SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Missouri State scored 29 second-half points to pull away from Indiana State on Saturday afternoon as the Sycamores were unable to upset the No. 20 Bears in Springfield, Mo. with the 46-21 loss.
 
The Sycamores (2-5, 1-2) came out early in the contest with offensive fireworks as Rashad Rochelle broke loose with a 63-yard reception on Indiana State's first play from scrimmage and Shen Butler-Lawson capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge to give the Sycamores the early lead. Later in the first half, Elijah Owens founded a wide-open Rochelle on a wheel route in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown catch to give Indiana State the 15-10 lead.
 
The Bears (5-2, 3-0) rallied back on Jacob Clark's arm as the Missouri State signal caller threw three touchdown passes including a 27-yard strike to James BlackStrain before the half. Clark added touchdown passes of 82 yards to Lance Mason and 21 yards to Hunter Wood as the Bears scored 36 of the final 42 points in the contest to secure the Missouri Valley Football win.
 
Elijah Owens finished 12-of-17 through the air for 154 yards and a touchdown, but the Bears defense harried the Sycamore quarterback with five sacks in the contest. Rochelle was the primary target with a season-high 83 yards on three catches, while Ethan Chambers added two catches for 34 yards.
 
Butler-Lawson was Indiana State's primary ball-carrier with six carries for 33 yards and a touchdown, while Plez Lawrence added eight carries for 22 yards.
 
Dallas Westhoff recorded his first double-digit tackling effort with a career-high 12 stops, including one of Indiana State defense's five sacks in the game. Maddix Blackwell added eight tackles, while Geoffrey Brown had eight stops, a sack, and an interception in the loss. Braxton Sampson added a second-quarter strip-sack that led to Indiana State's second touchdown.
 
Jacob Clark finished 22-of-27 through the air for 379 yards and three touchdowns, while throwing an interception. Lance Mason was the team leader with four catches for 111 yards and a touchdown, while BlackStrain added five catches for 94 yards in the win.
 
Jacardia Wright scored a pair of short-yardage touchdown runs to highlight a 20-carry, 77-yard rushing effort. Jayden Becks added eight carries for 47 yards.
 
Tahj Chambers finished the game leading the Bears with nine tackles including 1.0 tackles-for-loss. Caleb Dietlin had a team-high 2.0 sacks among his five tackles, while Gilles Tchio had 2.0 TFLs.
How They Scored

• Missouri State took the early 3-0 lead with 10:18 left in the first quarter as Yousef Obeid connected on a 30-yard field goal to cap the game-opening 10-play, 62-yard drive.
• The Sycamores answered on their first possession as Shen Butler-Lawson took the ball up the middle for a one-yard touchdown plunge to end a three-play, 67-yard drive. The drive was highlighted by Rashad Rochelle's 63-yard reception on the first play from scrimmage moving the ball down inside the Missouri State 5 yard line. Indiana State converted the two-point conversion to make it 8-3 with 8:39 to play in the first quarter.
• Jacardia Wright responded with a two-yard touchdown run at the 4:58 mark in the first quarter to put Missouri State back in the lead, 10-8, to end an eight-play, 63-yard drive.
• Elijah Owens hit Rochelle on a wheel route for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 10:24 remaining in the second quarter following the Sycamore defense posting a strip-sack and gathering the ball deep in Missouri State territory. The lead hit 15-10 following the extra-point conversion.
• Missouri State retook the lead with 5:58 remaining in the second quarter as James BlackStrain hauled in the 27-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Clark to make it a 17-15 game heading into the half.
• The Bears added to the lead early in the third quarter as Lance Mason hauled in an 82-yard touchdown pass with 9:42 remaining in the quarter to make it 24-15.
• Wright added his second touchdown run of the game, this one from one-yard out, with 4:56 remaining in the third quarter, and Jmariyae Robinson caught the two-point conversion pass from Clark to make it a 32-15 game.
• Owens kept the play alive and took the ball all the way to the right pilon in the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown run with 11:39 to play in the fourth quarter. However, the snap with mishandled on the extra point leaving it a 32-21 game.
• Missouri State added to their lead on Hunter Wood's 21-yard touchdown reception from Clark with 8:04 remaining in the fourth quarter to make it a 39-21 contest.
• The Bears capped the scoring with 1:27 to play as Clark went around the right side for a five-yard touchdown run to provide the final 46-21 margin.

News & Notables

• Dallas Westhoff became the seventh Indiana State player to record double-digit tackles on Saturday afternoon and fourth player to post his first career 10-plus tackling effort in the 2024 season joining Kaleal Davis, Lucas McAllister, and Micah Hauser.
• Geoffrey Brown's eight-tackle contest gives the senior linebacker 275 total tackles over his career. He's pursuing becoming the 19^th Indiana State player to hit the 300-tackle mark in program history and first since Jonas Griffith (382, 2016-19).
• Rashad Rochelle's 63-yard reception in the first quarter marked a season-long for the Sycamore wide receiver and the longest Indiana State reception of the 2024 season. It marked Indiana State's longest reception since Dante Hendrix posted a 67-yard reception in the fourth quarter against Illinois State back on Oct. 22, 2022.

Up Next
Indiana State continues Missouri Valley Football play at home next weekend as the Sycamores host Southern Illinois for Homecoming. Kickoff between the Sycamores and the Salukis is set for 1 p.m. ET with the Valley Game of the Week scheduled to be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
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