Catch up on all the action

• NOTES Missouri State kicks off its 113th season of college football on Saturday when the Bears travel to Missoula, Montana to take on the No. 3-ranked Montana Grizzlies in the season opener for both teams. The contest at Washington-Grizzly Stadium will also mark the first-ever meeting between the maroon-clad squads on the gridiron. The game will air on Scripps TV (Montana Television Network) and shared on ESPN+.
• Last season, the Bears scored on 35-of-40 (.875) red-zone opportunities, which ranked 18th among all FCS programs. Likewise, MoState ranked 21st in the FCS ranks in 3rd down efficiency (.437), converting 59-of-135 third-down plays, while its impressive .750 efficiency on 4th down (15-20), ranked 3rd.
• The 2023 Bears smashed the club's single-season record for passing touchdowns with 29. Including 10 passing TD's in three-and-a-half games from Jacob Clark. The squad moved past the previous team record of 25 (1999). MoState also racked up 3,303 passing yards on the year, just shy of the club record (3,399), set in the playoff season of 2021. MSU's 300.3 yards per game through the air led the MVFC and ranked No. 5 nationally.
• In 2023, MoState's standout safety Todric McGee (Jr., Wichita Kan.) ranked 13th nationally in solo tackles per contest (5.4), which was 1st in The Valley, while his 9.3 total tackles per game ranked 23rd nationally and was 2nd in the MVFC. His 102 total stops made him the first Bear since Tylar Wiltz (2021) to reach the century mark in tackles.
• Missouri State has a number of Montana ties, including three players: Landon Molen (LS from Great Falls, Mont.); Dylan Simmons (S who played at Montana from 2021-22); and Iverson Young (RB who played at Montana in 2023). Likewise, the Petrino family has strong roots in the state of Montana. Bears' offensive coordinator Nick Petrino played the 2008 season at Montana State-Northern before transferring to Arkansas in 2009 to play for his father and former Bears head coach, Bobby Petrino. Bobby Petrino was an All-American QB at Carroll College in Montana under his father, Bob Petrino Sr., who was a legendary coach at Carroll from 1971-1999. 
• MoState boasts the 19th-toughest schedule in the FCS this season, according to the NCAA rankings, a metric that measures the collective W-L records of all foes last season (.548) and their current season records. The Bears play three of the four FCS semi-finalists from last season, including defending national champion South Dakota State (Nov. 23), national runner-up Montana (Aug. 31) and semifinalist North Dakota State (Nov. 16). 
• Safety PJ Hall (Sr., Little Rock, Ark.) needs 1 tackle to give him 100 for his career (31 games) and one assisted tackle for 50 career. He is a two-time Preseason All-MVFC selection (2023 and 2024).
• Punter Grant Burkett (Sr., Joplin, Mo.) ranks No. 2 among active FCS punters in career average (44.07), narrowly behind Florida A&M's Trey Wilhoit (44.11). The three-time All-American and four-time All-MVFC standout ranks No. 1 on MSU's career punting average list, No. 4 in punting yards (8725) and No. 5 in punt attempts (198). He has 198 career punts with 52 boots of 50+ yards and 48 downed inside the 20. 
• Burkett needs 2 punts for 200 in his career (44 games) and 2 punts inside the 20 for 50 in his career. 
• MoState returns 20 starters from last season -- 10 on both sides of the ball -- and also boasts 11 players named to the Preseason All-MVFC Team.
• The Bears are 5-6 all-time in the month of August and are opening the season in August for the first time since 2019 (at Northern Arizona). MSU's last August win came on 8/28/14 with a season-opening 34-27 victory at Northwestern (La.) State.
• Missouri State is 52-57-3 all-time in season openers but have opened campaigns against FCS programs just three times in the past 10 seasons (2-1). In fact, this is the eighth straight year the Bears have opened the season on the road and second time in six years MoState has opened its schedule at a Big Sky Conference foe (2019 at NAU).
• MoState will play three of its four non-conference games on the road this season, including this week's game at Montana, the Sept. 7 game at Ball State and the Sept. 21 game at UT Martin. 
  
• Series HistoryThis will mark the first-ever meeting between the Bears and Grizzlies in football.



Coach Ryan BeardMissouri State University officially presented Ryan Beard as its new head football coach on Dec. 19, 2022. At the time of his hire, Beard was the program's youngest coach on record and was the 22nd person to hold the football Bears' top coaching position. 

• His elevation to head coach came on the heels of three seasons as defensive coordinator (2020-22) at Missouri State under former head coach Bobby Petrino.
• In his inaugural head coaching season, Beard guided the Bears to a 4-7 overall record and a 3-5 ledger in the MVFC. The team's strong November surge included and a 35-16 home win over No. 18-ranked Northern Iowa.
• The 2023 Bears finished No. 5 in the nation in passing offense (300.3), No. 7 in pass efficiency (158.77), 26th in total offense (400.8) and 31st in scoring (29.8).
  Missouri State was rewarded with seven All-MVFC selections in Beard's first campaign as head coach, including first-teamers Grant Burkett (P) and Raylen Sharpe (WR). Sharpe finished fourth in the MVFC Offensive Player of the Year voting. Likewise, Burkett (second team) and Sharpe (third team) were named to the Associated Press FCS All-America Team, while the Bears also boasted three Phil Steele Freshman All-America honorees, including first-teamers Cash Hudson (OL) and Avery Powell (CB).
• At season's end, Beard was named to the American Football Coaches Association's exclusive 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute. 
• During his three seasons as MSU's defensive coordinator, Beard played a significant role in the team's resurgence, managing a defensive unit that boasted 18 all-conference selections, four All-Americans and three professional players in his tenure at MoState.
• Before coming to Missouri State, Beard spent the 2019 season at Central Michigan as the special teams and safeties coach for head coach Jim McElwain. He joined the Central Michigan staff in February of 2019 and helped lead the Chippewas to an 8-6 campaign on a defensive secondary that created 13 interceptions.
• Beard served as an assistant at Louisville during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, starting as the defensive backs coach and in quality control before moving on to become the Cardinals' linebackers coach and their co-special teams coordinator. As the DB coach at WKU (2016), Beard was part of a CUSA championship Boca Raton Bowl win. 
• He was a standout defensive back at Western Kentucky himself from 2007-11. He was a two-time All-Sun Belt Conference selection and was named to the league's All-Freshman squad and its All-Academic team. A native of Bowling Green, Ky., Beard was a four-year letterman at Bowling Green High for coach Kevin Wallace, where his efforts helped the Purples advance to the state 3A championship contest each of his last two years.
• Beard holds two degrees from Western Kentucky: a bachelor of science in Business Management (2012), and a master of science in Recreation and Sport Administration (2014).
• He is married to the former Katie Petrino. The couple have four children with son Beau and daughter Lainey, in addition to twins Jacob and Kailey born in the spring of 2022.