Murray State
Indiana State
Racers Fall 17-10 To Indiana State
9/20/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
The Murray State football team saw its eight-game home winning streak come to an end tonight with a 17-10 loss to Indiana State in front of 6,660 fans at Roy Stewart Stadium.
MSU (1-3) had not lost a home game since Oct. 13, 2001 (Eastern Kentucky, 21-13) entering the night, but the Sycamores (2-2) used a steady rushing game and stingy defense to escape Murray with the win.
ISU jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the opening drive of the game marching 80 yards on six plays, capped by a Jake Shields 15-yard touchdown run with 12:49 left in the first quarter.
The Racers answered the early challenge by scoring the next 10 points of the game for a 10-7 halftime margin.
MSU's first points of the night came on a 2-yard touchdown run by freshman tailback Oscar Walker with 12:46 left in the second quarter to cap a 25-yard, four play drive. The scoring drive was set up as MSU junior defensive end Greg Blake recovered a fumble by ISU quarterback Jake Schiff at the Sycamores' 25-yard line.
The Racers took their first lead of the night with :46 seconds to go in the first half as senior place kicker Jesse Ohliger knocked home a 23-yard field goal to cap a 15-play, 90-yard drive and a three-point lead.
After a scoreless third quarter, Indiana State regained the lead for good at 14-10 with 13:40 to go in the game on a 6-yard touchdown run by Kris Karagory to cap a 5-play, 52-yard drive. The drive started after MSU was stopped on fourth-and-one at its own 48-yard line with :17 seconds left in the third quarter.
Sycamores' place kicker Kyle Hooper banged home a 30-yard field goal with 9:05 to go in the game to cap the scoring on the night.
MSU had one last chance to even things up as the Racers regained possession of the ball at the ISU 44-yard line with 3:50 to go and moved inside the Sycamores' 20-yard line before losing the ball on a fumble by Ulysses Odom's with 2:16 left.
ISU earned one final first down and ran out the clock for the win, their second-straight over the Racers. MSU has lost three-straight games overall, its longest such streak since dropping the last two games of the 1998 season (Tennessee State, Indiana State) and the first two games of the 1999 season (Wisconsin, Southern Illinois).
The Sycamores outgained the Racers in total offense 341-260, led by Shields who ran for 196 yards on 24 carries and one touchdown. Junior tailback Ron Lane led a balanced MSU rushing attack with 72 yards on 11 carries, while Odoms added 64 yards on 12 carries.
The Racers finished the evening with 186 yards rushing on 41 carries, while ISU ended the night with 221 yards on 47 carries.
Senior linebacker Bobby Sanders led the Racers' defense with seven tackles and one sack, while Josh Catlett and Patrick Schultz added six tackles each.
Up next, the Racers open their Ohio Valley Conference schedule at Tennessee Tech on Saturday, Sept. 27. Kickoff between the Racers and Golden Eagles is set for 2 p.m. in Cookeville, Tenn.
POST GAME COMMENTS
MSU head coach Joe Pannunzio:
"I'm proud of our football team, they played hard, which is all you can ask. They played the way you're supposed to play this game. We still have a lot of things to clean up, obviously, but at least the heart and effort was there."
"On fourth down, we shouldn't have gone for it, but that's probably not what lost us the game. It was one yard and we'd been moving the ball, I thought we'd get it. In hindsight, we should've punted the ball and if I had it to do over again I would've punted the ball."
"With the field position we had in the first half, we should've put more points on the board than we did. Offensively we made some strides - I thought we ran the ball better - but we're still not real good or consistent. We'll make some personnel moves tomorrow and try to get better."
"It's the same as last year. We're 1-3 and we'll have to go on a bit of a roll if we hope to duplicate what we did last season. But some things are different; we're better defensively than we were last year, but we're not as good on offense, so we'll have to adjust."
"Our biggest problem in the passing game is trying to throw the ball down the field to Deandre (Green). We either miss him or we get spooked in the pocket. I have to watch the film, but we're getting Deandre open down the field a few times a game and we're not getting the ball to him."
"If we keep playing hard like we did tonight we'll win next week. We came in with a different attitude tonight, the kind of attitude we knew we had to have. The best thing about these first four games is that they're all non-conference. Our biggest games on the schedule are the next eight."
ISU Head coach Tim McGuire:
"This is a tough place to play. Their kids play hard and there's a lot of tradition here. We feel fortunate to come out of here with a win. It was a hard-fought game and both teams had a shot to win the game, as you could see."
"Our (defensive) kids came to play in the second half and they made some plays that we had to make to win the game. Those (MSU) running backs are tough and Green is a great player, so you're doing something when you stop them."
"(Pannunzio) knows his guys. They were knocking us off the ball and racking up the yards, so I'm sure they thought they could make a yard. I'm not sure how we stopped them. Maybe somebody just beat somebody else or we got lucky. That happens a lot too in those situations."
