The 2020 Missouri State Bears football team represented Missouri State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Bobby Petrino, the Bears compiled an overall record of 5–5 with a mark of 5–1 in conference playing, sharing the MVFC title with South Dakota State. For the first time since 1990, Missouri State advanced to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where the Bears lost in the first round to North Dakota. Missouri State finished the season ranked 13th in both the STATS and FCS Coaches polls. The team played home games at Robert W. Plaster Stadium in Springfield, Missouri.
Petrino was hired in January 2020, succeeding Dave Steckel as the program's head coach.
Schedule Missouri State had a game scheduled against Tarleton State, and Montana which were later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bears played three games in the Fall. One at Oklahoma to open the season and then a home and home series with Central Arkansas The home game vs. Central Arkansas was Missouri State's Homecoming game. The Bears played a conference only schedule in the Spring. The opener against Illinois State was postponed to April 17 after winter storms made the playing surface unplayable after it was covered in snow and ice. They had two games canceled in the Spring. Illinois State opted out of the season after playing four games. The game vs. North Dakota was canceled following a positive test in the Fighting Hawks program.
Rankings
Preseason Even with Bobby Petrino as head coach; expectations were low heading into the 2020 season. The Bears were coming off a 1–10 record in 2019. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; the Missouri Valley Football Conference season was moved from the Fall to the Spring. Missouri State originally had non-conference games scheduled against Oklahoma, Tarleton State, and Montana. The games against Montana and Tarleton State were canceled. The Bears added a home and home series with Central Arkansas in the Fall. The game at Oklahoma was kept on the schedule as planned.
MVFC media poll The media picked the Bears to finish in a tie for ninth place with Western Illinois at the bottom of the MVFC standings. This was the second straight season Missouri State was predicted to finish last in the conference.
Preseason awards Missouri State had two players selected to the 2020 All-MVFC Preseason Team. Junior wide receiver Damoriea Vick and Senior cornerback Zack Sanders were the players chosen, both as honorable mentions.
Preseason All-MFVC TeamDamoriea Vick Honorable-Mention WR JRZack Sanders Honorable-Mention CB SR
Game summaries Fall At No. 5 (FBS) Oklahoma
It was all Oklahoma in this one. The Bears were no match for the Sooners for the head coaching debut for Bobby Petrino. Oklahoma used a huge 31–0 first quarter to pull away comfortably. The Bears never really threatened and were shutout in the season opener. RS Freshman QB Jaden Johnson went 9–19 with 72 yards and an interception. WR Lorenzo Thomas had 46 yards on four catches as the leading receiver. RB Tarrell Roberts led Missouri State on the ground with one carry for 26 yards which was nearly half of the 54 rushing yards the Bears tallied up. Meanwhile; for the Sooners Spencer Rattler had four passing TD's in the first half and threw for nearly 300 yards. RB Seth McGowan had 61 yards on nine carries and found the end zone once on a 37-yard pass from Spencer Rattler. WR Theo Howard had 63 yards on five catches.
Statistics MSUOKLA First downs 7 27 Total yards 135 608 Rushes/yards 24–54 35–124 Passing yards 27–72 102–136 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 10–22-1 30–36–1 Time of possession 22:49 37:11 Team Category Player StatisticsMissouri State Passing Jaden Johnson 9/19, 72 yards, 1 INT Rushing Tarrel Roberts 1 carries, 26 yards Receiving Lorenzo Thomas 4 receptions, 46 yardsOklahoma Passing Spencer Rattler 14/17, 290 yards, 4 TD Rushing Seth McGowan 9 carries, 61 yards, 1 TD Receiving Theo Howard 5 receptions, 63 yards
At No. 11 Central Arkansas
Missouri State was on the road for the second straight week; this time in Conway, Arkansas taking on the #11 Central Arkansas Bears. The game started slow with neither team scoring in the first quarter. Both teams exchanged turnovers early in the first quarter and Hayden Ray missed a chip shot field goal. The Second quarter was another story as the teams combined for 24 points with the Bears leading 17–7 at half. Kevon Latulas returned a blocked punt for touchdown to give the Bears a 10–0 lead. Kierre Crossley scored from 4 yards out after a Jaden Johnson fumble set the UCA offense up at the MSU 17 yard line. Missouri State opened the second half scoring with a Jose Pizano 31-yard field goal to extend the lead to 20–7 with 8:47 left in the quarter. UCA would strike on a Breylin Smith seven-yard pass to Tyler Hudson; the extra point was missed and MSU led by 7. Central Arkansas grabbed the momentum and control of the game in the early stages of the 4th quarter. QB Jaden Johnson fumbled on the first play of the quarter which was returned by Dre Matthews for a touchdown. The extra point was converted and the game was tied at 20-20. Missouri State had to punt on the next drive after three straight incomplete passes. Grant Burkett booted it 43 yards and was returned 57 yards by Tyler Hudson for Central Arkansas's first lead of the game. Missouri State was never able to score the rest of the quarter and were stopped on 4th down twice in last three minutes of the game. Bobby Petrino would have to wait another week for his first victory.
