Missouri State shut out by No. 1 North Dakota State

Expectations for Missouri State going into Saturday were low, and the No. 1 team in the FCS came away with the victory.

No. 1 North Dakota State (7-0) defeated Missouri State (1-5) 22-0 on Saturday afternoon in Fargo, North Dakota. 

With the loss, the Bears have now lost at least five games in every season since 1996. MSU has started 1-5 in three of Dave Steckel's five seasons as head coach.

Missouri State returns home next week for a homecoming matchup with nationally ranked Northern Iowa.

Here's what went down Saturday:

Trey Lance scores on option

After back-to-back empty drives between the Bison and Bears to begin the game, North Dakota State scored the game's opening points nearly halfway through the first quarter.

Star Bison quarterback Trey Lance drove his team down the field in six plays and capped it off with a 21-yard rushing touchdown. 

Missouri State didn't have much of a pass rush as it only brought three defenders while spying Lance on third-and-eight earlier in the drive. Lance, with all day to throw, found Jimmy Kepouros for a 12-yard completion.

Off a play-action on the following play, the Bears bit, which left alone tight end Ben Ellefson wide-open down the field. Ellefson was tackled at the MSU 24.

Two plays later, Lance kept the ball on a read-option and broke a tackle en route to a 21-yard score. The Bison scored a two-point conversion to go up 8-0.

Bears gift Bison with more points

The teams exchanged empty drives, and it looked like the Bears were going to keep the Bison out off the scoreboard again, but MSU got in its own way.

Following an Adam Cofield 58-yard run to put the Bison in good field position, the Bears appeared to stop the Bison when they went for it on fourth down. 

North Dakota State was faced with a fourth-and-five at the MSU 29-yard line when the Bison attempted a screen pass. The ball was batted down by Matt McClellan for the fourth-down stop, but safety Paris Jackson lined up in the neutral zone. The five-yard penalty gave the Bison a first down.

Just a few plays later, Cofield capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run. 

Cofield — a Blue Springs South product — committed to Missouri State out of high school but opted to sign with North Dakota State before signing day.

No score for last 9:44 of half

Despite giving up 283 yards of offense, Missouri State went into the half down only 15.

Missouri State drove to the North Dakota State 31-yard line thanks in large part to a Peyton Huslig pass to an open Damoriea Vick on the first play of the drive. 

MSU was faced with third-and-eight when Huslig hit tight end Armand Baker for an eight-yard completion, but an illegal chop block by Donovan Daniels set the Bears back 15 yards and out of field goal range. Huslig was sacked on the next play.

North Dakota State proceeded to drive into Missouri State territory when Lance hit a few open receivers for gains of 12 and 14. With the ball at the MSU 42, the Bison couldn't move any further and were forced to punt.

The Bears, again, drove down the field into Bison territory. Huslig hit receiver Lorenzo Thomas on a screen and he split a pair of defenders for a 21-yard gain. MSU couldn't move the ball past the NDSU 45, and the Bears were forced to punt with less than 30 seconds remaining in the half. 

Huslig ended the first half 12-of-20 for 109 yards. Vick caught four passes for 58 yards. The team had a total of 12 rushing yards. 

Lance finished 9-of--14 for 127 yards along with 44 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Cofield had seven carries for 84 yards and a score. 

Sloppy third quarter

North Dakota State had first-and-goal from Missouri State's 10 and came away with zero points.

The Bears had a chance to get off the field on third-and-20 but they were called for defensive holding to make it third-and-six. Lance scrambled for seven yards and the first down. He hit open receivers on consecutive plays for gains of 10 and 2 to move to the MSU 10.

MSU stuffed Cofield for a three-yard loss on first down before Lance overthrew his receivers on second and third down. Griffin Crosa missed a 31-yard field goal with 6:47 left in the third. 

The Bears' offense couldn't get anything going in the third quarter despite their defense stepping up. MSU finished the third quarter with eight total yards on 12 plays.

Bison extend their lead late

It took a while, but the top-ranked team in the country scored the game's first points since 9:44 left in the second quarter on a touchdown with 5:48 left in the game. 

Following a 19-yard punt by Missouri State's Brendan Withrow with 9:14 left in the game, the Bison took over at their own 46.

Lance put the Bison in scoring position with a 26-yard pass to an open Kepouros. 

The Bears made a stand by holding the Bison to fourth-and-three but North Dakota State went for it and picked it up on a Lance bootleg for 17 yards. On the next play, Cofield punched in a one-yard touchdown with 5:48 remaining.

Missouri State's defense looked as good as it's been all season, but the Bears' offense wasn't able to keep any drives going. 

MSU gained only 64 yards in the second half on 28 plays. 

What Stec said

Quotes courtesy of Steckel's postgame radio interview with Art Hains

"Overall, it was a good performance by them but it wasn't good enough. When the offense is struggling, the defense needs to step it up." — On the defense's performance

"We gotta learn from this and then we got No. 10 coming to town. We have to lick our wounds and get back onto the next one." — On moving on to Northern Iowa

Stats

MSU 

• QB Huslig — 20-of-37 for 164 yards. Had 10 rushes for negative-one yard
• RB Mason — Four attempts for 15 yards
• WR Vick — Six catches for 72 yards
• LB Egbim — 14 total tackles; seven solo and 3.5 for a loss

NDSU

• QB Lance — 21-of-31 for 225 yards; Eight rushes for 79 yards and a touchdown
• RB Cofield — 12 carries for 93 yards and two touchdowns
• WR Sproles — Six catches for 52 yards

Comparison

• Total Yards — NDSU 447 MSU 185
• Pass Yards — NDSU 225 MSU 164
• Rush Yards — NDSU 222 MSU 21
• Penalties — NDSU 9-75 MSU 5-35
• 3rd Downs — NDSU 7-16 MSU 5-16

Scoring summary

1Q 7:40 — Trey Lance 21-yard rushing touchdown. NDSU 8-0.

2Q 9:44 — Adam Cofield one-yard touchdown run. NDSU 15-0.

4Q 5:48 — Adam Cofield one-yard touchdown run. NDSU 22-0.

Up next

The Bears return home for their first and only two-week homestand of the season. 

Missouri State hosts nationally ranked Northern Iowa on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Bears have been outscored 164-17 in their previous four losses to the Panthers.

The following week, the Bears host South Dakota State — one of the top teams in the country. 

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 join the conversation on Twitter where his handle is @WyattWheeler_NL.