What went into Missouri State's historic offensive day vs. Utah Tech and other takeaways

The stories after Missouri State football's two losses to begin the season both had to do with how the Bears didn't play a complete game.

At Kansas, the Bears didn't finish. At UT Martin, the Bears struggled to start.

Against Utah Tech, the Bears finally put an entire game together and have their first win of the season. We will now see how the Bears ride that momentum heading into future weeks.

Missouri State (1-2) whooped Utah Tech (1-3) with a 59-14 blowout in the Bears' home opener. The offense put up historic passing numbers while the defense created turnovers frequently.

"We have a tough football team, and we played four quarters," Beard said. "Whether it was ones, twos, threes, it didn't matter. I told them that they play a Missouri State brand of football, and you go finish games."

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Utah Tech wasn't that good, and it was very evident from the beginning that the Bears should blow it out. Still, the Bears showed plenty that can give fans confidence they previously didn't have heading into a road game at FCS nationally ranked Southern Illinois next week.

Jacob Clark had one of the best-quarterbacked games in Missouri State history

All offseason, we wondered how Missouri State was going to possibly replace quarterback Jason Shelley, who went down as one of the best quarterbacks in the school's history.

Jacob Clark was in line to start. The former Minnesota transfer showed promising flashes in the first two games but couldn't get the Bears into the winning column. He injured his shoulder late in MSU's loss to UT Martin, leaving us with questions as to how he would react after a bye week.

Clark answered with one of the best-quarterbacked games a Missouri State football player has ever had.

Clark was 19 of 26 for 414 yards and five touchdowns in just under three full quarters of play before reserves came in. His yardage placed him second in school history in single-game yards through the air, while his five touchdowns tied him for the most thrown.

He led an offense that put up 672 yards — the most Missouri State has ever put up against a Division I scholarship school.

"I've been in college for a long time, and I've been a backup for a long time," Clark said. "There are a lot of guys at Minnesota and Jason here last year who kind of prepared me for this moment. I knew when I stepped in that I'd be ready to perform."

Clark was incredibly efficient while spreading the ball out to eight different targets when he was in. As is his strength, he gets the ball out quickly and has done an excellent job at reading the defense and taking what's given.

Much of Clark's yardage came on run after catch as he put the ball in his playmakers' hands in open space. Even when backed up, you never felt like there was a third down the Bears couldn't pick up as he found different players for easy conversions or touchdowns.

"He has poise, and he has moxie, and he's a leader of the offense," Beard said. "The play calls were there, and the guys executed. The guys were outstanding. We were extremely hard on them during the bye week. We needed to mature a little bit, and I think we're starting to get there."

J.J. O'Neal set the tone for a defense that needed to start creating turnovers

For a high school quarterback, O'Neal is pretty good at the defensive back thing.

O'Neal set the tone for the Bears' defense when the former Logan-Rogersville quarterback picked off a tipped ball and took it 10 yards to the house. It was the first of four Missouri State takeaways through the air for a team that ranked last in the FCS in the stat heading into the week.

"It was stressed tremendously," Beard said. "We got on these guys pretty good during the bye week, and we had some difficult conversations, straight to the point. With the defense, that's who we need to strive to be moving forward. That's creating turnovers and affecting the quarterback."

O'Neal had little defensive back experience heading into his college career but it was well-known how great of an athlete he is.

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O'Neal walked on at Missouri State and had some struggles learning the position early on. Beard, a former defensive back in college, laughed at the number of times he remembered O'Neal tripping early in his career when doing basic backpeddling.

But the work O'Neal has put in over his career led him to play with the starters on Saturday after receiving a full scholarship during the offseason.

"When you work hard with an opportunity you're given, anything can happen," Beard said. "It's just so special to see guys that work hard for what they get and then shine bright when they have the opportunity."

O'Neal's interception wouldn't have happened without a tipped pass by Caleb Blake, who had an interception of his own. P.J. Hall and Floyd Williams also had interceptions while holding opposing quarterbacks to 18 of 44 for 173 yards and four picks.

Terique Owens became the latest receiver to break out

Opportunities were there to be had for Missouri State receivers this season, and a few have stepped up through three games.

Raylen Sharpe and Hunter Wood made their presence felt through two weeks. Terique Owens made his name known in the third.

Owens caught five passes for 140 yards and two scores in the game. It was, by far, the best game of his career.

"I put pressure on myself in the offseason to step up," Owens said. "I'm happy that I was able to step up and make the most of those opportunities."

The son of Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Terrell Owens looked the part. His 45-yard touchdown reception was mostly yards after the catch in which he tip-toed his way along the sideline and got into the endzone.

On his second score, Owens found himself wide open on 3rd and 17 and got in the endzone from 36 yards out.

"We've been waiting to see that from T.O.," Beard said. "He can really stride, he's got great hands and he's getting some toughness to him. It was great to see him have such a good day, and I think he's going to continue to build on that and be a weapon for our offense."

Ryan Beard picked up his first win as head coach

In his third game as head coach, Beard picked up his first victory. It only left him hungrier.

"I'm excited for a bunch more," Beard said. "I love this one, and I'm excited about this one. We are going to enjoy it. It meant a lot because when the administration hires a young, first-time head coach, there are a lot of question marks, as there should be.

"We showed today what Missouri State's future can look like, and I couldn't be more proud to be associated with this university."

Missouri State now heads into a tough two-game stretch against nationally ranked conference foes. A trip to No. 12 Southern Illinois awaits next week, and it will be coming off a bye. SIU is 3-0 with a win last week against a ranked Southeast Missouri, and it beat FBS Northern Illinois the week before.

FCS No. 2 North Dakota State will visit Missouri State on Oct. 7 at 2 p.m.

"There's no looking back," Beard said. "We had a chance to right the ship and gain some momentum heading into conference play. Make no mistake about it, we play in the best conference in the FCS. If we can make noise at the conference, who knows what can happen?"

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 takeaways vs. Utah Tech: Offensive explosion