(This story was updated to correct a misspelling/typo.)
Missouri State football has its second win of the season after knocking off rival UT Martin on Saturday night at Hardy M. Graham Stadium in Martin, Tennessee.
The 31-24 win puts the Bears at 2-2 at the end of non-conference play heading into their final Missouri Valley Football Conference slate before moving to Conference USA next season.
Here’s how we graded Missouri State’s performance in its win over UT Martin on Saturday night:
More: Missouri State football hangs on in rivalry win at UT Martin
Missouri State offense: B-
Once the Bears’ passing attack got going, UT Martin had a tough time slowing it down. At some point, Missouri State will have to run the ball with success and its 0.5 yards per carry came close to biting the Bears when trying to run out the clock late.
Missouri State defense: B
The Bears went from allowing an 81-yard run on the game’s first play and 405 rushing yards total against the Skyhawks a year ago to allowing just 95 at UT Martin this year. Missouri State controlled the line of scrimmage, got after the quarterback, created turnovers and had its best game of the season.
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Missouri State special teams: B
All-American punter Grant Burkett might’ve had his best game of the season with one boot of over 50 yards and a pair of kicks landing inside the 20. A kick-catch interference on Thomas Anderson gave UT Martin the ball in good field position when trying to rally late.
Missouri State coaching: B+
Head coach Ryan Beard put together his best defensive game plan of the season and the Bears followed it. It took the offense a bit to get going but offensive coordinator Nick Petrino created some open looks for the Bears down the field but there has to be an answer for the ground game if they want to be competitive in MVFC play.
Overall: B
These are the games that Missouri State needs to consistently win before moving into the FBS by joining Conference USA next season and the Bears got it done. Against a tougher opponent than the Lindenwood team it beat last week, the Bears played as well as they have defensively all year while looking explosive on offense once they figured things out.
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Publish date : 2024-09-21 15:27:00
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