Allen has Missouri St. on rebound this season

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — Missouri State’s Terry Allen is coming off his first losing season as a head coach in the Gateway Football Conference.

Allen, in his second season at Missouri State, was 2-9 last year, including a 1-6 mark in the Gateway. The Bears have already bettered last year’s win total with their 3-1 start this year.

Allen, who brings the Bears to Stambaugh Stadium Saturday for a 6 p.m. kickoff in the conference opener, spent 16 seasons at Northern Iowa as a player and coach.

From 1989-96 Allen never had a losing season with the Panthers and in seven years his teams either won or shared the Gateway championship.

He was at Kansas for five years, going 20-33, the spent four years at Iowa State as the assistant head coach.

Last year he returned to the Gateway with the Bears and struggled.

“It was a long, tough season, but it was one that saw this team grow and hopefully get back to respectability in the conference,” Allen said.

Top offensive team

This season the Bears are one of the top offensive teams in the Football Championship Subdivision, averaging 451.5 yards and 41 points a game.

They rolled over Missouri-Rolla 62-17 in the opener and then beat a good Tennessee-Martin team, which was ranked No. 16 in the FCS, 51-44. After taking a pounding against Kansas State 61-10, the Bears bounced back to defeat Central Arkansas, 42-38.

“Offense has not been our problem this year, but stopping anybody has been,” Allen said.

The Bears are allowing 464 yards and 40 points per game.

Freshman quarterback

One of the big surprises for the Bears has been the play of freshman quarterback Cody Kirby.

The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Kirby started for the first time last week against Central Arkansas. He passed for 247 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores, and was named conference player of the week.

Sophomore Matt Krapfl, who started the first three games, had thrown for three touchdowns and 374 yards.

Kirby is also third on the team in rushing with 130 yards on 27 carries. The leader is senior tailback Gerald Davis, who has 342 yards on 61 attempts and six touchdowns.

The Bears have three receivers with more than 10 catches, led by senior wide receiver Eric Davis with 19, while senior wide receiver Tamarkus McElvane has 15 and three of them have been for touchdowns, including a 61-yarder.

Defensively, senior linebacker Jeron Poole (6-1, 240) is the top tackler with 38, including two for losses, while junior defensive tackle Chris Brehmer (6-5, 270) leads the team with five tackles for losses and two sacks.

The Bears have an excellent placekicker in senior Nathan Stokes, who is 4-for-4 in field goals and 21-of-22 in extra points.

Struggled against Penguins

The Bears are 1-10 all-time against Youngstown State. Allen is 1-2 against the Penguins. YSU beat Northern Iowa 19-7 in the NCAA semifinals in 1994, but lost to the Panthers in a regular season game in 1996. Both of those games were at the UNIDome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Last year YSU soundly defeated the Bears 37-10 in Springfield, Mo.

“We are definitely going to have to play better defensively this week or we could be facing another long wild contest,” Allen said. “We have to be at our best on both sides of the football.”

mollica@vindy.com