COLUMBIA, MO. • For about 10 minutes Saturday in Springfield, Mo., Dave Steckel’s Missouri State Bears led the No. 1 team in the Football Championship Subdivision. A 3-0 advantage over North Dakota State didn’t last long. The five-time defending national champion Bison prevailed 27-3, but Steckel’s second season at Missouri State has been nothing short of a rapid turnaround through five weeks of the regular season.
The former Missouri defensive coordinator took over the Bears’ fledging program last year and it was a woeful debut season. The Bears went 1-10 and were arguably the worst team in the FCS.