The Missouri State Bears football statistical leaders are individual statistical leaders of the Missouri State Bears football program in various categories, [1] including passing, rushing, receiving, total offense, defensive stats, and kicking. Within those areas, the lists identify single-game, single-season, and career leaders. The Bears represent Missouri State University in the NCAA Division I FBS Conference USA.
Contents
- Passing
- Passing yards
- Passing touchdowns
- Rushing
- Rushing yards
- Rushing touchdowns
- Receiving
- Receptions
- Receiving yards
- Receiving touchdowns
- Total offense
- Total offense yards
- Defense
- Interceptions
- Tackles
- Sacks
- Kicking
- Field goals made
- References
Although Missouri State began competing in intercollegiate football in 1909, [1] the school's official record book considers the "modern era" to have begun in 1949. Records from before this year are often incomplete and inconsistent, and they are generally not included in these lists.
These lists are dominated by more recent players for several reasons:
- Since 1949, seasons have increased from 10 games to 11 and then 12 games in length.
- The NCAA didn't allow freshmen to play varsity football until 1972 (with the exception of the World War II years), allowing players to have four-year careers.
- Missouri State played in the second level of Division I football, known before 2006 as Division I-AA and since then as Division I FCS, from 1981 to 2024. While regular seasons at that level would not expand to the FBS limit of 12 games until the 2026 season, normally being restricted to 11, two aspects of FCS rules have allowed for more games.
- The NCAA organizes an FCS championship tournament, currently called the NCAA Division I Football Championship. The Bears reached the FCS playoffs 4 times, playing 5 games, between 1981 and 2024. The NCAA did not count I-AA/FCS playoff games toward official season statistics until 2002 (the same season that it first counted FBS bowl games toward official season statistics), and most programs that played at this level follow this practice. Missouri State played in only two playoff games after 2001 (one each in the 2020 and 2021 seasons).
- Additionally, pre-2026 NCAA rules allowed FCS teams to schedule 12 regular-season games in years when the period starting with the Thursday before Labor Day and ending with the final Saturday in November contains 14 Saturdays.
- Since 2018, players in both FBS and FCS have been allowed to participate in as many as four games in a redshirt season; previously, playing in even one game "burned" the redshirt. [2] Since 2024, postseason games have not counted against the four-game limit. [3] These changes to redshirt rules have given very recent players several extra games to accumulate statistics.
- Due to COVID-19 issues, the NCAA ruled that the 2020 season would not count against the athletic eligibility of any football player, giving everyone who played in that season the opportunity for five years of eligibility instead of the normal four. [4]
These lists are updated through the end of the 2025 regular season. Players active for Missouri State in 2025 are in bold.