Murray State
Southeast Missouri State
Lane's Big Day Leads Racers Past SEMO For 11th Straight Time
10/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Junior tailback Ron Lane rushed for 130 yards on 34 carries and scored two touchdowns as the Murray State football team knocked off Ohio Valley Conference rival Southeast Missouri 27-24 tonight at Houck Stadium in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
The win is the Racers' 11th straight over the Indians and MSU leads the all-time series with SEMO 33-4-1.
Lane, a native of Bradenton, Fla., scored the second of his two touchdowns with 1:59 left in the game on a 7-yard run to put the Racers in front for good.
The score capped a 45-yard, four play drive for the Racers (3-6, 2-3 OVC) which was set up after the MSU defense forced the Indians to punt on 4th-and-14 from their own 16-yard line. Senior wide out Andrew Nowacki returned the ensuing punt nine yards to the SEMO 45-yard line giving the Racers great field position with 3:30 left in the game.
SEMO (2-6, 2-2 OVC) opened the game's scoring with 9:38 left in the first quarter as Derek Kutz knocked home a 25-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead, but MSU tied things up at 3-3 with :30 seconds left in the quarter as senior placekicker Jesse Ohliger was good from 31 yards out.
After SEMO regained the lead at 10-3 on a Bob Dorsainvil 11-yard run with 14:39 left in the second quarter, MSU tied things up at 10-10 with 9:11 to go in the half on a 2-yard run by freshman tailback Chad Cook. The run was set up after MSU's Heath Wilson blocked an Indian punt and the Racers recovered at the SEMO 2-yard line.
With the game tied at 10-10 at the half, MSU gained its first lead of the game with 12:05 left in the third quarter as Lane rumbled into the end zone for a 6-yard score and a 17-10 margin. The score capped a quick two-play, 8-yard drive which was set up after SEMO's Antonio Scaife fumbled a 50-yard punt by MSU's James Gaither and the Racers' Laroni Gallishaw recovered the loose ball.
The Indians responded to the score by pulling even at 17-17 moments later on an 80-yard run by Chaun Tate with 10:55 to go, and they regained the lead at 24-17 with 4:03 left in the third on a Jamel Oliver 1-yard touchdown run.
MSU's Ohliger pulled the Racers to within 24-20 with 11:47 left in the game with a 24-yard field goal, while the Racer defense shut out the potent SEMO offense over the final 19 minutes setting up the final drive and score for Murray.
MSU's defense, ranked No. 1 nationally in pass defense entering the day, held the strong the SEMO passing attack to just 150 yards through the air, while the Racers' rushing game controlled the tempo with 214 yards on 56 carries. MSU won the time of possession battle holding the ball for 34 minutes, 41 seconds, and the Racers ran 16 more plays than the Indians.
Defensively, senior linebacker Bobby Sanders, MSU's leading tackler on the season, led the team on this night as well with 10 tackles, including 6 solo stops. Junior linebacker Patrick Schultz added seven solo stops.
Up next, the Racers return home to host OVC rival Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 1:30 p.m. at Roy Stewart Stadium.
POST GAME COMMENTS
MSU head coach Joe Pannunzio:
"These guys just kept fighting and never gave up. We kept fighting and scratching all night long, and that's the kind of kids we have in this program. A lot of people have lost hope with this team, but our players and coaches showed a lot of heart tonight against a very hot football team."
"We've replaced our whole offensive line from last year, and it's taken about half the season to get things going, but we made some good strides tonight. We're still not where we want to be, but I'm proud of the effort of those guys up front."
"Our defense really, really stepped up for us tonight. We put them in some bad spots, but they really made some plays, especially there at the end. It was a great effort for everybody."
"This team played its heart out tonight and I couldn't be any happier for them. Ron Lane is like a streak shooter in basketball and tonight was one of those nights where he really got going. Everybody on this team has continued to fight and believe all season long, and it really showed tonight."
"The main thing we can do now is get ready for Eastern Kentucky next week. I know EKU is a big, big game around Murray, and they're a team that we really need to be ready for. We will need all the help we can get from our home crowd, and it should be a lot of fun."
MSU junior tailback Ron Lane:
"I told our offensive line that all I needed was a hole to run through and I'd take care of the rest. Our line did a nice job tonight and I was able to get in the secondary and do some damage."
"All night long, it seemed like when we were in the huddle, everybody just knew we were going to find a way to win this game. We certainly didn't do everything right, but we made the plays when we needed them and our team pulled it out."
