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Category: College

Bearcats use big second half to run away from No. 3 Washburn

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What had the look of a heavyweight bout quickly turned into a Northwest Missouri State rout as the Bearcats coasted to a 52-28 Homecoming victory in front of 10,073 fans at Bearcat Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Northwest outscored the Ichabods 35-14 in the second half as they improved to 7-1 on the year and 5-1 in MIAA play. The win snapped an 11-game winning streak for Washburn who fell to 7-1 and 5-1 in league play.

Blake Christopher returned after missing the last two games to throw for over 400 yards and became the 11th quarterback to win the Don Black Homecoming MVP Award completing 29-of-37 passes. He also led the Bearcats in rushing with 79-yards on 12 carries.

“Their defensive line is their strong point so we needed our offensive line to really set the tempo and they did that,” said Christopher who became the 18th senior to win the award.

Northwest jumped out to a quick start as Christopher tossed back-to-back touchdown passes to Tyler Shaw and Jake Soy to give the Bearcats an early 14-0 lead.

“We took advantage of their safety coming downhill and when you have playmakers like we do, Tyler made a good play to come get the ball and score. Then Jake, on his out route he took for a score really boosted my confidence the rest of the day,” Christopher said.

Christopher and Soy would hook up again for their second touchdown as Christopher threaded the middle of the Ichabod defense at the goal-line. Soy caught eight passes for 144 yards and the two scores.

Washburn would quickly rally scoring on a 17-yard Justin Cooper scamper and after forcing a Northwest three-and-out tie the game when Dane Simoneau found DeJuan Beard for a 40-yard touchdown.

After a quarterback draw from Christopher, the Ichabods would again tie the game again after a seven play 90-yard drive was capped by Simoneau’s second touchdown pass to Beard. Simoneau and Beard would hook-up and third time late in the third quarter.

However, the Bearcats would steal the momentum marching back down the field like a well-oiled machine setting up a 22-yard Todd Adolf field goal as time expired in the half. Northwest drove 75-yards in nine plays in just over a minute to push their lead to 31-21, a lead they would not relinquish.

“We were going to be aggressive today,” head coach Adam Dorrel said. “They are very good on offense and I was so proud of our defense. We talked about getting knocked down and getting back up and keep playing and doing your job. I felt great all day and this was a big win for us. We got better as a football team today.”

The Bearcat defense would swarm the Ichabod quarterback for three sacks and one interception as Northwest controlled the second half. Northwest was led by seniors, Josh Lorenson and Aaron Terry as the front four limited the Ichabod running game to only 70 yards.

Northwest dominated the time of possession by nearly 15 minutes controlling the clock as James Franklin rushed 17 times for 59 yards and three scores to help put the game out of reach. Franklin scored three times all coming in the second half.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Mizzou falls at home to No. 4 Oklahoma State

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Even without its starting wide receivers, Oklahoma State had plenty left on offense. The Cowboys’ big-play defense stepped up, too.

Joseph Randle scored a career-best four touchdowns, two on runs that capitalized on an interception and fumble recovery by Shaun Lewis, as Oklahoma State (No. 4 BCS, No.6 AP) remained unbeaten and ended Missouri’s 10-game home winning streak with a 45-24 victory on Saturday.

“This place will get kind of rowdy if you let it,” quarterback Brandon Weeden said. “Anytime you get them out of their seats and headed to the exits, that’s huge.”

Missouri quarterback James Franklin committed four turnovers in the second half: three interceptions and a lost fumble at the Oklahoma State 4.

“I know that I didn’t play the best,” Franklin said. “And it’s frustrating. But being sad about it isn’t going to do anything about it.”

Randle had 138 yards on 14 carries and scored on runs of 16, 59 and 12 yards. He also caught a 13-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

“He’s a big play waiting to happen,” Weeden said. “The guy is explosive. Without looking at the tape, he’s got to be our MVP.”

