Missouri State Bears’ rally falls short as Arkansas State wins Xbox Bowl in Texas
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Missouri State rallied from a 24-7 halftime deficit but lost 34-28.
- Jacob Clark went 25-for-25 for 349 yards and four touchdowns despite nine sacks.
- Bears incurred 115 penalty yards; Arkansas State amassed 110, affecting game flow.
In the final few minutes, after a chaotic week, the Missouri State Bears appeared to have a comeback cooking in the inaugural Xbox Bowl against Arkansas State on Thursday night in Frisco, Texas.
Making their first FBS bowl appearance, the Bears had trailed the Red Wolves 24-7 at halftime but battled back to within a touchdown, 34-28, with less than 2 minutes remaining. A long shot, but certainly not an insurmountable situation.
After all, the Bears played in seven games decided by seven or fewer points this season. They’d made competing for the full 60 minutes a core part of their identity.
“It was the story of this team the whole year,” interim head coach Nick Petrino said. “We never give up, never are out of a fight.”
Within a TD, Missouri State needed to successfully recover an onside kick ... and that’s where the Bears’ rally lost steam. Arkansas State came up with the ball and 34-28 became the final score.
Bears quarterback Jacob Clark threw touchdown passes to Dash Luke and Jmariyae Robinson within the final 5 minutes of the game. He finished 25 of 25 for 349 yards and four touchdowns, but Arkansas State sacked the Texas native a painful nine times.
Of making a game of it down the stretch, Clark said, “I think it’s kind of just the character of our football team.”
Hailing from Rockwall, near Dallas, Clark completes his college career with 7,628 passing yards (including his one season at Minnesota in 2019).
“It means a lot,” Clark said. “I got tired to a point of everyone talking like, ‘Could have left, could have left,’ but I came back to this school because I love my teammates and love the university and love the city of Springfield.
“I wanted to be the leader in this transition and do something special and come back 10, 20 years from now and know that I helped set the foundation for the university with a lot of the guys on the team.”
Clark sounded off a bit about the transfer portal and opt-outs, lamenting the fact that multiple players didn’t participate in Thursday night’s bowl. Petrino said some players missed the game for “academic” reasons but did not elaborate.
“It’s just the state of college football nowadays,” Clark said. “Something needs to be fixed with guys opting out of games ... It’s just how it is, and guys have to step up.”
As for the outcome of the Xbox Bowl, Clark shouldered blame.
“I could have done a better job at trusting them and still delivering the football down the field at times,” he said, “but it’s just the nature of bowl games these days. Something needs to get figured out so you can have your whole entire team play. That’d be fun.”
Red Wolves quarterback Jaylen Raynor threw for 288 yards with three touchdowns. His top target was Arkansas State senior Corey Rucker — six catches for 166 yards and a TD.
Flags flew all evening, in both directions. The Bears were assessed a season-high 115 yards on 14 penalties; Arkansas State had 10 penalties for 110 yards.
By Thursday, it had already been a long week for the Bears. Head coach Ryan Beard took the head coaching job at Coastal Carolina, so MSU offensive coordinator Petrino — son of longtime college coach Bobby Petrino — was interim head coach against Arkansas State.
“I thought it was a great game,” Petrino said. “Obviously we didn’t come out in the first half how we wanted it to — we wanted to get a little more stops on defense in the first half. ... I was really proud of our team and how they came out in the second half. They came out and competed their (tails) off.”
Petrino went into the bowl matchup with a “business as usual” attitude. And now, with business officially concluded for the 2025 season, the Bears can fully turn their attention to 2026. Their next head coach is expected to be named on Friday.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that MSU is finalizing a deal with SMU offensive coordinator Casey Woods to become Missouri State’s next head coach. While at SMU, Woods was part of the Mustangs’ run to the College Football Playoff in 2024. SMU’s offense averaged 37.8 points per game under Woods’ direction that season.
Woods’ hire is said to be pending Friday morning’s Missouri State Board of Governors meeting. It would be the first head coaching job for Woods, 42, whose previous career stops include assistant coach’s roles at Missouri, UAB and Auburn.
This story was originally published December 19, 2025 at 12:15 AM.
