2019 NCAA Division I College Football Team Previews: Missouri State Bears
Missouri State Bears
Location: Springfield, MO
Coach: Dave Stekel (12-32), 5th season at MSU
Stadium: Robert W. Plaster Stadium (Capacity: 17,500)
CSJ Projections:
9th: MVFC
3rd: Missouri
61st: FCS
186th: Division I
2018 In A Sentence: Missouri State started the season by beating Northern Arizona and Illinois State and also defeated Indiana State, but things went downhill fast from there with the season ending on a five-game losing streak to finish 4-7 overall (2-6 MVFC).
Biggest Shoes to Fill: OL Marquis Prophete started in three different positions on the offensive line but spent most of his at right guard in being named to the All-MVFC second team. He averaged 4.2 knockdown blocks per game this season and was named Valley Offensive Lineman of Week on Sept. 10. He anchored a Missouri State offensive line that produced 345.5 yards per game.
Key Player: QB Peyton Huslig has started the last two seasons and is primed to be the team leader this year, but will have to do it with just one starter back protecting him on the offensive line. He threw for 2,113 yards, 13 touchdowns but also had 16 interceptions. He will need to protect the ball better for the Bears to be more successful.
Fearless Prediction: The Bears will play just an 11-game schedule (FCS teams can play 12 this year) and has a very challenging out-of-conference slate with road games at Northern Arizona and FBS Tulane to go with a home game with two-time Big South champion Kennesaw State. The team returns six starters on offense and all but on are at the specialist positions so if the new line can come together, this team has a chance to be better performance-wise but it is hard to imagine it will surpass the four-win total from last year.
Originally from LaMoure, North Dakota, Kent is a 1996 graduate of North Dakota State University. His prior writing experience is over 15 years having previously worked with D2football.com, I-AA.org, and College Sporting News before coming to College Sports Journal in 2016. His main focus is college football is the Missouri Valley Football Conference within the Division I FCS. And in 2017, he began also to look at the FBS Group of Five conferences of the American Athletic, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, and Sun Belt.
Reach him at this email or click below:
