2023 Missouri State Bears football team

The 2023 Missouri State Bears football team represented Missouri State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bears were led by first-year head coach Ryan Beard and played home games at Robert W. Plaster Stadium in Springfield, Missouri.

2023 Missouri State Bears football
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Record	4–7 (3–5 MVFC)
Head coach	Ryan Beard (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Nick Petrino (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	L. D. Scott (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Robert W. Plaster Stadium
Seasons ← 2022 2024 →

2023 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 South Dakota State $^		8	–	0					15	–	0
No. 4 South Dakota ^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 3 North Dakota State ^		5	–	3					11	–	4
No. 19 Youngstown State ^		5	–	3					8	–	5
No. 16 North Dakota ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
Northern Iowa		5	–	3					6	–	5
No. 12 Southern Illinois ^		4	–	4					8	–	5
Illinois State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Missouri State		3	–	5					4	–	7
Murray State		1	–	7					2	–	9
Indiana State		1	–	7					1	–	10
Western Illinois		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant As of February 21, 2025 Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	7:00 p.m.	at Kansas*	David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	ESPN+	L 17–48	41,091
September 9	6:00 p.m.	at UT Martin*	Graham Stadium Martin, TN	ESPN+	L 31–38	6,104
September 23	2:00 p.m.	Utah Tech*	Robert W. Plaster Stadium Springfield, MO	ESPN+	W 59–14	11,002
September 30	4:00 p.m.	at No. 10 Southern Illinois	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN+	L 20–33	10,359
October 7	2:00 p.m.	No. 7 North Dakota State	Robert W. Plaster Stadium Springfield, MO	ESPN+	L 10–38	8,727
October 14	3:00 p.m.	at Western Illinois	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN+	W 48–7	2,809
October 21	2:00 p.m.	Murray State	Robert W. Plaster Stadium Springfield, MO	ESPN+	W 28–24	11,386
October 28	1:00 p.m.	No. 24 Youngstown State	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN+	L 28–44	9,880
November 4	2:00 p.m.	Illinois State	Robert W. Plaster Stadium Springfield, MO	ESPN+	L 35–36	7,700
November 11	2:00 p.m.	No. 15 Northern Iowa	Robert W. Plaster Stadium Springfield, MO	ESPN+	W 35–16	6,898
November 18	2:00 p.m.	at No. 1 South Dakota State	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN+	L 17–35	15,637
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[1][2]

Game summaries

at Kansas

See also: 2023 Kansas Jayhawks football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	3	0	7	17
Jayhawks	7	10	10	21	48

Game information

First quarter 11:26 KU Devin Neal 48 yard run (Seth Keller kick good), 4–70, 1:49 KU 7–0 2:24 MSU Jmariyae Robinson 2 yard pass from Jacob Clark (Owen Rozanc kick good), 10–46, 5:37 7–7 Second quarter 12:12 MSU Owen Rozanc 37 yard field goal, 7–53, 3:10 MSU 10–7 11:03 KU Luke Grimm 14 yard pass from Jason Bean (Seth Keller kick good), 3–75, 1:11 KU 14–10 1:05 KU Seth Keller 28 yard field goal, 10–75, 1:02 KU 17–10 Third quarter 10:29 KU Dylan McDuffie 17 yard run (Seth Keller kick good), 9–69, 4:22 KU 24–10 3:18 KU Seth Keller 35 yard field goal, 10–55, 5:07 KU 27–10 Fourth quarter 14:57 MSU Jmariyae Robinson 5 yard run (Owen Rozanc kick good), 6–75, 3:21 KU 27–17 10:18 KU Daniel Hishaw Jr. 24 yard run (Seth Keller kick good), 8–75, 4:39 KU 34–17 7:49 KU Devin Neal 6 yard pass from Jason Bean (Owen Piepergerdes kick good), 5–28, 2:21 KU 41–17 4:57 KU Sevion Morrison 5 yard Run (Seth Keller kick), 4–23, 2:14 KU 48–17

Missouri State Bears at Kansas Jayhawks

at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium • Lawrence, Kansas

• Date: Friday, September 1, 2023
• Game time: 7:00 pm CDT
• Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 89 °F (32 °C)
• Game attendance: 41,091
• Referee: Henry Johns
• TV announcers (ESPN+): Chuckie Kempf, Ahman Green
• Pregame line: Kansas –32

Statistics	MSU	KU
First downs	10	27
Plays–yards	48–217	66–521
Rushes–yards	27–74	38–245
Passing yards	143	276
Passing: comp–att–int	14–21–2	22–28–0
Time of possession	26:13	33:47

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Missouri State	Passing	Jacob Clark	14/21 143 yards 1 TD 2 INTa
	Rushing	Jacob Clark	8 carries 36 yards
	Receiving	Celdon Manning	2 receptions 31 yards
Kansas	Passing	Jason Bean	22/28 276 yards 2 TDs
	Rushing	Devin Neal	13 carries 94 yards 1 TD
	Receiving	Lawrence Arnold Quentin Skinner	4 receptions 77 yards

References

1. "2023 Missouri State Football Schedule". FBSchedules. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
2. "2023 Football Schedule - Missouri State". Missouri State University Athletics. Retrieved March 24, 2023.