— By Bill Cornwell

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Missouri State was hoping for a better performance last Saturday night at historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The Bears were making their FBS debut and faced a daunting challenge opposing Southern California, one of the more storied programs in college football.

The outcome was tough to take for the new Conference USA member as USC blasted the Bears, 73-13.

This week, Missouri State comes to Huntington to take on Marshall, which was also soundly defeated in its opener last Saturday at Georgia, 45-7.

The Bears are led by head coach Ryan Beard, who is in his third season guiding the Bear program. Beard was an assistant under former Missouri State head coach Bobby Petrino.

Beard says facing a Herd team with an entirely new coaching staff and 72

See Full Page