Springfield Standard

Missouri State University Bears will host the UT Martin Skyhawks on Saturday, September 20, 2025, at Robert W. Plaster Stadium in Springfield, Missouri. The game is scheduled to begin at 6:02 p.m. Central Time and marks the end of the non-conference portion of Missouri State’s football schedule.

The matchup coincides with Family Weekend and features several promotions including Extra Yards for Teachers and a postgame light show. Tailgating activities and BearFest Village will open at 3:00 p.m., ahead of kickoff.

Tickets are available through the university’s official website or by phone, with the stadium box office opening at 1 p.m. Fans can listen to live radio coverage on KWTO (101.3 FM) or follow televised coverage on ESPN+.

Missouri State leads the all-time series against UT Martin, holding an 8-2 advantage. In their most recent meeting on September 21, 2024, Missouri State won 31-24. During that game, quarterback Jason Shelley and wide receiver Ty Scott connected for two fourth-quarter touchdowns to help secure the victory.

Under head coach Ryan Beard, who was officially introduced as Missouri State’s head football coach in December 2022, the Bears have achieved notable results in non-conference home games and overall performance metrics. Beard was named CUSA Coach of the Week by CBS Sports pundit Matt Zenitz after MSU's first FBS win at Marshall.

Reflecting on his tenure so far, Beard guided Missouri State to an 8-4 record in their final FCS season in 2024, earning a No. 23 national ranking and producing several all-conference players and All-Americans. Quarterback Jacob Clark finished fourteenth in voting for the Walter Payton FCS Player of the Year award that year.

Beard’s previous experience includes roles as defensive coordinator at Missouri State from 2020 to 2022 and coaching positions at Central Michigan and Louisville before joining MSU.

This season, linebacker Jared "Bird" Lloyd is approaching a career milestone with only eleven tackles needed to reach one hundred total tackles over twenty-one games played. Wide receiver Jmariyae Robinson also needs seven receptions to become just the seventeenth player in program history with one hundred career catches; he currently ranks nineteenth on MSU’s all-time receiving yards list.

Attendance for last week’s home opener against SMU reached over fifteen thousand fans—the largest home crowd during Beard’s time as head coach—and ranked as one of the highest attendances for a home opener in school history.

Missouri State has shown strong offensive production under Beard; when surpassing four hundred yards of total offense under his leadership, they hold an eleven-and-two record. The team has scored first in every game this season so far and continues a streak of scoring multiple touchdowns in most recent home contests.

According to Massey Ratings (https://masseyratings.com/cf/compare.htm), Missouri State faces one of the toughest schedules among FBS programs this year—ranked eighth nationally—and holds top standing within Conference USA for strength of schedule. NatStat (https://natstat.com/rankings.html) lists MoState ninety-sixth out of two hundred twenty-five teams across both FBS and FCS levels based on team context ratings.

Quarterback Jacob Clark has performed well against UT Martin previously, completing sixty-five percent of his passes without any interceptions across two starts versus them.

The current three-game homestand is Missouri State's longest since 2018; over their last twenty-four home games dating back to March 2021, they have posted seventeen wins while regularly scoring thirty or more points per contest.