One of the foremost football institutions in the Atlantic Coast Conference found itself in an afternoon scrap at Missouri State, a program just months removed from Football Championship Subdivision affiliation.
SMU, a 2024 College Football Playoff qualifier recently ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, trailed the Bears late in the second quarter on Saturday in front of more than 15,000 at Plaster Stadium.
More watched the upset bid unfold from their homes, courtesy of a CBS Sports Network national broadcast.
SMU postgame: Ryan Beard pic.twitter.com/rT8V0EWm9i
— Ryan W. Collingwood (@rwcollingwood) September 14, 2025
SMU would proceed to reel off four consecutive touchdowns and dispatch MSU 28-10, a game — similar to the Bears’ 21-20 win at Marshall last week — that helped illustrate a point: Missouri State appears worthy of its new FBS tag.
MSU quarterback Jacob Clark said he believed his team should have been in a position to beat the Mustangs late. A glaring 0-for-12 line on third-down conversions is among the primary reasons it wasn’t.
“That’s as bad as it gets,” said Clark, whose offense moved the chains efficiently on first and second down but couldn’t convert on the most critical points in the series.
SMU postgame: Jacob Clark and JJ O’Neal pic.twitter.com/TK30rqHYKP
— Ryan W. Collingwood (@rwcollingwood) September 14, 2025
“Some of it was (SMU’s defense) doing a really good job, some of it was us not executing. When you get a combination like that, you obviously don’t do well on third down, which is frustrating and pretty unacceptable for our offense in my mind,” Clark said. “We gotta do a much better job than that, keep drives alive and go get points.”
MSU head coach Ryan Beard agreed.
“You can’t have the lulls we took where we couldn’t convert on third downs, and you can’t turn the ball over,” Beard said.
Second-half stretch dooms Bears
Missouri State’s Jacob Clark looks for an open teammate against visiting Southern Methodist at Plaster Stadium on September 13, 2025. (Photo by Bruce Stidham)
Trailing 14-10 in the third quarter, Missouri State drove to SMU’s four looking to regain the lead before Clark zipped a short pass to the corner intended for Dash Luke. SMU defensive back Jaelyn Davis-Robinson picked off the throw, killing an otherwise promising MSU series.
“It was a corner route, trying to throw it to the back pylon,” said Clark, who completed 23 of 37 for 275 yards and a touchdown, and three interceptions. “Their corner fell off and made a good play underneath it. I gotta be able to key him and come down to an underneath receiver. Just something that can’t happen in the red zone.”
On a third-down call on MSU’s following series, a wide-open running back Shomari Lawrence dropped a pass that would have likely been a chunk play, resulting in a Bears punt. A personal foul call on MSU during the return put SMU in solid field position, and SMU running back T.J. Harden proceeded to rumble for a 37-yard touchdown to put the Conference USA member in a 21-10 hole.
MSU’s misfortune continued on its next drive, where on a 4th-and-5 call, Clark hit Makai Pope at SMU’s 45 where he appeared to reach the first-down marker. Officials measured the spot and concluded Pope was short, giving the ball back to SMU at midfield.
SMU would score again, six plays later, in what would be the final margin.
MSU’s sideline was visibly frustrated by the officials’ measurement.
“It was pretty big,” Beard said of the call. “Clearly, from the way I reacted on the sideline, I thought it was not the correct spot. But I’m not a referee, I’m paid to coach.”
Missouri State totaled just 126 yards after halftime.
SMU coach praises MSU defense
Southern Methodist’s Romello Brinson fumbles the ball against Missouri State’s Jordan Dunbar at Plaster Stadium on September 13, 2025. (Photo by Bruce Stidham)
When Logan-Rogersville product and Missouri State safety J.J. O’Neal picked off all-ACC quarterback Kevin Jennings on the game’s first drive, it ultimately led to a Yousef Obeid 38-yard field goal and swift Bears lead.
A Jordan Dunbar strip and a Thomas Anderson fumble recovery on SMU’s second drive put the ball in Clark’s hands again, leading to a 75-yard drive and a nine-yard fade to Luke in the end zone that gave MSU a 10-0 lead.
Missouri State would go on to hold a potent SMU offense — one that dropped a 48-45 decision the previous week to Baylor — scoreless until 3 minutes, 24 seconds before halftime.
Jennings wasn’t able to run loose, but the crafty ex-Missouri State recruit completed 24 of 26 passes for 281 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
“I think we contained him pretty well,” O’Neal said. “We knew he liked to run, we did a pretty good job of keeping him from scrambling, but then he’d get (a pass) down the field. We have to make up for that next game.”
SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee tipped his cap to the Bears’ defense.
“Defensively they’re not complicated, but they’re sound. You could tell (Beard) had them ready to play,” Lashlee said. “Early on, we weren’t running the football very well. They were doing a nice job of winning the line of scrimmage for the first quarter, quarter and a half. Then we took it over. Still, it wasn’t easy. They did a nice job in the secondary to just stand back and make us throw the ball underneath and not letting us get behind them.”
SMU was also hamstrung by penalties (12 for 130 yards) on top of its early turnovers.
“We didn’t have a lot of explosive plays and that’s the name of college football,” Lashlee said. “If you don’t have a lot of explosive plays, you can see execution gets poor or penalties happen.”
Mustangs defensive front caused problems
Missouri States Jacob Clark is sacked by Southern Methodist at Plaster Stadium on September 13, 2025. (Photo by Bruce Stidham)
In its blowout win over East Texas A&M and narrow loss with Baylor, SMU had just four total sacks coming into Springfield.
They matched that total in the second half against MSU, finishing with five. Clark has been sacked 16 times in three games.
“We had trouble handling the rush at times, which put Jacob under duress,” Beard said. “But we still have to be able to function, get our protections where we want them.”
A lower-body injury to starting left tackle Cristian Loaiza doesn’t help. He needed help off the field in the second half on Saturday and didn’t return.
Missouri State’s running game was held to 53 yards on 27 attempts.
Beard was asked if he believed Clark’s sack total had much to do with facing an opening three-game slate that includes the bigger bodies of USC, Marshall and SMU.
“(USC and SMU) have $20-30 million dollar rosters with a lot of money being on the defensive line, yeah I think that has a lot to do with it,” Beard said. “I like our football team. I think our offensive line plays hard and we’re going to figure it out, and get the protection that Jacob needs moving forward.”
Cultivating confidence at FBS level
Missouri State went down the field on its opening drive in Los Angeles at 11-time national champion USC and scored (albeit in a 73-13 loss).
The following week, the Bears proceeded to hand a bowl-regular Marshall team its first season-opening loss since 2010.
On Saturday, MSU landed some early blows against an SMU team that faces cross-Metroplex rival TCU next week.
MSU played like it belonged on the same field as the Power 4 conference program.
“I don’t think the moment was too big for anybody. We know we’re playing a top opponent, but at the same time it’s just another football game,” Clark said. “I don’t think the lights were too bright for anyone, I just didn’t think we executed.”
Ryan Collingwood covers college and high school sports in the Springfield metropolitan area for the Daily Citizen. Have a story idea or gripe? Send an email to rcollingwood@sgfcitizen.org, call or 417-837-3660, or follow Ryan on social media at X.com/rwcollingwood. More by Ryan Collingwood