Missouri State (3-3, 1-1) is enjoying a midseason bye week before continuing its stretch of Wednesday games Oct. 22 at Conference USA foe New Mexico State (3-3, 1-2).
Kickoff in Las Cruces, N.M., is slated for 8 p.m. (CT) and will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network.
Here are some of the biggest surprises from the Bears heading into the second half of their inaugural Football Bowl Subdivision schedule.
Bears competitive without Clark
Bears quarterback Deuce Bailey scrambles for yards on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)
The prospect of Missouri State navigating its first FBS and Conference USA schedule without the services of Jacob Clark — arguably the best quarterback in program history — would have sent dread through much of the Bears’ fanbase.
But true freshman Deuce Bailey has been more than a serviceable placeholder in his six quarters of action, helping keep the Bears afloat until the 2024 Walter Payton Award finalist and seventh-year graduate returns from a knee injury.
It can be argued that Missouri State may have beaten annual Conference USA contender Western Kentucky (5-2, 3-1) if Clark wasn’t knocked out just before halftime in an eventual 27-22 loss on Sept. 27 at Plaster Stadium, but MSU can take solace in now knowing what its future could look like with the young dual-threat behind center.
Bailey passed for 278 yards, a touchdown, rushed for another, and didn’t commit a turnover in Missouri State’s 22-20 win at Middle Tennessee (1-5, 0-2) on Oct. 6, earning Conference USA Freshman of the Week after his first career start.
If Clark is sidelined again at New Mexico State next week — he was active in pre-game warmups at MTSU, significant progress from using crutches shortly after his injury against WKU — Bailey will be tasked with facing CUSA’s No. 4 scoring defense (22.8 points per game).
Months removed from roaming the hallways of Bowling Green High School — the same Kentucky school where head coach Ryan Beard earned his diploma in 2007 — Bailey has made the transition to Division I football with aplomb.
He appears to be getting better every series. Bailey’s first three quarters of duty following Clark’s injury were woeful in the passing game — and responsible for much of his 30 for 63 completion total. But Bailey, who has not committed a turnover this season, had a stretch against Middle Tennessee where he completed 9 of 12 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown, helping the Bears score on four consecutive drives.
“I’ve had a lot thrown at me this week,” Bailey said following the MTSU win. “But I think I handled it pretty well. We’ve got a veteran in Jacob, he’s been here for a long time, and he knows football, so he’s been helping me get through a lot of this.”
Bailey has been helped by the way MSU’s defense has played since he was thrust into the No. 1 QB spot.
Re-tooled secondary stepped up
Southern Methodists Romello Brinson fumbles the ball against Missouri State’s Jordan Dunbar at Plaster Stadium on September 13, 2025. (Photo by Bruce Stidham)
There was much preseason acclaim about Missouri State’s deep and sizable defensive line, particularly on the edges. The Bears’ linebackers also had ample experience in Jared Lloyd, Kanye Young and transfer Jalen Brooks, an All-Colonial Athletic Conference selection at the FCS level (Campbell).
Pass defense was a major question mark heading into the season, and full of newbies after all three primary cornerbacks entered the transfer portal and the tragic offseason death of all-Missouri Valley Conference safety Todric McGee.
But the Bears’ transfer portal additions of Christian Ford (Arkansas) and Maguire Neal (Charlotte) at safety helped shore up the safety positions, coupled with the return of Dylan Dixson and J.J. O’Neal, who had rotational roles in 2024.
Ford, Neal and Dixson are currently among the Bears’ top-7 tacklers (Neal tied for first at 34), a group deep enough to allow O’Neal — a team captain — to redshirt after four games to preserve another year of eligibility.
At cornerback, Jordan Dunbar (Kansas State) and Thomas Anderson (UNLV) have been an apparent upgrade. Dunbar ranks first in break-ups (five) and Anderson second with two, in addition to being the team’s fifth-leading tackler (22).
Since suffering a 73-13 season-opening loss to USC in Los Angeles in Week 1, the Bears’ secondary has allowed 219 yards through the air per game and four total touchdowns on a defense allowing 21 points per game in that stretch.
Having an active defensive front certainly helps the ballhawks’ case. What they lack in interceptions (three) they make up for in getting to the football.
Emergence of Ramone Green Jr.
Missouri State’s Ramone Green Jr. tries to get past a USC defender at the Coliseum in Los Angeles on August 30, 2025. (Photo by Bruce Stidham)
FIU transfer Shomari Lawrence (394 rushing yards, two touchdowns) has essentially been the unquestioned No. 1 back since stepping on campus earlier this year. MSU’s aspiring No. 2 ball carrier was unclear.
Considering Josh Joyner came to MSU this past offseason from Washington State and King Davis was among the most touted high school recruits to ever commit to MSU, they appeared to be next in line.
But former Nixa High star Ramone Green Jr., a walk-on in 2023 surprised with a scholarship this past spring, has shown why he shot up the depth chart in August.
Green has done much of his damage by getting himself open out of the backfield, ranking second on the team in receiving yards (255) on 13 receptions, including a touchdown.
On the ground, Greene has 21 carries for 108 yards.
