Five things to watch in the Missouri State-Bison game (2024)

FARGO — When the notice of an upcoming concert by a major act is dubbed a farewell tour, your favorite Five Things columnist usually rolls his eyes more often than a bowling ball rumbling down the alley. Taking the ego of performing in front of thousands out of the rock star is dang near impossible.

Elton John once had a goodbye tour in 1977, saying he was done with performing citing burnout and drugs. Well, Sir Elton got clean and went on to a boatload more years of doing his thing.

He played the Fargodome in 2022 in what was billed as his “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Tour” and confirmed to Vanity Fair last summer that the tour was his final. We’ll see.

Well, here comes Missouri State to the dome on Saturday, a place where Elton played four times, including twice with Billy Joel. It’s the swan song for the Bears this year in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with the school moving to FBS Conference USA next season.

It’s been a season of standing Os and a lot of happy Saturday nights for the Bears, who are 8-2 and 6-0 in the Valley.

“I have the utmost respect for everyone in the Valley,” said MSU head coach Ryan Beard, “but it is a good feeling knowing we’ve been able to have a decent farewell tour up to this point and the work’s not done yet.”

It’s a weekend of farewell tours in the region. On Saturday, Valley City State will play at the University of Jamestown for what will be the 78th and last battle for the foreseeable future for The Paint Bucket, a traveling trophy that started in 1961. Jamestown is moving to NCAA Division II next season.

On that note, Five Things cautions, just like that 1977 Elton tour, don’t shut the door on NDSU vs. Mo State just yet. The Bison may have eyes on joining the Bears in FBS. Here are five things to watch in the Bears at Bison:

One media member from the Springfield area at Beard’s weekly press conference earlier this week prefaced his question with a quote from noted professional wrestler Ric Flair: “To be the man, you have to beat the man.”

Wooooo.

The Bears are on one of their greatest runs in program history, winning eight straight after dropping their first two to Montana and Ball State.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re in junior high football or Pop Warner, that’s a hell of a run,” Beard said. “I believe in the men in that locker room and I believe they’re going to put their heart and souls on the line and believe in each other and it’s time to get after it.”

The Flair comment came up later when Beard was asked if it was personally satisfying to be in a position for a league title.

“This is what you want, this is why you train year in and year out,” he said. “You said it earlier, if you want to be the best you have to beat the best. The best thing about this football game is we have nothing to lose. They have everything to lose. They’re the top dog. They’ve got the trophies. They have the 100 million dollar facility.”

Combined, these teams go into this game with a 17-game winning streak. The Bison have ripped off nine in a row after the season-opening 31-26 loss at Colorado. The Bears have put together eight straight after losing 29-24 at Montana and 42-34 at FBS Ball State to open the season.

MSU’s streak is the school’s longest since 1989. A Bears win would unleash a history of “firsts” for the program, such as the first win over a top-ranked team. The winner would earn at least a share of the conference title.

“If I were those guys right now, I would be focused on winning a conference championship, really selling in recruiting that we’re taking the next step up,” said NDSU head coach Tim Polasek. “(They) have to position this program to compete with X, Y and Z.”

NDSU knows something about winning streaks. The Bison have the FCS record of 39 victories in a row from the end of 2017 until the spring season of 2021.

David Samson/The Forum

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This matchup could get downright offensive, if statistics hold true. The Bears are second in the FCS in scoring at 38.8 points per game while the Bison are fourth at 37.8 points per game. It could make for an interesting over/under betting line by kickoff.

Mo State has scored at least 38 points in all six of its Valley games, an eye-popping number that threatens NDSU’s improved defense over that span. The Bears come in having scored in 21 straight quarters.

But MSU has yet to face the top three scoring defenses in the league starting with NDSU this weekend and South Dakota State to close the regular season. The Bears do not play South Dakota this season because of the rotating schedule.

Five Things is allergic to cliches and the old adage that it’s not so much how you start but how you finish doesn't necessarily pertain here. The Bison have been impressive out of the gate, scoring touchdowns on their first drive of the game in seven of their 10 games.

They finished their initial drive in two other games with field goals and only once did they come away with nothing — a punt against South Dakota State after reaching midfield. NDSU has outscored its opponents 104-27 in the first 15 minutes.

The Bears have taken a slower route to their high-scoring offense outscoring opponents 83-41 in the first quarter. They punted five times on their first drive, scored four touchdowns and registered a field goal.

Not only is it a battle of two of the top teams in the FCS, it will be a matchup of two of the top quarterbacks in the subdivision in NDSU’s Cam Miller and Mo State’s Jacob Clark. Both are veteran seniors and both are in the conversation for the Walter Payton Award that goes to the best offensive player in the FCS.

Miller set the school record for completion percentage last year completing 208 of 289 passes for 72%. He’s ahead of that pace this season at 163 of 210 for 77%, which leads the FCS.

“I talk about Jacob’s vision a lot, (Miller) sees the field similarly,” Beard said. “He does a nice job running their offense and understanding where the ball needs to go and when it needs to go there.”

Clark is third in the FCS in completion percentage and passing yards per game, and fourth in passing touchdowns with 25.

Jeff would like to dispel the notion he was around when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, but he is on his third decade of reporting with Forum Communications. The son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, Jeff has worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he's covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995.
Jeff has covered all nine of NDSU's Division I FCS national football titles and has written three books: "Horns Up," "North Dakota Tough" and "Covid Kids." He is the radio host of "The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack" April through August.