Is Missouri State football in danger of missing the playoffs after 3 straight losses?

What appeared to be destined to be a dream season for Missouri State football could quickly become a nightmare if the Bears don't get out of their current slump quickly.

The feeling around Missouri State football is a lot different than when they were ranked as high as No. 4 in the country after nearly beating then-No. 10 FBS Arkansas just two weeks ago.

The Bears followed with two poor performances in a 28-14 loss to FCS No. 2 South Dakota State at home and a 48-31 loss this past week at North Dakota and there is a real reason to worry that Missouri State could miss the postseason for the first time under third-year head coach Bobby Petrino.

"I think we all understand now that we got to play one game at a time and that's all we can do," Petrino said. "We got another really good team coming in this week that's been playing really well lately. We've got to come back and take a lesson from them and see how you can come back and get better as the year goes on. That's kind of the key for us is to get back and play the type of football that we know we're capable of playing."

More:Why there is reason to panic after Missouri State football's blowout loss at North Dakota

Other Missouri Valley teams have made the playoffs after losing skids in the past

Now ranked No. 20 in the STATS FCS Poll, Missouri State (2-3, 0-2) hosts No. 17 Southern Illinois (3-2, 2-0) on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Plaster Stadium.

With six games remaining in the regular season, the Bears must win at least four games to have a chance at making it to the postseason. Seven wins would likely put the Bears in while eight would leave no doubt.

In recent history, Missouri Valley Football Conference foe Northern Iowa made the postseason last year with a 6-5 record but had a marquee win over South Dakota State on its resume. The Bears won't have near as good of a win at the season's end.

Missouri State was actually the most recent team to make the postseason with a three-game losing streak on its resume with its 0-3 start to the 2020-21 spring season — if you even want to count the three games it played during the fall.

Five teams since 2016 have had three-game losing streaks and then go on to qualify for the postseason with Lamar (2018) and Illinois State (2016) both having four-game losing streaks on their resume and qualifying.

"We just want to go 1-0 every week," sophomore linebacker Von Young said. "The most important play is the next play and we just gotta remember that whenever we're out there playing."

More:Missouri State football hasn't had many notable games in its history. Here's a look at its biggest.

So how does MSU make the playoffs after a three-game skid? Better defense.

Coach speak aside, the Bears have a path to the postseason and it's not too big of a surprise, when looking at the schedule before the season, that they're in the position they're in now. Losses to Arkansas and SDSU could have been forgiven and a loss at a tough place to play like North Dakota is understandable. However, the way MSU lost to UND didn't install much confidence going into another tough game with an improving team like Southern Illinois.

The Bears gave up over 500 yards of total offense to North Dakota which marked only the first time a Petrino-led defense gave up that many yards to an FCS program. The Bears have only three sacks over the last four games when they had seven in the season opener at Central Arkansas.

Injuries have decimated the interior of the defensive line with Anthony Payne out for the season with a torn tricep. The Bears have also been missing the likes of Allen Love, Ja'Veo Toliver and Siale Suliafu — with Petrino hoping to get at least one or a few of them back this week.

The lack of pass rush has led to opposing quarterbacks having time to wait for a wide receiver to become open. The Bears are also missing tackles and having assignment errors that have contributed to some of their struggles.

"We didn't come out of the locker room and play the type of defense we're used to playing here," Petrino said. "It always starts with stopping the run and to stop the run, you gotta tackle. Particularly on first-and-10, they had way too many second-and-4, second-and-3 and that really hurt our defense."

Better defense will have to start this week with SIU which has rushed for 120 yards or more in each game but one with the one being in its upset win at FBS Northwestern. The Salukis have a consistent passing attack which has gotten better in recent weeks.

How does the rest of the 2022 season look for Missouri State football?

A needed bye week follows this weekend before hitting the road to Northern Iowa on Oct. 22. The Panthers are on a two-game winning streak after starting the year 0-3. They're currently in a similar situation to the Bears in need of wins to avoid missing the postseason.

Missouri State's schedule then drops considerably from the gauntlet it's currently going through. Western Illinois, 0-5, comes to Springfield for homecoming with 1-3 South Dakota to follow. The Coyotes have SDSU and SIU before they host the Bears and could be in trouble of missing the playoffs by the time the game rolls around.

The Bears' final home game of the regular season is with Youngstown State — which has the most talented running back in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in Jaleel McLaughlin running all over everyone right now. The Penguins beat the Bears 41-33 last year with McLaughlin going off for 156 yards and two touchdowns.

A trip to Terre Haute against a poor Indiana State team closes out the regular season in what could be an ultra-important game for the Bears. Perhaps the Sycamores could find motivation in being the team to knock the Bears out of the playoffs.

Nothing would look easy for the Bears at this point, but getting to the postseason is certainly doable. No one has questioned the talent on the team but a mixture of poor discipline, health and overall play has put them in this position around the midway point of the season.

It could still turn out to be a historic season for the Bears, but it could go down as one of the more disappointing years in Missouri State football history if they don't fix things soon.

"We just need to get back to our winning ways," Petrino said. "Thee are hard weeks and this is a challenge. You didn't win and you feel bad about winning but it challenges your attitude, your work ethic and some of the guys that haven't been playing. We need to come out together as a team and make sure we're all on the same page and get back and do the things we know that we can do."

How to watch, livestream No. 17 Southern Illinois at No. 20 Missouri State

When: Saturday, 2 p.m.

Where: Plaster Stadium; Springfield

Watch: ESPN+

Listen: KWTO 101.3 FM

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 Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the co-host of Sports Talk on Jock Radio weekdays from 4-6 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: What are MSU football's 2022 playoff chances after North Dakota loss?