True freshman Tristian Gardner
Bears wide receiver Tristian Gardner catches a pass on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)
Considering the ample experience MSU returned this fall at receiver in Dash Luke, Jmariyae Robinson and James BlackStrain, along with multiple transfer portal additions, few outside the program considered MSU’s Class of 2025 high school recruits in that position group.
But true freshman Tristian Gardner hasn’t taken long to establish himself as one of the Bears’ primary pass-catching threats, hauling in 14 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns.
Beard likes the 6-foot-2, 180-pounder’s explosiveness as well as his physicality. He is the Bears’ latest true freshman contributor from the Dallas area. He attended the same high school (Waxahachie) as since-departed running back Jayden Becks (North Texas), an MSU true freshman in 2023.
Gardner is one of eight wide receivers to have caught a pass this season, a balanced group led by Luke (335 yards, three touchdowns).
Lloyd even better after car-crash injury
Jared Lloyd and the Missouri State football team battled the heat during their first practice of the 2025 season at the Plaster Sports Complex in Springfield on July 30, 2025. (Photo by Bruce Stidham)
After an RV reportedly failed to yield and struck a vehicle driven by Jared Lloyd in the summer of 2024, the collision sidelined the hard-hitting linebacker for the forthcoming season.
Lloyd took solace in being alive.
Beard aimed to ease Lloyd back into the flow of the defense earlier this year, but Lloyd’s offseason recovery for his damaged patellar tendon was ahead of schedule.
Now Lloyd looks better than ever, tied with fellow linebacker Kanye Young and safety Maguire Neal with a team-high 34 tackles.
Lloyd totaled 67 tackles in 2023, his previous season, at the FCS level.
Obeid’s foot twice as busy
Yousef Obeid knocked down 11 of 12 field-goal attempts and 53 of 54 PATs for MSU in 2024, earning FCS Freshman All-American honors.
Midway through his sophomore season — and with his offense facing better redzone defenses leading to more attempts — Obeid has already exceeded last year’s field-goal attempt total.
Obeid has attempted 14 field goals this season, making nine, interestingly the same amount of PATs he has attempted this season (13 for 14).
Third-down deficiency
Missouri States Jacob Clark is sacked by Southern Methodist at Plaster Stadium on September 13, 2025.
Missouri State ranks 11th in the 12-team Conference USA on third-down efficiency, not something you’d expect with a decorated seventh-year signal caller and a proven offensive coordinator in Nick Petrino.
MSU has moved the chains on just 21 of 79 attempts this season. Facing the likes of Power 4 programs USC and SMU had an impact on this statistic, as the Bears went a combined 3 for 26 in those games.
Tight ends not as involved in passing game
Perhaps Missouri State fans were spoiled last year with Lance Mason, who led all FCS tight ends in receiving yards (596) in 2024 before transferring to Wisconsin, where he’s also flourished in the Badgers’ passing game (18 catches, 236 yards, two touchdowns).
Tight ends have rarely been utilized in the Bears’ passing game through six games.
Jeron Askren, Hayden Hagler and Dillon Hipp have combined for eight receptions and a total of 41 yards this season. Askren’s late Week 2 touchdown reception in 21-20 win at Marshall is the group’s lone touchdown.
McDonald’s booming punts
Replacing a four-time FCS All-American punter in Webb City native Grant Burkett was going to be a chore for Missouri State, but it appears the Bears have found another local with a golden toe.
Logan-Rogersville graduate Stewart McDonald has 18 punts this season, averaging 45.94 yards a kick, a mark ranking No. 19 in all of the FBS. His longest punt was 58 yards.
Six of McDonald’s punts were inside the 20.
Missouri State is a player in CUSA
Bears wide receiver Dash Luke signals a first down after catching a pass on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Springfield. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)
It may have seemed implausible in August, a first-year FBS program that almost never won its conference in a lower rung of Division I football, but rookie Missouri State appears to have the means to finish in the top tier of Conference USA
Missouri State’s showings at defending Sun Belt Conference champion and former Conference USA member Marshall (a 21-20 win), a tough showing against the league’s winningest program over past 10 years in Western Kentucky (a 27-22 loss with Clark out the second half) and a win over a longtime conference member, Middle Tennessee, with an 18-year-old reserve quarterback leading the Bears, showed it can be a contender in a league dripping in parity this fall.
The Bears, who were forecast to finish at the bottom of CUSA in their debut year, even led ACC member and 2024 College Football Playoff qualifier SMU for the first 25 minutes of an eventual 28-10 loss in Week 3, illustrating the potential damage the Bears could do in their conference.
The transition from the best FCS conference in the country to arguably the worst FBS conference has been successful up to this point.
Conference pundits will tell you a healthy Missouri State can contend in a season with no clear-cut favorite, much of its success riding on when Clark returns.
The Bears’ remaining schedule includes New Mexico State (3-3, 1-1), FIU (3-3, 1-1), Liberty (3-4, 2-1), UTEP (1-5, 0-2), Kennesaw State (4-2, 2-0) and Louisiana Tech (4-2, 2-1); all winnable games, all losable games.
Surprise is a subjective term, but few outside MSU’s fandom saw this coming.
“We’ve got a chip on our shoulder. Everyone in the preseason says we can’t do this, we can’t do that, you won’t win, you’re not ready for FBS,” Beard said. “Well, I think maybe people are going to take a second look.”
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