Murray State
Eastern Kentucky
EKU Holds Off Racers For 38-20 Win
11/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Murray State battled to stay in the game against Eastern Kentucky for two and a half quarters, but just when it looked like the Racers might come back from 18 points down and notch a victory, the rug was pulled out from under them.
Or, as MSU head coach Joe Pannunzio put it afterwards, the Racers tripped over it.
"It's been a tough year and I guess this game typifies it," Pannunzio said after his team fell 38-20 Saturday at home to Eastern Kentucky. "We had a chance to go ahead, but you can't turn the ball over like we did. I don't know how many turnovers we had, but it had to be a record."
Actually, the turnovers were even on the day at four apiece, but it just seemed like the Racers had more because of the time in which they were committed.
MSU (3-7, 2-4 OVC), which trailed by 18 on two different occasions, pulled within four points after scoring 14 points in just one minute, 15 seconds in the third quarter. Laroni Gallishaw followed a 22-yard Deandre Green touchdown reception with a 54-yard interception return for a touchdown to cut EKU's lead to 24-20.
With momentum on their side, the Racers forced an EKU punt on its next possession, but Colonel cornerback Tremayne Perkins stepped in front of a (Racer quarterback) Stephen Hatchell pass and the interception stopped a potential lead-taking scoring drive in its tracks.
MSU survived that turnover and forced yet another punt, but on its next possession the Racers again were stopped by an EKU interception by George Taylor at midfield. This time, EKU closed the door with a 49-yard scoring pass two plays later to go up 31-20 with 9:49 to play in the game.
EKU (4-5, 3-2 OVC), which rushed for 222 yards, hammered away at the Racer defense the remainder of the fourth quarter and tacked on a final TD with a one-yard run to make it 38-20. Both EKU tailbacks went over the 100-yard mark, as senior Terry Ennis rushed 19 times for 123 yards and a TD, and junior C.J. Hudson rushed 25 times for 113 yards and a score.
"When you lose, you lose as a team," said Pannunzio. "We turned the ball over, played bad special teams and let them run the ball on us. That's part of Football 101: don't turn the ball over and don't let them run the ball on you. We violated both of those rules today."
Like the 2,794 Racer fans who turned out on the beautiful fall Saturday, Pannunzio thought the Racers had turned the tide when Gallishaw raced into the end zone with the interception return.
"We've been waiting for that all season. We've got two good cornerbacks who can make those type of plays," said Pannunzio, refering to Gallishaw and fellow cornerback Michael Hanley, who also added an interception in the game. "I thought when Laroni returned that interception for a touchdown we were going to win it. I thought the momentum was on our side.
"But you have to credit Eastern Kentucky. I think they're the second-best team in this league behind Jacksonville State. I haven't seen Tennessee State yet, but Eastern Kentucky has to be right up there with those two."
Murray State ran into a typical EKU defense on Saturday. While Hatchell was able to throw for a career-high 327 yards and a touchdown, the Racers could only manage 56 yards on the ground. MSU, which rushed for over 200 yards last week against Southeast Missouri, saw its string of 100-yard rushing performances stopped at two games. In fact, Hatchell led the Racer rushing attack with 29 yards.
"We're beat up on the offensive line and inexperienced, but most of it is their defense," Pannunzio said when asked about the Racers' inability to run the ball. "They put a lot of guys on the line and force you to make plays down the field, which we weren't able to do.
"I'm not going to make excuses, we're just not playing well right now."
Saturday's game started in familiar fashion for the Racers, as EKU took advantage of good field position to take a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on scoring drives of 26 and 40 yards, repectively. Eastern would go up 21-3 at halftime, but Racer senior Jesse Ohliger drilled his second field goal to pull MSU within 21-6 before the Racers' rallied with the 14-point barrage late in the third quarter.
Though EKU scored 28 points (14 each) in the first and fourth quarters, the Racer defense was solid in middle portion of the game. Despite giving up a season-high 447 yards to the Colonels, the Racer defense forced four EKU turnovers and sacked Eastern quarterback Matt Guice seven times.
Racer defensive end Marcus White recorded four sacks on the day to lead the Racers. Junior defensive end Dory Brown added two sacks and a forced fumble, while linebackers Patrick Schultz and Dylan Evans each had one sack. Junior inside linebacker Rohan Godson led the Racers with 10 tackles and a fumble recovery. Hanley's first-half interception was his team-leading fourth on the season.
Hatchell, despite throwing two interceptions, had his best day of his career. En route to the 327 yards, Hatchell was 26-of-46 with one TD.
"He's fighting his butt of for us," Pannunzio said of the Racer sophomore QB. "He's a gutsy kid that takes a lot of shots but keeps getting up. He's going to be OK because he's getting better each week."
Senior wideout Deandre Green led the Racer receiving corps with seven catches for 141 yards and a TD. Andrew Nowacki finished with seven catches for 67 yards and sophomore Terrence Biggers had the best day of his young career with five catches for 64 yards, including a 48-yard reception which set up the Racers' second field goal.
"Terrence Biggers really stepped up for us today," said Pannunzio. "We've been looking for someone else to step up and give us a spark on offense and he did that today."
In addition to his two field goals (30 and 35 yards), Ohliger also had an excellent day punting as he subbed for starter James Gaither who was injured in the first half. Ohliger, a transfer from Miami (Fla.) finished the day with four punts for a 59.8 yards per punt average.
The Racers will be off next week before taking on Tennessee-Martin on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 6:00 p.m. in Martin.
"I know one thing, we got what we needed: an off-week," said Pannunzio.
"We've got to get guys healthy and finish up strong these last two games. We're not going to quit fighting. We're going to geat healed up and find a way to win two games."
Following the game at UT Martin, the Racers host Tennessee State on Saturday, Nov. 22 in the season finale at Roy Stewart Stadium.