Weeden had three touchdown passes after the opening snap of the second quarter. Lewis’ interception and fumble recovery helped the Cowboys (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) pull away and win their ninth in a row on the road despite injuries to both starting wide receivers.

They’re 7-0 for just the third time in school history, also doing it in 2008 and 1945. A major reason: They’ve forced 22 turnovers the last five games.

“They gave us what we had been working on all week,” defensive end Jamie Blatnick said. “When we see what we’ve prepared for it works out for us.”

Justin Blackmon caught a touchdown pass in the first quarter but was held out the second half as a precaution after taking a blow to the head. Hubert Anyiam, the Cowboys’ third-leading receiver, is out for the season with a broken bone in his left foot.

Isaiah Anderson had a career-best five receptions and Tracy Moore matched his career best with seven receptions.

“It’s interesting how young men will play when they know they have to play,” coach Mike Gundy said.

Henry Josey had 138 yards on 25 carries and T.J. Moe had six catches for 103 yards and a score for Missouri (3-4, 1-3), which has yet to win consecutive games and has dropped three straight in the series. All four of the Tigers’ losses have come against teams ranked at the time, and they play at No. 18 Texas A&M next week.

“We adjusted at halftime and played a little better,” defensive end Jacquies Smith said. “But we didn’t make enough plays.”

The Tigers had a strong second quarter, scoring on an 18-yard run by Kendial Lawrence and Moe’s 34-yard catch from James Franklin to cut the deficit to seven, before being undone by mistakes.

Lewis intercepted a tipped pass at the Missouri 27 and three plays later Randle scored on a 16-yard run for a two-touchdown cushion midway through the third quarter.

Missouri appeared to regain momentum when E.J. Gaines intercepted Weeden in the end zone and returned it 54 yards, also ending Weeden’s string of 194 consecutive passes without a pick. Franklin’s lost fumble gave the Cowboys possession at the 12, and again they needed just three plays to respond with Randle’s 59-yard jaunt making it 38-17. Brodrick Brown’s interception and 21-yard return set up Randle’s fourth TD in the final minute.

“We had opportunities,” Pinkel said. “Against a team like this, a really, really good team, we have to take advantage of every single opportunity.”

Weeden was 33 for 49 for 338 yards after a sizzling start and extended his streak of 30-yard completions to 15 games. The 28-year-old senior was 19 for 25 for 214 yards in the first quarter, with all six incompletions on drops.

“We may score 40 in the first half if we just catch the dang ball,” Gundy said. “We have to clean that up this week.”

Michael Harrison was wide open on a 27-yard catch and Blackmon caught an 8-yarder for his 28th receiving touchdown in 19 games. On the first play of the second quarter, Oklahoma State went up 21-3 on Weeden’s 13-yard TD pass to Randle.

Trickery produced Missouri’s best play of the quarter, with Franklin throwing a lateral pass to Moe and then getting it back for a 31-yard gain to the 13. But the Tigers stalled, settling for a short field goal by Grant Ressel.

— Associated Press —

Western volleyball defeats SBU to stay perfect at home

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The Missouri Western volleyball remained perfect at home improving to 4-0 in the fieldhouse with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 31-29, 25-8) victory over the Southwest Baptist Bearcats. Amanda Boender had a career best 11 kills on 39 attacks hitting .205. Western improves to 12-11 overall and 5-5 in MIAA action.

The Griffons struggled down the stretch in set one as the Bearcats closed the set on a 10-7 run winning by three at 25-22. Western hit .211 in the set with Shelby Corkill collecting six kills. In set two the Griffons got down 13-7 but a timeout by head coach Cory Frederick sparked the Griffons as they were able to outscore the Bearcats 18-10 run winning set to 25-23 and tying the match at one.

After two sets the Griffons were hitting .145 with 28 kills while Corkill led the way with 11 kills in 24 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage. Stephanie Hattey had 19 set assists and seven digs while Sarah Faubel had eight digs. The Bearcats hit .143 with Carrie Johnson collecting six kills on nine attacks. Whitney Gibson had 11 set assists while Kristi Hager had 10 digs.

