Football Bears Host Youngstown State on Family Weekend

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First and Ten Notes

• Coming off its first road win of the campaign, Missouri State returns to Robert W. Plaster Stadium on Saturday to begin Missouri Valley Football Conference play against Youngstown State (2 p.m.). It is Family Weekend on campus in addition to a special “417” ticket deal which includes four bleacher tickets for just $17.  
• MSU lifts the lid on its 40th (and final) season in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Bears are charter members of the league, which was originally known as the Gateway Conference. The Bears are 18-21 all-time in Valley openers, including three wins in the last five seasons in league openers.
• Defensively, Missouri State ranks 14th nationally in turnover margin (+1.00), 18th in takeaways (7), 19th in fumble recoveries (3), 20th in sacks (7.0) and 21st in interceptions (4). The Bears lead the MVFC in takeaways and interceptions. 
• Jacob Clark (Sr., Rockwall, Texas) is coming off one of his best career outings in last week’s win at UT Martin as he completed 25-of-33 passes (.788) for 388 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. It marked the sixth-best single-game passing yardage in program history, while his completion percentage ranked third. He also had 7 completions of 20 yards or more. His efforts helped MSU reel off 24 unanswered points and 403 total yards in the victory.
• Clark ranks in the top 20 nationally in the following categories, leading the MVFC (*) in five: 3rd in passing yards (1205)*, 4th in passing yards/game (301.3)*, 5th in total offense per game (295.0)*, 9th in completions per game (24.0)*, 11th in completion percentage (.701), 12th in passing TDs (7)*, 13th in yards per pass attempt (8.80), and 17th in pass efficiency (157.9). For the first 10 games of his college career, Clark is 172-of-254 (.677) for 2,334 yards and 17 TD with just 4 interceptions.
• Jacardia Wright (Sr., Decatur, Ill.) needs 111 rushing yards to reach 2,000 for his career. He also has 415 carries and 20 rushing TDs in 41 career contests at K-State and MoState. Wright is part of Missouri State’s “Thunder and Lightning” backfield along with Jayden Becks (So., Waxahachie, Texas) which has combined for 354 ground yards and 6 TDs through MSU’s first four ball games. Wright ranks 11th nationally in touchdowns (5), which leads the MVFC, while ranking 20th in the FCS ranks in all-purpose yards (120.0).
• The Bears are gunning for a third straight win for the first time under head coach Ryan Beard. MSU’s last three-game win streak came under coach Bobby Petrino who won four in a row from 10/30/22 to 11/20/22. 
• Under coach Ryan Beard, the Bears are 4-2 at Plaster Stadium and averaging 322.7 passing yards, 114.7 rushing yards, 437.3 total yards, 22.2 first downs, and 32.5 points per game at home. MSU is allowing 23.7 points per game at home in that span.
• MoState’s high-octane offense continues to rank among the national leaders in several categories, including: 4th in passing yards (301.3), 12th in completion percentage (.696), 16th in first downs (87), 18th in pass efficiency (156.75), 30th in total offense (388.8) and 33rd in scoring (29.3).
• Linebacker Tahj Chambers (Sr., Arlington, Texas) ranks 21st nationally and 2nd in the MVFC in total tackles per game (9.5). He had 8 tackles last week vs. UTM and 13 stops two weeks against Lindenwood. Chambers has amassed 146 total stops in 36 career games.
• Bears tight end Lance Mason (Jr., Rockwall, Texas) is averaging 23.67 yards per reception, which leads the MVFC and ranks 8th among all FCS pass receivers. He has MSU’s two longest plays this season (57 and 58 yards) and also has plays of 19 and 31 yards among his 9 total receptions this season.
• D’Vontae Key (WR, Raytown, Mo.) is coming off career highs in receptions (5) and receiving yards (91) at UT Martin, including his second career TD, a 35-yard reception from Jacob Clark in the 3rd quarter.
• MoState picked up 20 votes in this week’s AFCA Top 25 poll – tied for the 31st most in the coaches’ poll.

Series History

• Youngstown State leads the all-time series, 17-7, in a league rivalry that dates back to 1996 when the Penguins first joined the MVFC.
• The Bears are 5-7 at home against YSU and 2-10 at Youngstown.
• Missouri State is 4-2 in the last six meetings at Plaster Stadium (dating back to 2008), including a 21-10 Bears win on April 10, 2021 which clinched a share of the MVFC regular-season title for coach Bobby Petrino’s MSU squad. 
• In the last meeting between the clubs in Springfield (11/12/22), Missouri State struck last in a game that featured seven lead changes to secure a 25-22 win. The Bears drove 92 yards for the game-winning score when Jason Shelley hit Ty Scott with a 9-yard TD pass with 8:23 remaining. The drive included four third-down conversions, including a third-and-18, 23-yard completion to Raylen Sharpe and a 22-yard pass to Terique Owens on third-and-10 to get the ball into YSU territory. Celdon Manning then broke off a 28-yard run from scrimmage to the 12. Three plays later, the two All-Americans – Shelley and Scott – connected for their 13th touchdown play together as Bears. Shelley’s two-point conversion pass gave the Bears the decisive three-point cushion. From there, MSU’s defense took charge, holding YSU to a three-and-out on its next possession.
• Last season in Youngstown (10/28/23), Missouri State cut its deficit to 10 after trailing 38-14 early in the third quarter, but could not complete the second-half comeback in a 44-28 loss at No. 24 YSU. The Bears accrued 436 yards of total offense, including a career-high 341 passing yards from Jordan Pachot who was 25-of-38 with a pair of touchdowns. Raylen Sharpe led all MSU receivers with 8 catches for 109 yards, while Jmariyae Robinson added 6 grabs for 77. Jacardia Wright had 7 carries for 72 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns. In a third quarter dominated by the Bears’ defense, Missouri State had the ball in Youngstown State territory with an opportunity to cut into a 38-28 deficit and plenty of time remaining. But on the second play of the fourth quarter, Pachot’s pass from the YSU 33, intended for Terique Owens in the end zone, was picked off by the Penguins and ultimately led to an Andrew Lastovka field goal that made it a 41-28 game with 8:21 to play. YSU’s Mitch Davidson completed 36-of-33 passes for 390 yards, including 6 passes to Bryce Oliver for 169 yards who scored twice.

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. Beard is 6-9 overall in his second season as MSU head coach (0-1 vs. YSU).
• His elevation to head coach came on the heels of three seasons as defensive coordinator (2020-22) at Missouri State under former head coach Bobby Petrino.
• In his inaugural head coaching season, 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 season’s end, 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, Beard played a significant role in the team’s resurgence, 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, 35, 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.