Murray State
Tennessee-Martin
Lane Rushes For Career-High 201 Yards To Lead Racers Past UTM 41-27
11/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Junior tailback Ron Lane rushed for a career-high 201 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns to lead the Murray State football team to a 41-27 Ohio Valley Conference road victory over Tennessee-Martin tonight at Hardy Graham Stadium.
Lane, a native of Bradenton, Fla., led the MSU offense which ground out its most productive game of the season gaining 510 total yards, including 335 yards rushing.
Held in check in the first half, Lane got rolling over the final 30 minutes gaining 166 yards on 14 carries, including both scores. The 200-yard performance is the first by an MSU runner since Billy Blanchard gained 235 yards against UTM in 2001.
After the game was tied at 13-13 at halftime, UTM moved back in front at 20-13 as quarterback Brady Wahlberg found Justin Glover for a 46-yard touchdown pass.
MSU (4-7, 3-4 OVC) answered the Skyhawk touchdown by scoring the next 28-straight points to take command. The Racers evened things up at 20-20 when Lane rumbled into the end zone from 40 yards out with 8:56 to go in the third quarter.
Murray gained the lead for good at 27-20 when sophomore quarterback Stephen Hatchell found senior wide receiver Andrew Nowacki wide open in the middle of the field for a 43-yard touchdown with 4:46 left in the third. Nowacki led the Racers with 61 yards on four catches.
Lane pushed the Racers' lead out to 34-20 with 12:54 to go in the game as he scored from 1-yard out. The scoring drive, which covered 11 yards on two plays and ran just :26 seconds off the game clock, was set up after MSU junior linebacker Patrick Schultz sacked Wahlberg knocking the ball away which sophomore lineman Ronald Samuel recovered.
MSU put the game away for good with 4:22 left as Hatchell was able to score on a 3-yard run for a 41-20 lead. The scoring drive was set up when senior linebacker Bobby Sanders intercepted Wahlberg at the Skyhawks' 35-yard line.
Hatchell, starting his seventh game of the season, finished the day 14-of-25 passing for 175 yards. He found senior wide out Deandre Green for a 10-yard touchdown pass in the first half to go along with his rushing score in the second half.
The Skyhawks (2-10, 1-7 OVC) added a final touchdown with :12 seconds left in the game for the final margin.
Four of the Racers' six touchdown drives required less than two minutes off the game clock, while the longest scoring drive was just 3 minutes, 14 seconds.
The MSU defense held UTM's Wahlberg in-check most of the night as he rushed for just 11 yards on 19 carries after gaining over 100 yards in his last outing against Eastern Kentucky last Saturday.
Schultz led the MSU defense with 13 tackles, including 10 solo stops and one tackle for loss. The Racers allowed just 334 yards of total offense to UTM, including only 50 yards rushing on 35 carries.
The win is the Racers' 11th straight over the Skyhawks.
Up next, the Racers close out the 2003 season at home against Tennessee State on Saturday, Nov. 22. Kickoff between the Racers and Tigers is set for 1:30 p.m. at Roy Stewart Stadium.
POST GAME COMMENTS
MSU head coach Joe Pannunzio:
"Any win is a good win right now. If we can win next week, we would have won three of our last four to close the season, so hopefully we can get this thing heading north."
"We finally got some things going in the second half. I think the big play was the pass to Andrew (Nowacki). Stephen (Hatchell) did a great job of standing in there and hitting Andrew. Then, we were able to start running the ball like we wanted to all season."
"I'm really pleased with our running game. They (UTM) put eight men in the box and dare you to run the ball and I think that's the first time since I've been here that we were able to run against an eight-man front."
"I thought the key on defense was putting pressure on (UTM quarterback Brady) Wahlberg. He's a good quarterback and has had a great year, but I think we got to him and never let him get away from us."
Junior QB Stephen Hatchell:
"In the first half, we were just missing on some plays. Once we started hitting those, things turned around for us. When you make plays on offense, things get pretty easy for you. I know I felt more comfortable tonight than any game this season."
Junior TB Ron Lane:
"That was a big win for us because we want to go out on a good note and get some momentum for next season. Martin's much better than they were last year and it took us a while to get going. But our offensive line really blocked well, and we got some big plays. It felt good to finally get some big plays on offense."
