GRAND FORKS, N.D. – A fast start by North Dakota proved too much for visiting Missouri State to overcome here Saturday as the Fighting Hawks scored on their first four possessions of the game and cruised to a 44-10 win over the Bears in the first round of the NCAA FCS playoffs.
Making their first NCAA appearance since 1990, Missouri State fell behind 27-3 at the intermission, but did not allow an offensive touchdown in the second half until the 2:17 mark of the fourth quarter with the game already in hand. The Fighting Hawks added a pair of unconventional scores on a blocked punt and an interception return in the third that put things out of reach.
The Bears secured their only touchdown of the game with 12:20 to play as quarterback Jaden Johnson tucked the ball and scampered eight yards for a touchdown to cap a 10-play, 46-yard scoring drive. Missouri State’s TD march included a 13-yard pickup by Myron Mason and a 12-yard carry from Tobias Little to the UND 8-yard line. After a pair of incomplete passes, Johnson took things into his own hands on third-and-eight and gave MSU a playoff touchdown that made it 37-10 at the time.
North Dakota QB Tommy Schuster finished 13-for-18 through the air for 223 yards and a pair of early touchdowns to lead the home side to a 364-yard offensive output.
Missouri State’s QB tandem of Johnson and starter Matt Struck combined to complete 12-of-31 pass attempts for 97 yards. Little led MSU’s rushers with 11 carries for 50 yards, while Damoriea Vick caught 5 passes for 52 yards.
Dwight Jacobs and Tyler Lovelace led the Bears defense with 7 tackles apiece.
On the afternoon, the Bears were held to 185 total yards on 66 plays with 11 first downs, but second-half production was even for both teams at 135 yards each way.
“Offensively, we couldn’t move the ball consistently,” said Bears head coach Bobby Petrino. “You have to take your hat off to North Dakota. They out-executed us and outplayed us. We have to take today’s game, learn from it, and use it to be better moving forward. I told our players not to let this one game take away from what they achieved this season.”
The first half was dominated by the Fighting Hawks who took less than five minutes to build a 14-0 lead. Schuster threw TD strikes of 47 and 50 yards on the home team’s first two drives of the game, the latter on a flea flicker play.
Struck then engineered a 9-play, 53-yard scoring drive for Missouri State that included a key third-down pass to Lorenzo Thomas for a first down and later a 23-yard completion to Vick to the North Dakota 11. A third-and-five sack from the six-yard line forced MSU into a 28-yard field goal try by Jose Pizano who split the uprights and made it a 14-3 game with 3:18 left in the opening quarter.
UND responded with a 31-yard field goal of its own on the next drive to start the second. Adam Stage capped the eight-play scoring drive for the fighting Hawks with just his third field goal of the season to make it 17-3.
The home side later added a six-yard TD rush by Otis Weah with 9:55 left in the second quarter after the Bears failed to convert a fourth-and-one from their own 35 moments earlier. Four plays later, Weah found paydirt to make it 24-3.
Missouri State had a late scoring chance erased on a holding call when Struck kept the ball and reeled off a 30-yard gain into North Dakota territory. A holding penalty negated the play and ultimately resulted in a Bears punt.
MSU forced the Fighting Hawks into punts on their final two possessions of the opening half but could not cut into the deficit. North Dakota racked up 7 defensive sacks in the opening 30 minutes and outgained the Bears by a 229-50 margin.
North Dakota added a pair of unconventional touchdowns in the third-quarter on a blocked punt return by Graham DeVore and later on a 90-yard interception return by Hayden Galvin with the Bears advancing down the field into UND territory at the time.
The defeat snapped Missouri State’s four-game winning streak but not before the Bears turned the attention of the nation to Springfield for football this spring. MSU’s 5-1 conference record not only earned the Bears a share of the Missouri Valley Conference title for the first time since 1990, but also matched a program record for conference wins. MSU also returned to the FCS Top 25 and achieved a No. 12 national ranking in the process.
