a crowd of 13,298 in stunned silence. But no fear. This is a different brand of Missouri State football. The Bears dominated the fourth quarter to prevail 38-24. Victory No. 7 in the introductory season in CUSA, as coach Ryan Beard accurately pointed out in post-game, wasn’t something many folks saw coming as the journey began.
The result proved that the Bears could handle some pressure and a different type of expectations. After beating Liberty, people were patting them on the back and excited about Missouri State football in November. A state legislator announced plans to send a letter to the NCAA encouraging the organization to award the Bears a bowl-game waiver. Three anonymous donors contributed seven-figure gifts to the football program.
Good times, but there was a lot going on and a loss would have been deflating.
“Every week comes with distractions, especially a little more this week,” said tight end Jeron Askren, who caught two of Jacob Clark’s four touchdown passes. “But our process and how we do things, our coaches and teammates did a really good job of just blocking out the noise and staying true to what we do and not veering from our process.”
Beard, the enthusiastic leader, said the coaches were intentionally hard on the players in practice leading up to the game. It paid off with what was the best first half of the season as the Bears rolled to a 24-7 lead. They went 3-for-3 on fourth-down conversions, seeming to impose their will against the Miners with a 74-yard scoring drive in the final two minutes of the half giving them the appearance of a runaway.
But for a team that’s been the king of close shaves all season, with five wins by a touchdown or less, there was bound to be some adversity. Sure enough, the Bears were flat in the third quarter and UTEP got rolling — only for Missouri State to own the final 15 minutes.
Winning time has been Bears’ time this season. Missouri State has outscored CUSA opponents 51-24 in the fourth quarter this season. Good teams win close games and execute when the outcome is in doubt.
Good teams also become outstanding teams when they have elite quarterbacks. The Bears have just that with Clark, who set a school record with 30 completions in 39 attempts. He finished with 330 passing yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.
The only thing that stands out more than Clark’s production is his toughness. He took two jarring hits on the Bears’ first drive, getting up slowly from both and having to steady himself before continuing. Average players would not have continued, much less posted dazzling numbers.
“Jacob Clark, you guys get to watch him and we get to be with him all the time,” Askren said. “That dude just makes plays. You have somebody like that, it’s really fun.”
This fun season has at least two more rides, beginning with a trip to league-contender Kennesaw State on Nov. 22 before the home finale a week later against Louisiana Tech. A bowl game may or may not be in the offing beyond that.
No matter, fans ought to soak it all in. There’s only one first time around in FBS and the Bears are making the most of it. In the transfer-portal era, there is no guarantee what the roster, the coaching staff or the results will look like in 2026. It’s all about now in college athletics and the now is pretty sweet at Missouri State.
“I encourage every student, every community member to come and get involved,” Beard said of his team. “Man, this is a very rare football team to have here, right now. Show them love. Talk to them. Befriend them. They’re a good group of guys.”
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 Lscranton755@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @LyndalScranton. More by Lyndal Scranton