Set three was  back and forth battle between the two squads as the Griffons were able to come away with the slim 31-29 victory taking a 2-1 lead in the set. The Griffons had 16 kills hitting just .093 in the set. The fourth set belonged to the Griffons winning 25-8 taking the match 3-1.

The Griffons finished with 55 kills with Corkill and Johnston pitching in 16 and 14 respectively. Hattey had 38 set assists while Corkill led the way with 17 digs. Hattey, Faubel and Torey Lyman added 16, 15 and 12 respectively.

The Bearcats fall to 9-15 overall and 4-7 in MIAA play. They had 45 kills with Johnson leading the charge with 11. Whitney Miller had 21 set assists while Kelsey Faunkhauser had 14. Hager had 21 digs while Britni Reed pitched in 17.

Western returns to action on next Friday, October 28 when they host the Emporia State Hornets. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm from the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sports Information —

K-State hammers Kansas to stay unbeaten

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Kansas State’s Bill Snyder preaches to his players to treat every game the same, no matter the opponent, the place or the circumstance.

He’s going to have a tough time making the message stick this week.

Collin Klein threw for a career-high 195 yards and accounted for five touchdowns, freshman Tyler Lockett returned a kickoff for a score and caught a touchdown pass, and Kansas State (No. 11 BCS, No. 12 AP) tuned up for a big showdown against Oklahoma with a 59-21 pasting of Kansas on Saturday.

Kansas State Regularly Trounces Kansas

The Wildcats (7-0, 4-0) are riding their best start since 1999, when they won their first nine games. They’ll host the third-ranked Sooners next Saturday in a matchup that should go a long way toward deciding the Big 12 champion now that there’s no conference title game.

“For us, it’s all about us,” Snyder said. “It’s all about playing as well as we possibly can.”

Snyder doesn’t believe that’s happened yet. Maybe it never will.

But the Wildcats were plenty good enough to help their 72-year-old coach improve to 16-4 against the Jayhawks on Saturday. That includes a 59-7 blowout last year and a stretch of 11 straight wins in the 1990s and early 2000s, when Snyder annually fielded one of the best teams in college football.

The Wildcats are headed that direction again.

Behind the solid decision-making of Klein, a vastly improved defense and Snyder’s Yoda-like guidance, Kansas State has already matched its win total from all of last season.

Klein finished with 92 yards and four TDs rushing on Saturday, and Lockett — the son of former K-State great Kevin Lockett and the nephew of Aaron Lockett — had five catches for 110 yards. Running back John Hubert added 92 yards and another score.

“It was another step,” Klein said, taking a cue from his coach by downplaying one of the best starts in school history. “We have a lot of work on Monday.”

That’s certainly true with Oklahoma looming.

The Jayhawks, meanwhile, caused more trouble for themselves than they did their rival.

Kansas was penalized nine times for 105 yards, and two fumbles early in the second half resulted in touchdowns that effectively put away the game.

“It’s tough. All of our losses are tough to take,” said coach Turner Gill, who’s on the hot seat in only his second season. “We’re competitive. We plan on going out and playing well. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out, particularly in the second half.”

Jordan Webb threw for 169 yards and a touchdown for Kansas (2-5, 0-4), which has dropped five straight, including a 47-17 defeat to the Sooners last week.

“This game would have been a big confidence-booster for our team,” said Kansas safety Bradley McDougald. “I saw a lot of guys work hard this week and it didn’t show up, and it hurts.”

Kansas State jumped out to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter, at which point the Jayhawks had more penalty yards (41) than net offense (23). They finally mounted a scoring drive that James Sims capped with a short touchdown run, but Klein answered with his third TD run for a 28-7 lead.

The Jayhawks looked as though they’d have some momentum at halftime when they drove 76 yards in less than 2 minutes, and Webb hit D.J. Beshears from 13 yards out for a score. But the Wildcats snatched the momentum back when Klein hit Lockett for 48 yards down the middle of the field to set up a field goal with no time left and a 31-14 lead at the break.

