SPRINGFIELD – No. 3 ranked South Dakota State secured a 45-9 win over home-standing Missouri State here Saturday, ending the Bears’ memorable 2024 campaign with an 8-4 overall record and 6-2 ledger in the highly-competitive Missouri Valley Football Conference.
No. 18-ranked MSU finished just one game behind co-Valley champions SDSU, North Dakota State and South Dakota who were all 7-1.
MoState’s final season in the FCS ranks saw it rack up eight wins for just the ninth time in program history, post the fourth-most points (410) ever, the second-most touchdowns (54), the fourth-most yards of total offense (5,097), and a remarkable eight-game winning streak through the heart of the season that will long define the team’s last surge through the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision.
Saturday’s outcome saw SDSU (10-2, 7-1 MVFC) grind out 171 yards on 41 carries on the ground with four rushing scores. Amar Johnson collecting two touchdowns and a game-high 58 yards on the ground. Meanwhile, Mark Gronowski completed 14-of-25 passes for 258 yards through the air, including a pair of TD passes. Griffin Wilde snagged four catches for 139 yards and a TD lead the visitors.
The Bears were led by D’Vontae Key’s five receptions for 70 yards, while redshirt freshman kicker Yousef Obeid connected on field goals of 50, 28 and 23 yards to account for all of MSU’s scoring. Meanwhile senior Grant Burkett ended his storied career with six punts for a 46.7 average and a long of 55.
Burkett and Key were two of 13 MSU seniors honored during pregame ceremonies.
Jacob Clark finished 14-of-31 through the air for 186 yards. His streak of 11 straight games with at least 200 aerial yards was snapped along with 10 straight games with a touchdown pass. However, he cemented the greatest single-season passing effort in program history, finishing the year with 300.3 passing yards per game, while completing 262-of-376 attempts (.697) for 3,604 yards and 26 touchdowns. His yardage, TD passes, completions were all team single-season records, while his 3,608 yards of total offense was the second-best in MSU history.
Saturday’s game saw MSU get on the board early in the second quarter with a career-long 50-yard field goal by Obeid to cut into SDSU’s early 14-0 advantage.
The teams exchanged two more field goals later in the quarter, including a 28-yarder by Obeid to cap an 11-play drive and make it a 17-6 game with 2:13 to go in the opening half. MSU’s ensuing kickoff was muffed by SDSU and recovered by the Bears at the SDSU two-yard line, setting up a golden opportunity before the intermission. However, a negative rushing play and two physical incompletions into the end zone forced MoState to settle for its third field goal of the quarter to make it 17-9 with 1:43 on the clock.
The Jackrabbits then retaliated with a 61-yard scoring drive before the break that felt like a back-breaker. SDSU got off eight plays in the final 52 seconds and capped the 10-play scoring march with a two-yard rush by Kirby Vorhees to make it a 24-9 game at the midway point.
The Bears were unable to gain any traction in the third quarter, punting three times, turning the ball over on downs and giving up a strip-sack at midfield just as the fourth quarter got underway.
MSU finished 2-of-14 on third down for the ball game with SDSU’s defense keeping Clark and the Bears under pressure for much of the afternoon.
Missouri State’s last true possession of the day included a 23-yard pass from Clark to Key on third-and-16 kept the drive alive and pushed MoState into Jackrabbit territory. However, the drive stalled at the SDSU 37 four plays later with two sacks and an incomplete pass on fourth-and-13.
Michael Teason was MSU’s top tackler on the day with 8 total stops, while Kanye Young and P.J. Hall each accounted for 7 stops. Senior Darion Smith posted a sack – the 10th of his career – on senior day, while Lemondre Joe broke up three passes in the MSU secondary.
The Bears will now begin their long-awaited transition into Conference USA, which officially begins on July 1, but will certainly be prevalent throughout the upcoming recruiting season, including the early December signing period that commences the week after Thanksgiving.
MoState’s first game as an FBS program will be August 30, 2025 at USC with its first home game slated for two weeks later (Sept. 13) against SMU at Plaster Stadium. Season ticket renewals for the 2025 season will be sent out in early December with new season ticket applications available soon after. Please check MissouriStateBears.com for additional information in the coming weeks.
