FARGO, N.D. – The top-ranked team in FCS, North Dakota State, was in championship form here Saturday as the Bison rolled past No. 14 Missouri State, 59-21, at the FargoDome.
NDSU (10-1, 7-0 MVFC) accumulated 575 yards of total offense, including 364 yards on the ground, and scored on nine of their 11 possessions on the afternoon.
Barika Kpeenu led all players with 10 carries for 169 yards and two touchdowns for NDSU, while teammate CharMar Brown posted 113 yards on 14 carries and a score.
Missouri State’s Jacob Clark was an efficient 18-for-30 through the air for 247 yards and a touchdown. Hunter Wood and Lance Mason each caught four passes to lead MSU’s receiving corps with Wood accumulating a game-high 73 yards.
Clark surpassed Missouri State’s single-season passing record in the game, pushing his season total to 3,418 and past Jason Shelley’s 2021 total of 3,347.
On the ground, the Bears got 68 yards on 13 carries from Jacardia Wright and 55 yards on six carries from Iverson Young.
The Bears posted 382 yards of total offense and were 8-of-16 on third down, but coughed up two fumbles in the game, which led directly to two NDSU touchdowns.
After mounting 35 points in the first half, North Dakota State added to its lead in the third quarter, posting two more scoring drives to lead 49-14. To its credit, MSU’s defense made the Bison work for their points with drives of 75 and 85 yards on both series.
Khalil Anderson led MSU’s defensive efforts with 9 total tackles, while Michael Teason added 7 stops and 1.5 tackles for loss for the visitors.
Missouri State had just one full possession in the third quarter, marching to the NDSU 15 and converting one fourth-down play and one third-down play before the drive stalled there.
The Bears’ other third-quarter possession carried over into the fourth period before Clark and the visitors converted a third-and-goal from the two on a slick rollout pass from Clark to Jmariyae Robinson for a touchdown. The 13-play drive matched the Bears’ second-longest of the season and made it a 49-21 game with 13:44 remaining.
NDSU added a 32-yard field goal by Griffin Crosa and a 27-yard touchdown pass from backup QB Nathan Hayes to close out the game’s scoring.
Cam Miller finished 17-of-24 for 155 yards through the air for the Bison with four first-half TD passes and his first interception.
The afternoon got off to a slow start for the Bears who gave up 14 points in the first four-plus minutes, thanks in part to a picked-up holding flag against the Bison and a fumble on the Bears’ second drive of the game.
NDSU scored first on a 52-yard run by Barika Kpeenu on its second play and then made it 14-0 with a Cam Miller pass to Joe Stoffel from three yards out.
The Bison ultimately made it 28-0 before the middle of the second quarter when the Bears finally found their foothold. A one-yard TD run by Jacardia Wright followed a 22-yard strike from Clark to Lance Mason to put Missouri State on the board.
Three plays later, Lemondre Joe’s second interception in as many weeks broke Miller’s streak of 324 consecutive passes without a turnover and gave the Bears the Ball at the North Dakota State 40. On the next play, Clark threw a lateral to Hunter Wood near the MSU sideline. Wood then tossed it under duress to Jayden Becks for a 40-yard TD strike which made it a 28-14 game with 1:44 left in the half.
The Bison then overcame a strong MSU defensive stand in the red zone before the intermission with a one-yard misdirection play of their own as Miller hit Stoffel for the second time in the half on second-and-goal from the one to make it 35-14 at the break.
The loss stopped Missouri State’s eight-game winning streak, the club’s longest in a single-season since 1963 and overall since 1988-89.
The defeat does not squash Missouri State’s MVFC championship hopes with South Dakota State coming to Plaster Stadium next week. A win over SDSU and a South Dakota win over North Dakota State next week in Vermillion would create a three-way tie for the MVFC regular-season title between NDSU, MSU and USD.
The MSU game against South Dakota State will kick off at 2 p.m. on Senior Day at Robert W. Plaster Stadium.