That was the start of a disastrous stretch for Kansas.

Lockett took the opening kickoff of the second half 97 yards for a score, his second kick return TD in as many weeks. The Jayhawks were whistled for three separate penalties on the ensuing kickoff, backing them up to their 8, and Tony Pierson promptly fumbled on the first play from scrimmage.

Klein scored two players later for a 45-14 lead.

On the Jayhawks’ next drive, Webb fumbled near midfield, and it took the Wildcats only six more plays before Klein hit Lockett for a 19-yard touchdown pass and a 52-14 lead.

The Wildcats began resting starters after that, guarding against injury before next weekend’s showdown against Oklahoma, and the backups swapped fourth-quarter scores inside a stadium that was nearly empty save for several thousand fans wearing purple.

“It was a good feeling come in here,” said Kansas State defensive end Jordan Voelker. “It’s also a big game setting us up for next week.”

— Associated Press —

Northwest volleyball rallies past Southern in five sets

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The Northwest Missouri State University women’s volleyball team picked up a thrilling 3-2 win over the Missouri Southern Lions (4-18, 2-8 MIAA) Saturday night at Bearcat Arena.

Northwest (10-12, 4-5 MIAA) battled all night and momentum continued to shift to both sides before the Bearcats pulled out the five set victory.

The Bearcats rolled through the first set before the Lions took sets two and three.  Northwest closed out the match winning, 25-19, 19-25, 26-28, 25-18, and 15-12.

The Bearcats rolled in the fourth set after an unforced Missouri Southern error swung the momentum in Northwest’s favor.

Northwest was behind early in the fifth set but evened the score at 6-6 with an Alex Hanna kill.  The Lions would remain within a point or two until Laira Akin hammered down the match point.

Senior Laira Akin recorded a season-high 58 assists and 15 digs to record her 12th double-double of the season.

Abby Graves continued to knock down kills with a team high 22, a season high, and added 15 digs to record her 5th double-double of the season.

Tori Beckman led the defense recording 25 digs.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

MWSU soccer continues to struggle with 4-0 loss at Fort Hays

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The Missouri Western soccer team found shots hard to come by in Hays as they fell 4-0 in MIAA road action against Fort Hays State University. Western falls to 3-9 overall and 0-6 in MIAA action.

Western struggled in the first half accumulating just two shots with Abby Widrig and Sadie Naumann each taking one. Kelly Voigts made three saves for the Griffons in goal.

The home team Tigers controlled play in the first frame taking 10 shots with five on goal. Fort Hays took the lead in the 37th minute when Cindy Benitez scored her fifth goal of the season. The Tigers kept up the pressure as Becca Andres put FHSU up 2-0 off an assist by Benitez at the 39th minute of play.

Western continued their struggles into the second half as the Tigers scored twice on their first three shots. Benitez scored her sixth goal of the season on a free kick in the 54th minute and then Benitez gave an assists to Joanne Glynn in the 56th minute putting the Tigers up 4-0. For Glynn it marked her 8th goal of the season.

Western finished with five shots as Teddi Serna and Katie Kemph each had a shot on goal. Voigts made six saves for the Griffons.

The Tigers improve to 5-10 overall and 2-6 in MIAA play as they finished with 21 shots with nine on goal. Kelsey Grey picked up the victory making one save. Benitez finished with seven shots with four on goal. She scored two goals and had two assists.

Western will return home for the first of their final two home games of the season on Thursday, October 27 when they take on the Washburn Lady Blues at 7:00 pm in Spratt Stadium.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Nebraska cruises to easy win at Minnesota

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Nebraska piled up the yards like Tom Osborne’s teams from back in the day, and all coach Bo Pelini could think about was how much better Rex Burkhead and Co. could have been.

The demanding coach sees the potential in these Huskers, and Pelini wasn’t about to be satisfied with a dominant victory against an overmatched opponent.

