Saturday’s 115-play intrasquad scrimmage at Plaster Field offered a glimpse of the future for the Missouri State football Bears. Highlighting the two-hour morning session were a series of highlight-reel plays from the Bears’ new-look offense, which racked up 502 passing yards and four scoring strikes through the air.
Freshman Tre Kelley enjoyed a strong debut effort, totaling six catches for 160 receiving yards, thanks in large part to a pair of long touchdown receptions. Early in the scrimmage, Kelley hauled in an Ashton Glaser pass at his own 45 yard line and raced to pay dirt for a 75-yard touchdown. He also hooked up with sophomore signal caller Kierra Harris on a 52-yard strike later in the day.
The Bears’ four quarterbacks looked comfortable in the retooled MSU offensive attack, combining to go 37-of-66 through the air, as 15 different receivers recorded at least one catch. Harris was an efficient 16-of-20 for 221 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 17 yards. Glaser, meanwhile, led four different scoring drives and racked up 248 yards by completing 16-of-30 passes, three of which went the distance for touchdowns. The junior transfer hooked up with senior Cadarrius Dotson on a 66-yard strike and sophomore Eric Christophel for a three-yard score in the red zone portion of the scrimmage.
Dotson also turned in a solid day, finishing with four receptions for 99 yards, while senior Adrian Williams and junior Dorian Buford combined for nine catches and 63 yards.
On the ground, the Bears got a team-high 51 yards on nine carries from freshman Cedric Miller II, and two rushing TDs by junior Mikael Cooper-Falls. In all, MSU totaled 120 rushing yards on 49 attempts.
With the offense doing its fair share of damage, the defense stepped up its game late in the session to record four of its five takeaways in the final 20 plays. Junior defensive back Zac Rasmussen and senior linebacker Nate Davis each picked off a pass, and Bear defenders totaled seven sacks and broke up six passes on the day. Additionally, the MSU defense recovered three fumbles.
On special teams, sophomore kicker Marcelo Bonani converted all four PAT attempts, and junior Austin Witmer booted a 40-yard field goal.
SCORING PLAYS:
Mikael Cooper-Falls 1 run (PAT failed)
Tre Kelley 75 pass from Ashton Glaser (Marcelo Bonani kick)
Cadarrius Dotson 66 pass from Ashton Glaser (PAT blocked)
Cedric Miller II 5 run (Marcelo Bonani kick)
Tre Kelley 52 pass from Kierra Harris (Austin Witmer kick)
Mikael Cooper-Falls 1 run (Marcelo Bonani kick)
Austin Witmer 40 FG
Eric Christophel 3 pass from Ashton Glaser (Marcelo Bonani kick)
OFFENSE STATISTICS
RUSHING (49-120):Cedric Miller II 9-51; Ryan Heaston 6-28; Benny Jones 5-22 ;Josh Mattes 7-18; Kierra Harris 7-17; Vernon Scott 1-9; Mikael Cooper-Falls 6-7; Alex Lawson 1-0; Ashton Glaser 6-(-16); Team 1-3;
PASSING (66-37-2, 502, 4 TD): Ashton Glaser 30-16-1, 248 (3 TD); Kierra Harris 20-16-0, 221 (1 TD); Brodie Lambert 11-3-1, 24; Alex Lawson 5-2-0, 9.
RECEIVING (37-502): Tre Kelley 6-160 (2 TD); Dorian Buford 5-26; Adrian Williams 4-37; Eric Christophel 3-44 (TD); Cadarrius Dotson 4-99 (TD); Stacey Thornton 3-15; Matt Swan 3-12; Vernon Scott 2-45; Matt Thayer 2-18; Eric Brown 1-15; Ryan Heaston 1-11; Cedric Miller II 1-8; Marvell Saffold 1-7; Richard Darden 1-3; Mikael Cooper-Falls 1-2.
DEFENSIVE STATISTICS:
PBU (6): Jeremiah Plowden 2; Christian Hoffman 1, Rodney Kelly 1, Geoff Stanford 1, Team 1.
Interceptions (2): Zac Rasmussen 1; Nate Davis 1; Sacks (7- [-28]); Fumbles Forced/Recovered (3/3).