Missouri State football hopes to get back on track at North Dakota
For the first time since Bobby Petrino's first three games as Missouri State's head coach, the Bears are on a losing streak after dropping the last two games against the teams that are considered the most difficult on their schedule.
A road trip to North Dakota awaits the Bears — a return trip to where they struggled when making their historic return to the FCS postseason in the 2021 spring season.
Missouri State still faces a long season and it still has its biggest goals in front of it. The Bears hope this week will help them get right in pursuit of accomplishing them.
"The first thing you have to do is go win this game," Petrino said. "We need to focus completely on this. All of our goals are still in front of us. We're still ranked in the top 10 in some polls. We just gotta go play like we're a top-10 team and execute and play with that type of passion and energy and excitement."
More:A look at Missouri State football's game against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits
The Bears are ranked as high as No. 7 in this week's STATS Perform FCS Top 25 Poll after losing to FBS No. 20 Arkansas and FCS No. 2 South Dakota State. They won't play a tougher stretch of games for the remainder of the regular season.
North Dakota dropped out of the Top 25 polls after coming out flat and losing 34-17 to now-No. 19 Southern Illinois — which the Bears will host at Plaster Stadium next week. The Fighting Hawks have close wins over Northern Iowa and Northern Arizona to start the season along with an opening-day loss at FBS Nebraska.
Missouri State's last trip to the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota, was historic but it's a game the Bears wanted to forget. The Bears lost 44-10 in their first FCS Playoff game since 1990 but the team's roster looks almost completely different than it was 17 months ago.
Petrino still anticipates challenges from playing in the loud indoor stadium but he's seen the Bears thrive in a hostile environment already this season.
"There are a lot of new guys on both sides," Petrino said. "I think that we're going to have to handle the noise and will have to do a good job with our cadence and our silent count. That's something we have to do a really good job at like we did in the Arkansas game."
More:In Arkansas return, Missouri State's Bobby Petrino reminded the world of his coaching abilities
North Dakota will look a little different than the one the Bears have played over the last two seasons. Most of UND's game went through former running back Otis Weah who was an All-American running back during the spring season. He's no longer with UND after he entered the transfer portal, committed to Missouri State and then had his offer rescinded after the school learned of a Title IX sexual assault investigation while he was at UND.
The Fighting Hawks still want to establish the ground game through Tyler Hoosman who is averaging six yards per carry with four touchdowns so far. Isaiah Smith is averaging 5.6 yards per carry and is another weapon the Bears need to slow down.
Tommy Schuster, in his third season as UND's starting quarterback, remains behind center and has thrown for 866 yards, five touchdowns and one interception through four games.
"They'll give us a lot of different formations and try to make you undisciplined with your eyes," Petrino said. "The first thing we have to do is stop the run and if we can't do that, it's going to be a situation where we're going to have to score a lot of points."
Scoring points will be difficult for the Bears if their offensive line doesn't improve from the previous week. Missouri State's offensive line has struggled at points throughout the first four games and was overpowered by SDSU in the Bears' 28-14 loss at Plaster Stadium last week.
The Bears offensive line has allowed the third-most sacks in the entire FCS to this point and is allowing 5.25 per game. It's not sustainable if they want to be a team that challenges in the postseason.
MSU's offensive line returned four of five starters from last season. Petrino liked what the group did against North Dakota in a win during the 2021 fall season and hopes that will carry over into this week.
"I felt like, last year, we executed and our guys were on the same page," Petrino said. "We're very capable of going out and executing and playing well. That's what we've gotta get done."
No. 7 Missouri State @ RV North Dakota
When: Saturday, noon
Where: Alerus Center; Grand Forks, North Dakota
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: KWTO FM 101.3
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: How to watch, listen to Missouri State vs. North Dakota