Burkhead rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown and No. 13 Nebraska racked up 346 yards on the ground in a 41-14 victory over Minnesota on Saturday.

“We had a lot of yards,” Pelini said with a shrug. “I thought there was a lot of things we needed to get cleaned up. I would give us probably somewhere around a ‘B’ in how we played in the run game.”

The Huskers (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) took over TCF Bank Stadium in their first trip to the Twin Cities since 1989. More than two-thirds of the stadium was filled with red-clad Nebraska backers, and they had plenty to cheer about.

Taylor Martinez threw for 162 yards and a touchdown and Austin Cassidy returned a fumble for another score in the Huskers’ first game since losing star defensive tackle Jared Crick to a season-ending injury.

“When you shut a team out in the first half, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, it feels good,” Cassidy said.

MarQueis Gray was 9 for 18 for 122 yards for the Golden Gophers (1-6, 0-3), including just 2 for 8 for 9 yards in the first two quarters. Minnesota has been outscored 144-31 in three Big Ten games this season, including a 58-0 loss at Michigan and a 45-17 defeat at Purdue.

After Bill Callahan tried to bring more of a pro-style offense to Lincoln, Pelini has returned the Huskers to their power-running roots that made them perennial title contenders under Osborne. Martinez chipped in 52 and Kenny Bell added an 82-yard reverse for a score.

The woeful Gophers defense managed to hold Nebraska to a couple of field goals deep in their own territory early in the game. But the Huskers eventually got their high-powered ground game going.

Nebraska scored its first touchdown thanks to a bizarre play on fourth-and-1 from the Minnesota 13. The Gophers collapsed the line on the option dive, so Martinez pulled it and pitched it left to Aaron Green. The pitch was high and Green couldn’t handle it, but he knocked the ball forward and it landed out of bounds ahead of the first down marker.

After a short conference, the officials spotted the ball there because it was a backward pass, therefore marking it where it landed out of bounds, and not where the muff occurred.

Minnesota coach Jerry Kill protested vehemently, but to no avail.

“I didn’t understand the rule myself,” Pelini said.

Martinez hit Tyler Legate for a 10-yard TD pass two plays later to make it 10-0.

That seemed to suck the life out of the heavy underdogs. Bell scored on his reverse on the next drive and Cassidy returned Gray’s fumble 11 yards to make it 27-0 with under 10 minutes to play in the first half.

“I think we’re getting used to what type of offense we are and what we’re going to become,” Martinez said. “I think we’re doing a great job.”

Burkhead’s 4-yard touchdown dive right before halftime made it 34-0, but Pelini will have plenty of things to point out on film to keep his players from getting too confident.

Nebraska twice had to settle for field goals in the first half after driving inside the Minnesota 5, once because of a bad pitch from Martinez to Burkhead that went for a loss of 7 yards and once when Burkhead was stuffed by cornerback Kyle Henderson on an option pitch to the right.

And the few times Martinez tried to throw the ball down the field, the passes were rarely close to the intended receivers. Two good ones were dropped by Bell and Jamal Turner.

“We had some repeat errors and didn’t get some hats on hats,” Pelini said. “I’ll put it this way, we left a lot of big plays out there today.”

The one bright spot for the Gophers offense came in the third quarter, when Gray hit Da’Jon McKnight on a 53-yard pass off of a double-reverse flea flicker to set up Gray’s 1-yard TD run. The score snapped a streak of 145 straight points for the Huskers in the series against Minnesota. The Huskers won 56-0 in 1990 and 48-0 in 1989.

“We have no room for error and we certainly don’t need to help anybody (with mistakes),” Kill said. “We can’t overcome that.”

— Associated Press —

Northwest’s Adams win MIAA cross country title

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Northwest Missouri State University’s senior standout Angela Adams was crowned MIAA champion Saturday morning at the 2011 MIAA Cross Country Championships on the campus of Missouri Southern.

Adams finished the 6k with a time of 21:00.68, a personal best.  Katti Carroll would be next to cross the line for Northwest in fifth place with a time of 21:30.94.

