Missouri State football puts best performance together in upset of No. 15 Northern Iowa
Missouri State played the best it's played all season and came away with its most impressive win of the Ryan Beard era thus far.
A 35-16 Bears (4-6, 3-4) win over No. 15 Northern Iowa (6-4, 5-2) gave Missouri State its first victory over a ranked opponent since it beat No. 14 UT Martin at Plaster Stadium in the second week of the 2022 season. The Bears were then ranked fifth in the country.
The Bears set the tone early with great play on both sides of the ball and it carried throughout their second-to-last game of the season.
A defense that had struggled for much of the season shut down one of the better passing attacks in the FCS. The Bears kept the Panthers out of the endzone until there was 3:34 left and the game was in hand.
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UNI quarterback Theo Day, the Missouri Valley Football Conference's First Team signal caller from a year ago, struggled mightily completing 14 of 35 passes for 182 yards and a score.
On the other side of the ball, Bears quarterback Jordan Pachot played as well as you could play outside of a second-half interception. He threw for over 300 yards and four touchdowns while standing tall in the pocket and delivering multiple big-time throws down the field in and-long situations.
Bears wide receiver Raylen Sharpe continued to be a reliable target as he pulled in 10 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns.
A loss for the Panthers put them in real danger of missing the postseason. The Panthers host No. 12 North Dakota State next week and need a win for the possibility of making it. The Bears played spoiler late in the 2022 season when they beat Youngstown State when it desperately needed a win.
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Missouri State has no postseason hopes at this point of the season but its dominant win over the Panthers was its most promising sign yet under Beard's leadership.
The Bears will have one more opportunity to impress when they close their season out next week at national-championship-favorite and unbeaten No. 1 South Dakota State.
Scoring Summary
1Q 6:32 — Jordan Pachot 19-yard pass to Jmariyae Robinson. MSU 7-0.
1Q 0:35 — Matthew Cook 29-yard field goal. MSU 7-3.
2Q 12:04 — Jordan Pachot 14-yard pass to Raylen Sharpe. MSU 14-3.
2Q 8:27 — Jordan Pachot three-yard pass to Gary Clinton. MSU 21-3.
3Q 9:55 — Matthew Cook 48-yard field goal. MSU 21-6.
3Q 5:09 — Matthew Cook 38-yard field goal. MSU 21-9.
4Q 12:56 — Jordan Pachot 10-yard pass to Raylen Sharpe. MSU 28-9.
4Q 9:07 — Jayden Becks 14 yards run. MSU 35-9.
4Q 3:24 — Theo Day 66-yard pass to Sam Schnee. MSU 35-16.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the host of the weekly "Wyatt's World Podcast" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcasting platforms
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State football blows out Northern Iowa in upset
