COLUMBIA, Mo. – Despite a standout performance from an offense that totaled 492 yards, Missouri State came up on the short end of a 72-43 opening day shootout against Missouri and record-setting quarterback Drew Lock Saturday afternoon at Faurot Field.
MSU (0-1) enjoyed a strong debut from quarterback Peyton Huslig, who completed 24-of-35 passes for 353 yards—the best single-game total by a Bears quarterback in five years—and a pair of touchdown passes. Malik Earl turned in a career-high 163 receiving yards on eight catches, and Calan Crowder led the Bears’ ground attack with 124 yards and two early touchdown runs.
But it would be the Tigers offense that turned the tide behind the passing of Lock, a 202-yard rushing day from Damarea Crockett and a pair of 100-yard receiving performances by Johnathan Johnson and J’Mon Moore. Lock, who set Missouri single-game records with 521 yards and seven touchdown passes, threw for four go-ahead touchdowns in the opening half, including a 28-yard strike to Johnson and a pair of scoring throws to Moore to put the Tigers (1-0) in front for good.
In all, the Tiger offense piled up 815 yards of total offense and a Missouri State opponent record 35 first downs in the first meeting of the two Show-Me State institutions in varsity action since 1923.
Powered by Huslig’s 230 first-half passing yards, the Bears gave the Tigers all they could handle, registering their best single-game offensive showing in 34 all-time contests against Division I FBS opponents.
After waiting 94 years for their chance to take on their in-state FBS rival, the Bears wasted no time in putting their offense into high gear. The two teams traded the lead a total of 11 times in the opening half, combining for 83 points and 888 yards of total offense over the first 30 minutes.
The contest opened with a flurry of offense, as MSU answered a 65-yard Mizzou scoring pass from Lock to Johnson on the game’s first play from scrimmage with a 12-play scoring march of their own, taking a 7-6 lead on a Huslig to Jordan Frazier TD toss from six yards out.
Led by Lock’s 393 passing yards and five TD passes, the Tigers would average 13.0 yards per play en route to rolling up 508 yards of offense in the first half. Lock connected with Moore on a 35-yard completion to spark another quick scoring drive for the Tigers, who would use only two plays to reach the endzone this time. Crockett carried it in for an eight-yard touchdown to put MU back on top, but Crowder answered with the first of his two TD runs 23 seconds later for a 14-13 MSU edge.
Crowder, who rushed for 121 yards on eight first-half carries, broke free for another long scoring run in the closing moments of the first period. The senior’s 34-yard rush gave MSU a 21-20 lead, before a 64-yard completion to Erik Furmanek set up Nick Masoner’s first rushing touchdown as a Bear at the 9:16 mark of the second quarter.
After Huslig found a wide-open Earl over the middle for an 89-yard TD toss with 5:32 to play in the half, Lock and Moore teamed up on their second 50-yard scoring pass of the game to give MU a 41-35 advantage.
Crockett added his second touchdown run with 1:03 to go, capping a 72-yard drive with an 11-yard scamper to stretch the margin to 13 points—the first double-digit lead of the game for either squad.
MU’s defense found its groove late in the opening half as well, holding the Bears scoreless for six consecutive drives following the Earl touchdown to give the Tiger offense time to build a 23-point lead. Crockett’s 73-yard rush in the opening moments of the third quarter set up a 35-yard Tucker McCann field goal, before Lock rifled his sixth TD pass of the afternoon to Al Okwuegbunam to put Mizzou in front by a 58-35 score.
After being limited to just 19 total yards on their previous six drives, the Bears ended their drought with their sixth scoring march of at least 65 yards on the day.
Huslig carried for the final 10 yards after hooking up with Earl on a 33-yard pass and freshman Lorenzo Thomas for a 19-yard gain on a third-and-long from the MU 31.
But Lock would answer once again, finding Dominic Collins for his seventh scoring pass of the day and hitting Moore for a 52-yard gain to the MSU 2 to set up a Larry Rountree scoring run that accounted for the final margin.
Freshman Titus Wall led the Bears defense with a game-high nine tackles, while Jared Beshore picked off a Lock pass for his second interception as a Bear.
Up next, the Bears conclude their season-opening road swing with a 4 p.m. game against North Dakota next Saturday (Sept. 9) in Grand Forks, N.D.
Postgame Notes: With the loss, the Bears fell to 51-52-3 all-time in season openers and 1-13 in openers against NCAA Division I FBS opponents…Newcomers Peyton Huslig and Jordan Frazierhooked up on their first touchdown pass and reception as Bears to open the scoring for MSU; the six-yard scoring toss also gave the Bears their first points ever against Mizzou…Huslig’s 353 passing yards are the most for a Bears quarterback since Ashton Glaser passed for 357 against Murray State on Sept. 15, 2012…MSU notched its second straight 21-point first quarter in a season opener…The Bears offense converted its first five third-down tries, two of which went for touchdowns on Calan Crowder scoring runs…Crowder (124 yards) notched his fifth career 100-yard rushing performance in 34 games as a Bear…Malik Earl also registered a career-long with his 89-yard scoring reception in the second quarter en route to a career-best 163 receiving yards…Erik Furmanek reeled in a career-high 91 receiving yards on five catches.