Pittsburg State University was crowned the 2011 MIAA women’s team champions as Northwest finished fifth.

Also competing for the Bearcat women today were Katti Carroll who also placed in the top 10 with a fifth place finish. Behind Carroll was Heidi Johnson who covered the course 22:42.34 for a 25th-place finish. Jordan Esry, Brittany Poole, Hanna Speaks, Tasha Sherman, Amanda Cushing, Anne Herbert and Megan Jacobsen also competed at the Championships in Joplin.

TR Pursell paced the Bearcat men’s team to a second place finish.  Pursell crossed the line in fifth place with a time of 24:24.27, a personal best.

Central Missouri’s Laban Sialo was the men’s champion finishing the 8k with a time of 23:17.88.

The men’s runner-up finish totaled a combined score of 73. They were 20 points behind champion Central Missouri which totaled 53 points.

Also competing for the Northwest men today were Ryan Darling, Zach Layton, Jacob Henry, Drew Keefer, Jared Walker, Kit Anderson, David Nilges, Clay Martin, and Kyle Schmitz.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

NWMSU soccer downs Lindenwood, 1-0

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The Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats (9-4-2, 5-2 MIAA) defeated future MIAA foe Lindenwood 1-0 Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Pitch in the Bearcats’ final home game of 2011.

The first half was a battle with a combined 15 fouls called.  Northwest would strike first in the 30th minute, when Amanda Bundrant found senior Hannah Silvey.  Silvey hammered the ball past Lindenwood (8-5-2) goalie Whitney Calvin to put the Bearcats up 1-0.  That would be the only goal of the first half as Northwest went into halftime up 1-0.

For the half, the Bearcats outshot the Lady Lions 14-5 and held a 5-1 advantage in corner kicks.

The second half started out very similar to the first, with both teams clamping down on defense.  Neither team was able to find the net in the second half.

The 15 fouls called on the Bearcats in the match was a season high for the Northwest surpassing their previous high of 13 fouls called against Fort Hays State on Oct. 15.  A combined total of 28 fouls were called in the match, another season high for Northwest.

For the match, the Bearcats outshot the Lady Lions 25-10.

The goal by Silvey in the first half was her second of the season and upped her career total to three.

Bearcats’ goalkeeper Kelsey Adams collected four saves in the win upping her season total to 99.

Lindenwood goalie Whitney Calvin recorded thirteen saves in the loss.

In all, five seniors played their final home game for the Bearcats Saturday.  Midfielder Hannah Silvey, forward Tammie Eiberger, midfielder Kelly Obley, defender Jacque Dedovesh, and forward Erica Hatcher all stepped onto Bearcat Pitch for their final time Saturday.  Also recognized was senior student assistant Lindsay Beckman.\

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Missouri State beat Western Illinois for first win

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Four second-half take-aways propelled Missouri State (1-7, 1-4) to a 31-17 win over Western Illinois here Saturday in Missouri Valley Football Conference play. The win snapped an eight-game Hanson Field winning streak by the Leathernecks and secured MSU’s first win of 2011.

The final nail in the coffin came with 2:15 to play when senior Jimmie Strong halted a threatening WIU drive with a 91-yard interception return for a touchdown, the longest in Bears’ history. The pick six came on the heels of a 54-yard pass completion to Charles Chestnut that set the home club up at the MSU 9 for the potential game-tying score.

MSU closed out the game with a fumble recovery on WIU’s fourth turnover of the final period.

Trevor Wooden completed 8-of-16 passes for 190 yards for the Bears who won on the road for the first time in 13 tries and also posted a game-high 82 rushing yards. Jermaine Saffold caught four passes for 138 yards and a touchdown, coming just two yards shy of becoming MSU’s all-time receiving yards leader.

The Leathernecks got 269 passing yards by Josh Hudson who was 20-for-34 with a pair of interceptions. Terriun Crump had seven receptions for 67 yards to lead WIU, while Kevin Palermo posted a game-high 14 tackles.