Statistics MSUUCA First downs 20 10 Total yards 291 177 Rushes/yards 42/42 36/98 Passing yards 249 79 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 25-44-1 9–24–1 Time of possession 34:57 25:03 Team Category Player StatisticsMissouri State Passing Jaden Johnson 25/44, 249 yards, 1 INT Rushing Kevon Latulas 12 carries, 63 yards Receiving Kevon Latulas 6 catches, 83 yardsCentral Arkansas Passing Breylin Smith 9/24, 79 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT Rushing Kierre Crossley 13 carries, 48 yards, 1 TD Receiving Tyler Hudson 4 catches, 62 yards, 1 TD
No. 11 Central Arkansas
The Bears and Bears met for the second time in the Fall for Missouri State's Homecoming game. This would also be the last game that Missouri State played in the Fall and their last non-conference game. Like the first game, it was a low scoring contest through the first quarter. UCA struck first on a 47-yard field goal from Hayden Ray. This came on the heels of interception from MSU QB Jaden Johnson. Missouri State started the second half strong; scoring 14 straight points on rushing touchdowns by Kevon Latulas for 63 yards and Keshun Parker for one yard. UCA would answer with 14 straight points of their own. Deandre Lamont scored on a 36-yard pick six, and Mitch Perkinson scored on a 10-yard receiving touchdown. Missouri State added 10 more points before the half. Jeremiah Wilson was the third MSU running back to hit paydirt when he scored from nine yards out. Jose Pizano kicked a 30-yard field goal as time expired to put Missouri State up 24–17 at the half. UCA scored 16 unanswered points in the third quarter on three field goals from Hayden Ray and Breylin Smith's second touchdown pass of the game. Backup QB Jake Van Dyne threw two interceptions to stunt the offense for MSU. Missouri State would finish the fall winless at 0–3. Missouri State continued to turn the ball over with two fumbles lost and 4 interceptions.
Statistics MSUUCA First downs 16 17 Total yards 330 268 Rushes/yards 41/176 37/93 Passing yards 175 154 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 18-36-0 12–29–4 Time of possession 31:14 28:47 Team Category Player StatisticsMissouri State Passing Jake Van Dyne 7/13, 92 yards, 2 INT Rushing Jeremiah Wilson 13 carries, 101 yards, 1 TD Receiving Damoriea Vick 3 catches, 50 yardsCentral Arkansas Passing Breylin Smith 18/36, 175 yards, 2 TD Rushing Kierre Crossley 18 carries, 78 yards Receiving Tyler Hudson 4 catches, 69 yards, 1 TD
Spring
At Western Illinois
The Bears traveled to Hanson Field in Macomb, Illinois for their first game of the Spring and first MVFC matchup. Missouri State jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter from a five-yard rushing touchdown from Celdon Manning and 11-yard run from Jeremiah Wilson. This was the first time all season that the Bears scored in the first quarter. They had been shutout in their previous three games. The Leathernecks dominated the second quarter; scoring 17 points to take a 17–14 lead into the half. Western Illinois took advantage of three turnovers by the Bears. Dennis Houston scored on six-yard pass from Connor Sampson after Jaden Johnson his first interception of the game. Greg Benton Jr. returned a Jaden Johnson fumble 75 yards to tie the game at 14. Another Bears drive stalled in Leatherneck territory when Jaden Johnson threw his second interception. WIU would use the possession to go up by three points as time expired when Mason Laramie connected from 45 yards out. The Bears returned the favor in the third with a 37-yard field goal from Jose Pizano. Pizano would another field goal in the 4th to give the Bears their first lead of the game since 6:50 in the second quarter. The Leathernecks retook the lead for the last when Tony Tate scored on the ground from two yards out. Jaden Johnson threw his first touchdown pass as a Bear when he connected with Isaac Smith for a 22-yard score. Jose Pizano kicked his third field goal of the game to put the Bears up 30–24 when he converted from 33 yards. Missouri State held on for the first win of the Bobby Petrino era.
Statistics MSUWIU First downs 21 17 Total yards 433 329 Rushes/yards 45/155 30/48 Passing yards 278 281 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 18-28-2 34–46–2 Time of possession 34:21 25:39 Team Category Player StatisticsMissouri State Passing Jaden Johnson 18/28, 278 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT Rushing Celdon Manning 16 carries, 69 yards, 1 TD Receiving Damoriea Vick 6 catches, 138 yardsWestern Illinois Passing Connor Sampson 34/46, 281 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT Rushing Gavin DeShon 6 carries, 22 yards Receiving Dennis Houston 9 catches, 71 yards, 1 TD
No. 6 North Dakota State
The Bears returned home following the win at Western Illinois for a matchup with the #6 North Dakota State Bison. The Bears couldn't get anything going offensively and were unable to crack the Bison Defense. 25 first half points were enough for NDSU to win the game. Bison QB Zeb Noland Threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Noah Grindorff to put the Bison up seven points. The Bears defense allowed two big plays to hand North Dakota State control. Jalen Bussey scored on a 53-yard touchdown run while Zeb Noland threw his second touchdown pass of the game when he connected with Braylon Henderson for an 81-yard score with less than 10 seconds left in the half. Jake Reinholz added a 38-yard field goal in between the long Bison scores. Jose Pizano had a 42-yard field goal blocked in the second quarter. The Bears would drop to 1–4 on the season and extend their losing streak to the Bison to 10 years.
Statistics NDSUMSU First downs 15 14 Total yards 407 221 Rushes/yards 48/272 34/63 Passing yards 135 158 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 10-15-1 16–29–0 Time of possession 33:56 26:04 Team Category Player StatisticsNorth Dakota State Passing Zeb Noland 10/15, 135 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT Rushing Jalen Bussey 10 carries, 98 yards Receiving Braylon Henderson 1 catch, 81 yards, 1 TDMissouri State Passing Jaden Johnson 13/21, 132 yards Rushing Tobias Little 8 carries, 46 yards Receiving Damoriea Vick 6 catches, 73 yards
At No. 21 South Dakota