Missouri State football plagued by turnovers in FCS Playoff loss to UT Martin
Despite doing seemingly everything it could to give the game away, Missouri State still had opportunities late to win its first postseason game since 1989.
But when the Bears threw an interception late, their sixth turnover of the game, one of the great seasons in Missouri State football history came to its disappointing end.
Missouri State lost 32-31 to UT Martin in the first round of the FCS Playoffs on Saturday evening at Plaster Stadium in front of an announced 5,072 fans. It was the first postseason game played in Springfield since 1990.
More: No Missouri State 'Cardiac Bears' magic this time: Takeaways from FCS Playoff loss to UT Martin
UT Martin scored the go-ahead touchdown with 3:36 remaining on a 29-yard pass. Only needing a field goal to win it, the Bears drove into Skyhawk territory but was intercepted with 1:03 left in the game.
The FCS Playoff win was UT Martin's first in program history. It will travel to Montana State in the second round of the postseason next week.
More: Missouri State's expectations are higher than a disappointing first-round FCS Playoff loss
Missouri State's season concludes at 8-4. The last calendar year saw the Bears play in 19 games and their first two postseason appearances since 1990.
The Bears appear to be headed in the right direction but Saturday's loss is probably going to sting for a while.
UT-Martin without starting QB but still moved the ball early
Questions entering the week surrounding Skyhawks quarterback Keon Howard were answered pregame when he didn't warm up with the team. Instead, senior quarterback Dresser Winn started behind center.
Winn had early success throwing the ball down the field while picking up chunk yardage when faced with second-and third-and-long situations. Missouri State was solid on the ground game but Winn completed seven of his first 10 passes for 79 yards on his first two drives.
UT-Martin's first drive ended in a turnover-on-downs at the Bears' 27. On the Skyhawks' second drive, they settled for a 33-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 4:15 left in the first.
Missouri State couldn't get anything going on its first two drives while going three-and-out on both while gaining just seven total yards.
Jason Shelley gets going for Missouri State
The Bears' offense didn't stay down for too long. On the first play following the Skyhawk field goal, Bears starting quarterback Jason Shelley pulled the ball on a read-option and ran 54 yards deep into UTM territory for the Bears' first, first-down.
Shelley followed with a 16-yard pass to Tyrone Scott to move the Bears inside the Skyhawks' five. Shelley rolled out two plays later and connected with Ron Tiavaasue for a touchdown and the Bears' first postseason lead in 11,326 days.
Muffed punt turns into Skyhawk points
Missouri State's bugaboo all season has been its punt return team and the frequent muffs that have cost it points throughout the year.
That trend continued Saturday.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Bears attempted to field a punt inside their own 10. Naveon Mitchell had the ball go through his arms and it was recovered by the Skyhawks.
On third-and-goal from the Bears' six, Winn connected with Zoe Roberts and the go-ahead score. The ensuing extra-point attempt was blocked with UTM taking a two-point lead.
Bears use two fourth-down conversions to retake the lead
After Missouri State couldn't get anything on its next drive, the Bears held UT-Martin to a three-and-out before the Skyhawks booted a 25-yard punt out of bounds to their own 40.
The Bears couldn't get anywhere on their first three plays but they opted to go for it on fourth. Shelley completed a pass over the middle of the field to Cairo Payne for 13. Shelley completed his next pass to Scott for a gain of 14 to the UTM 13.
Missouri State got nine yards on its next three plays before opting to go for it again on fourth-and-short. A two-yard run for Tobias Little gave the Bears a first and it was followed by a two-yard touchdown run to retake the lead.
UT-Martin scores 10 off Missouri State turnovers before halftime
UT-Martin was forced to punt on its next drive and it looked like the Bears had a chance to take control of the game following an 18-yard pass to Scott to move into Skyhawk territory.
From the UTM 42, Shelley apparently didn't like what he saw when looking to throw to the outside. He tucked the ball and tried to run up the middle where he was stripped with the Skyhawks recovering.
The Bears had a chance to get off the field on third-and-9 from their own 49 but Winn threw a perfect ball over the shoulder to Donnell Williams 35 yards down the field for a first. Skyhawks running back Peyton Logan ran in a 14-yard touchdown the next play to retake the lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, a sky kick had up-back Siale Sulliafu run in to attempt to field the kick. The ball bounced off his chest and was recovered by UT-Martin at the Bears' 36.
Missouri State's defense made a stand when UT-Martin got the ball as close as the Bears' nine. A field goal gave the Skyhawks a five-point lead with 55 ticks left in the half.
Exchange of turnovers turn into Missouri State points before halftime
Missouri State attempted to drive down the field for points before the end of the half when Shelley threw an interception directly to the Skyhawks who took over at the Bears' 31 with 43 seconds left and an opportunity to add on to their lead.
Two plays later, Winn threw an interception directly to MSU linebacker Tylar Wiltz who returned the ball 28 yards to the UTM 46.