With 7:56 to go in the third, the Bears extended their 14-10 halftime lead on a 19-yard field goal by Austin Witmer to overcome a pair of first-half misses by the sophomore. The score was set up by a 57-yard pass from Wooden to Saffold to the WIU two-yard line just three players earlier. The Bears could not punch it into the end zone, but settled for the chip-shot FG to go up by seven.

The lead didn’t last long as WIU got 33 yards on the ensuing kickoff to its own 38. Six plays later, Josh Hudson found Larry Patterson wide open on the far sideline for Patterson’s second catch of the season. He bolted to the end zone for his second score of the night to tie the game 17-17 after the Pat Smith PAT with 5:21 on the clock.

Feeling the opportunity for their first victory of the year, the Bears used the momentum of a 50-yard completion from Wooden to Saffold to set up the go-ahead score on the ensuing drive.  The key play was a third-and-two at the WIU 27 when Stephen Johnston took the hand off and completed a short pass to quarterback to Wooden who was tackled shy of the first down. However, Johnston was hit late, forcing a roughing the passer flag from the officials and a Bears’ first down. WIU’s bench protested the call and ultimately drew an unsportsmanlike conduct  flag to move the ball to the WIU 7.  The Bears’ third-and-goal play from the 10 was a pass intended for Ian Starnes in the end zone, but WIU was whistled for pass interference to set up another automatic first down at the two. Two plays later Johnston punched it in to put the Bears up 24-17 with 55 seconds left in the third.

The score held throughout the third with five combined punts and two WIU turnovers – an interception by Mike Crutcher and fumble recovery by Andrew Beisel – but neither team could threaten.  With 2:50 to go, Josh Hudson found Chestnut for 54 yards to the MSU 20.  On the next play, Hudson was picked off by Strong who returned it 91 yards for the exclamation mark score to put MSU up 31-17.

The game started with some fireworks as Western Illinois’ Larry Patterson returned the opening kick 90 yards to paydirt to give the Leathernecks an early 7-0 lead 12 seconds into the game.  However, the Bears retaliated quickly with a 74-yard scoring drive of their own. Trevor Wooden carried four times for 61 yards on the nine-play possession and capped the series with a 14-yard touchdown run to tie the contest, 7-7.

The Bears forced the Leathernecks to punt after three plays on their next possession and took over on the MSU 38.  MSU drove all the way to the WIU three-yard line before settling for a 21-yard field goal attempt by Austin Witmer, which missed wide left to keep the game knotted, 7-7.

On the first drive of the second quarter, Western followed suit by driving from their own 20 to the MSU 11 before a missed 34-yard field goal by Pat Smith maintained the tie.  The miss spoiled a 31-yard pass completion from Hudson to Justin Morgan early in the 17-play drive and negated a fourth-and-one conversion at the Bears’ 12 that put WIU on the doorstep of a go-ahead score.

Taking over on their own 20 with 10:12 left in the second, the Bears missed another scoring opportunity. A 36-yard completion from Wooden to Matt Thayer on the first play moved the ball to the WIU 44. The Bears continued the drive to the 36, but could not convert another first down. Witmer came on for a 42-yard field goal try and missed it wide left with 7:28 left in the opening half.

On the very next play, Hudson was sacked by Mikel Ruder, forcing the ball loose and recovered by Nate Davis at the Western 20-yard line.  MSU wasted little time taking the lead as Wooden hit Saffold in stride at the three-yard line, and he fell across the goal line for the score. Witmer’s PAT made it 14-7 Bears with 7:19 to play.

The teams exchanged punts from there, and WIU took over on its own 14 with 3:33 to play in the second. Fourteen plays later, the Leathernecks converted a 21-yard field goal as time expired when Smith split the uprights to cap the 82-yard drive and make it a 14-10 game at the intermission.

The Bears return to Plaster Field next Saturday to face South Dakota State at 2 p.m. on Homecoming.

— MSU Sports Information —

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