Murray State
Southeast Missouri State
Racers no match for SEMO
10/29/2005 5:00:00 AM | Football
Chaney was the only bright spot for the Racers who, for the first time since 1992, have lost six straight games and have fallen to 1-7 overall and 0-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference after a 52-21 loss to the Redhawks in front of a homecoming crowd of 8,150 at Houck Stadium in Cape Girardeau.
Chaney, who was a star tailback at Louisville Ballard High School, was called upon after a series of injuries to the Racers' first-, second- and third-string running backs.
"I've only been practicing with the offense for two weeks," said Chaney, who is part of eight MSU players to score their first career touchdowns in the 2005 season. "They had moved me to defense this season, but put me back on offense when everyone started getting hurt."
Early in the game, Chad Cook, the Racers' first running back, left the game with an injured left knee (after he had gained 30 yards on his first three carries), and his backup, Nick Turner, was experiencing back spasms.
Enter Chaney, who had 39 yards rushing on eight carries in the opening half. He continued that good play in the second half, including his first career MSU touchdown and a 40-yard run.
Chaney was pleased with his game, but noted that it doesn't mean much when the team doesn't win.
"We're going to keep fighting," he said. "We're a young team, and our opponents are exposing that. We'll get through this tough time and be better for it in the long run."
In the first four OVC games this season -- all losses -- the Racers had outplayed their opponents, but this time, as in the last four games, they were done in by costly turnovers. Today, the mistakes still made a difference, but the Racers were not dominating the stat sheet.
SEMO dominated play in the third quarter, outscoring MSU 21-0 and keeping possession of the ball for 12:19 of the 15 minutes. MSU has been outscored 101-35 in the third quarter this season. The Redhawks out-gained the Racers 505 to 251 yards, a season-high against the Racers in 2005.
Trailing 14-7 with 13:18 before half, MSU punter Tim Wright tried to corral a bad snap, but Southeast recovered the fumble at the MSU 31 and promptly scored on a seven-yard touchdown run by John Radney to lead 21-7.
On the next MSU play after the kickoff, Ryne Salyer's pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted at the MSU 34. SEMO scored moments later on a 35-yard field goal by Schermann to take a 24-7 lead with 10:19 left before half.
The Racers ended the day surrendering 45 unanswered points in a 52-21 defeat to the Redhawks.
Southeast running back Tim Holloman hit the Racers hard with 181 yards rushing on 31 carries and two touchdowns, the season-high against MSU in 2005 for an individual.
Once Cook and Turner were taken out of the game with their injuries and quarterback Ken Topps missed the entire game with shoulder and rib injuries, the Racers were fighting from the start.
Ryne Salyer started the game and was ineffective most of the day, going 10-for-18 passing for 64 yards, and he was intercepted once.
With the Racers 1-7 overall and 0-5 in the OVC, head coach Joe Pannunzio vows that the team will not quit.
"We lost a lot of our intensity from last week, and I'm disappointed in our effort today," he said. "I never dreamed we would be this down at this point in the season.
“We were never able to make SEMO play under any pressure today. My biggest concern is that up until today, we've been able to play well enough on offense to give our defense a chance, but today we couldn't do anything offensively."
The Racers return home Saturday to face rival Eastern Kentucky in a 3:00 p.m. game at Roy Stewart Stadium.
Game Notes:
When Southeast scored with 9:17 left in the first quarter, it marked the third straight game in which a Murray State opponent has scored on its opening drive of the game.
Stevie Chaney and Jay Burgett both scored their first touchdowns in a Murray State uniform. Chaney had a six-yard run to tie the game at 7-7 in the first quarter. Burgett scored after MSU blocked a SEMO punt in the fourth quarter. The two follow Ken Topps, Jon Eiland, Maurice Marchman, Rod Harper, Ryne Salyer and Dominic Spinks as MSU players who have scored their first MSU TD this season.
Patrick Schultz intercepted his third career pass in the second quarter. He also had an interception last week against Eastern Illinois. Today was the 43rd straight game in which he has been a starter at linebacker.
SEMO's win was their first over MSU since 1992, a string of 12 straight losses to the Racers. The Racers' seven-game win streak in Cape Girardeau is also halted.
MSU has now lost six straight games. Its last win was Sept 17 when the Racers defeated Indiana State 27-15.