The Bears moved the ball to the UTM 30 where Pizano kicked a 47-yard field goal as time expired to cut the Skyhawks' lead to two.
Missouri State finished the half allowing just 13 yards to the eighth-best rushing team in the FCS entering the game but the Bears' four turnovers kept them from getting any kind of rhythm.
Bears take lead but Skyhawks respond
After a wild end to the first half, many punts were exchanged until the Bears got a big play leading to a go-ahead touchdown.
The Bears took over mid-way through the first half after forcing a three-and-out. A Shelley pass down the sideline to Xavier Lane was interfered with giving the Bears a first down.
Two plays later, Shelley bought time as tight end Isaac Smith broke away and was left wide open down the field. Shelley and Smith connected with Smith running 54 yards to the Skyhawks' eight.
On third-and-goal, Shelley dumped a short pass to Kevon Latulas who ran it in four yards for a touchdown.
It didn't take long for the Skyhawks to have an answer.
On the fourth play of their next drive, Winn completed a 47-yard pass down the field to Williams to move to the Bears' 23. A rush for a gain of nine was followed by a 14-yard touchdown run by Zak Wallace with 3:15 left in the third quarter to retake a two-point lead.
Jason Shelley, Xavier Lane connection puts MSU back in front
The ping pong match to end the third quarter ended with Shelley and Lane connecting on three passes on a scoring drive that resulted in a touchdown.
Shelley started the drive with a nine-yard pass to Lane. Three plays later, the Bears faced third-and-3 when Shelley found lane again for a gain of 14.
On second-and-4 from the UTM 29, Shelley threw a pass to the endzone where Lane was being interfered with. It didn't matter as Lane came down with the ball and the go-ahead score.
Controversial whistle gives Missouri State a break
Missouri State had a chance to put the game on ice after Devin Goree sacked Winn on third-and-19. The Bears got the ball back with just under eight minutes to go.
A three-and-out ended with Shelley reaching for a first down on a run but coming up a yard short. The Bears punted to UTM which took over at its own 11 with 6:14 left in the game and down by five points.
On third-and-7, Logan, UT-Martin's tailback, appeared to roll over a Bears defender and kept the play alive. He appeared to have nothing but green turf in front of him as he kept running but the play was called dead when the referee whistled the play dead.
UT-Martin had to punt on fourth-and-3 and gave the Bears the ball back.
Another turnover leads to Skyhawks touchdown, lead
On the third play, after the Bears caught a break, karma caught up to them.
Shelley threw his second interception with the Skyhawks taking over at the Missouri State 37.
On the first play following the turnover, Winn threw a 37-yard bomb to Williams for a one-point lead with 3:36 remaining. UT-Martin failed on the two-point conversion to keep it at a 32-31 game.
Missouri State turns it over on downs and forces three-and-out
When the Cardiac Bears needed to make another appearance, it didn't happen when they got the ball back.
The first pass went 22 yards to Lane before a nine-yard pass went to Murray on the ensuring third-and-10.
On fourth-and-1 from midfield, a play-action pass saw Shelley overthrow an open Tiavaasue down the field as the Bears turned it over on downs with 2:17 remaining.
Missouri State started to burn its timeouts after a loss of three followed by a rush of five. On third-and-8 with 2:02 remaining, the Skyhawks ran for a gain of two before kicking it back.
Shelley intercepted on final drive
With 1:45 left in the game and the ball at their own 20, Shelley started the drive with a 25-yard pass to Lane and was followed by a nine-yard completion to get into UTM territory.
On second-and-1 from the UTM 46, a throw over the middle to Naveon Mitchell saw him get hit while the ball popped into the air. The pass was intercepted for the Skyhawks' sixth takeaway of the game.
UT Martin got in victory formation from there and put the game away and ended the Bears' season.
Scoring summary
1Q 4:15 — Tyler Larco 33-yard field goal. UTM 3-0.
1Q 2:17 — Jason Shelley four-yard pass to Ron Tiavaasue. MSU 7-3.
2Q 14:48 — Dresser Winn six-yard pass Zoe Roberts. PAT blocked. UTM 9-7.
2Q 7:14 — Tobias Little two-yard run. MSU 14-9.
2Q 1:52 — Peyton Logan 14-yard run. UTM 16-14.
2Q 0:55 — Tyler Larco 26-yard field goal. UTM 19-14.
2Q 0:00 — Jose Pizano 47-yard field goal. UTM 19-17.
3Q 5:48 — Jason Shelley four-yard pass to Kevon Latulas. MSU 24-19.
3Q 3:15 — Zak Wallace 14-yard run. UTM 26-24.
3Q 0:18 — Jason Shelley 29-yard pass to Xavier Lane. MSU 31-26.
4Q 3:36 — Dresser Winn 37-yard pass to Donnell Williams. 2pt no good. UTM 32-31.
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: Missouri State football: Bears fall to UT-Martin in FCS Playoffs
