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SPRINGFIELD – Calan Crowder’s two-yard touchdown run with 1:53 left in regulation and a strong defensive effort helped deliver a 28-21 Missouri State victory over Murray State Saturday afternoon at Robert W. Plaster Stadium.
Crowder, who rushed for 104 yards on 15 carries in the Bears’ first win of 2017, capped the decisive 44-yard scoring drive with a short plunge into the end zone after Deion Holliman’s 29-yard punt return put the Bears in business inside Murray State territory with 5:16 to play. Holliman, who also registered a 40-yard punt return earlier in the fourth quarter, finished the day with 149 all-purpose yards, including five punt returns for a total of 80 yards to help set up the Bears’ late surge.
The Missouri State defense made the victory possible with its best showing of the new season, limiting the Racers to 112 yards of total offense in the second half, forcing a punt or turnover on nine of Murray’s last 11 offensive possessions. Overall, the Bears held the visitors to just 83 rushing yards and 273 yards of total offense in 78 snaps from scrimmage. Jared Beshore punctuated the victory by picking off Murray State quarterback Corey Newble at the Bears 15 with 0:46 to play, halting the Racers last chance to even the score.
The Bears (1-2) rallied from an early 10-0 deficit behind the play of quarterback Peyton Huslig, who passed for a pair of touchdowns and ran for another as part of a string of 21 unanswered points for MSU. McNeece Egbim led the rejuvenated defense with a career-best 15 tackles, including 2.0 for losses, while helping the Bears force 10 Murray State punts on the afternoon and flustering the Racers into just 6-of-20 third-down conversions.
Murray State (1-2) capitalized on a big play from its defense to set up the game’s initial scoring chance, after D’Montre Wade stepped in front of a Huslig pass and returned the interception 22 yards to the Bears’ 10 yard line. The Missouri State defense held its ground, forcing a 29-yard Gabriel Vicente field goal that put the visitors on top, 3-0, with 10:51 to play in the opening quarter.
Behind the passing of Shuler Bentley, the Racers engineered a 10-play, 56-yard march late in the period to extend their lead to 10-0. Murray State’s junior quarterback completed 6-of-8 passes for 47 yards on the drive, hooking up with Jordon Gandy three different times, before Newble came off the bench to connect with Tyre Gray on a leaping three-yard scoring catch in the back of the end zone with 1:49 left of the clock.
Limited to just 50 yards of total offense in the first quarter, the Bears cranked up their offense early in the second, striking pay dirt on Huslig’s 35-yard pass to Malik Earl with 11:29 to play in the half. Earl, who grabbed six receptions for 80 yards on the day, was one of three MSU receivers to haul in three catches in the opening half.
MSU’s go-ahead scoring drive was made possible by the running of Crowder and the passing of Huslig, who found Earl two times for a total of 21 yards. Crowder broke off runs of six, seven and 29 yards to set up a 10-yard TD pass from Huslig to Nick Masoner that gave the Bears their first lead since the second quarter of their season opener at Mizzou (Sept. 2).
After two more stops by the MSU defense, Huslig and the Bears put together an 80-yard drive to stretch their lead to 21-10. Huslig connected with Holliman for a 17-yard gain, then found Erik Furmanek wide open on the near sideline for a 35-yard completion that moved the ball to the Racers’ 26. From there, Huslig gashed Murray State with his feet, breaking free for a 16-yard run, before carrying it in from 10 yards out for a third consecutive Bears touchdown.
But the Racers countered with a 75-yard drive of their own, pulling to within three points on Newble’s 33-yard pass to Gandy and a successful two-point conversion. Next, Wade came up with his second key interception in MSU territory, returning this one 28 yards to the Bears’ 12, just seconds into the final period.
The Bears had an answer, however, as Colby Isbell tackled D.J. Penick for a six-yard loss, then teamed up with Skyler Hulse to stop Newble for a short gain on third and 17 from the MSU 19. Vicente was successful on a game-tying 35-yard kick, and the two teams traded a pair of punts before Holliman’s second key return fueled the Bears’ deciding drive.
Crowder opened the game’s critical drive with an 11-yard burst through the Racers defense, and Huslig found Furmanek for a 12-yard gain on a third-and-seven play from the 30 yard line. A pass interference call gave the Bears the ball at the Racers 3 with just under three minutes to go, and Crowder took it in two plays later.
Huslig finished the day 18-of-29 for 196 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 25 net rushing yards. Furmanek also logged a strong day with five catches for 60 yards, and Masoner rushed four times for 26 yards to complement his first receiving touchdown as a Bear.
Up next, the Bears will welcome nationally-ranked Illinois State to Plaster Stadium for a 2 p.m. game next Saturday (Sept. 23).
Postgame Notes: With his second-quarter TD reception, Malik Earl (1,401 yards) moved past Cadarrius Dotson (1,327) into 13th on the Bears’ career receiving yardage chart; Earl needs three more yards to match Sean Adams’ career total in the No. 12 spot on the list…Deion Holliman topped the 3,000-yard mark for all-purpose yardage with 149 yards to move up to eighth on the Bears’ career list, passing both Jermaine Saffold (2,891) and Jason Ringena (2,894)…McNeece Egbim logged a career-high 15 tackles—a Bears’ single-game high for 2017…Austin Henderson (7 tackles), Jordan Wilkes (7), Zack Sanders (6), Skyler Hulse (5) and Tyler Lovelace (4) each recorded career single-game highs for tackles as well…Calan Crowder topped the 100-yard rushing mark for the second time in three games this season and for the sixth time during his MSU career…Peyton Huslig accounted for three of MSU’s four touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) for the second time in three games as a Bear…Missouri State’s announced attendance of 13,648 marked the Bears’ best home crowd since Oct. 17, 2015 vs. Illinois State (14,212); it also represents MSU’s fifth-best home crowd since the renovation of Plaster Stadium prior to the 2014 season…MSU improved to 67-35-4 all-time in home openers with their fourth-straight victory in their initial home contest…The Bears also ran their all-time record at Plaster Stadium to 211-165-12.
