Highlights:
Ryan Beard talks win over Youngstown State:
Bears QB Jacob Clark and TE Lance Mason talk win over Youngstown State:
SPRINGFIELD – A five-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Clark to Lance Mason with eight seconds left in the game lifted Missouri State to a 38-31 win over visiting Youngstown State here Saturday, the third straight victory for the Bears.
Mason had four receptions for 53 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the afternoon, while Clark completed 21-of-29 passes for 325 yards and three TDs. Clark also carried seven times for a team-high 63 rushing yards.
The last-minute victory lifted the Bears (3-2, 1-0 MVFC) to their fourth win in their last six Missouri Valley Football Conference openers and gave MSU its third straight victory for the first time since 2021.
The Family Day win was not a walk in the park for Missouri State which trailed 7-0 out of the gates before pushing ahead 24-14 the half. Later, Clark’s four-yard TD strike to Jmariyae Robinson on the first play of the fourth quarter gave the Bears a 31-17 lead with 14:56 to play.
But Youngstown State (1-4, 0-1 MVFC) returned fire with back-to-back 76-yard scoring drives in the final stanza to tie things up with 5:46 to go. Quarterback Beau Brungard’s 44-yard scramble to paydirt — his second rushing score of the game — brought new lift to the visitors.
But Missouri State would not be denied and came up with big plays on special teams, defense and offense in the game’s deciding moments.
With 3:36 left in the contest, a 52-yard punt by MSU All-American Grant Burkett was downed by Caden Bolz at the YSU three-yard line. The kick hemmed the visitors in, and the MSU defense was up to the task. A second-down pass break-up by Dylan Dixson and third-down hurry from Darion Smith forced the Penguins into a punting situation, and an eight-yard return by Hunter Wood set MSU up at the MSU 47 with 62 seconds remaining.
On third-and-two from the YSU 45, Clark scrambled 38 yards to the seven and set up a first-and-goal. With 18 seconds left, Clark gained two more yards to the five before, then hit Mason over the middle in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown moments later.
Clark’s 388 yards of total offense was a season high and marked his third 300-yard passing game of the young season. Likewise, Robinson’s 104 receiving yards on three catches marked his third career 100-yard outing.
MSU’s secondary finished with 6 pass break-ups, three from Todric McGee, and an interception by Lemondre Joe. Smith was credited with 1.5 sacks, sharing one with Devon Townley, while Joe and Dallas Winner-Johnson led the Bears with nine total tackles apiece.
Brungard led YSU with 180 passing yards on 18-of-31 passes, an interception and no touchdowns. He rushed for 110 yards on 16 carries and a pair of scores, while teammate Ethan Wright collected 76 yards on 17 attempts.
The Bears outgained YSU 464 to 424 margin on the day.
Missouri State scored on all four of its first half possessions, overturning an early YSU lead into a 24-14 halftime advantage.
Clark was 10-of-11 through the air for 204 yards in the opening half with four completions for 55 yards to Wood. The Bears outgained the Penguins by a 271-215 margin over the first 30 minutes.
After YSU scored on a nine-yard rush by QB Brungard more than eight minutes into the game’s opening drive, the Bears tied the score, 7-7, with a 27-yard rush from Jacardia Wright.
The Bears added 17 points in the second quarter, including a 57-yard pass from Clark to Jayden Becks, a 30-yard catch-and-run by Mason and a 19-yard field goal by Yousef Obeid as time expired, to take a double-figure lead into the intermission.
The Bears are off next week before a date with Illinois State on Oct. 12 in Normal (12 p.m.). MoState returns to Robert W. Plaster Stadium on Oct. 19 for a homecoming matchup with Indiana State at 2 p.m.
Tickets for the Indiana State game are available at MissouriStateBears.com or through the Missouri State box office at Great Southern Bank Arena, (417) 836-7678, during regular office hours.
