Murray State will face the Ohio Valley Conference leading Eastern Illinois Panthers on Saturday in Charleston, Ill. EIU, ranked No. 17 in NCAA Division I-AA, is off to a 4-3 start to the 2006 season and sits atop the conference standings with a 3-0 mark in league games.
MSU is 1-6 overall and 0-4 in OVC play.
The Racers suffered a 33-7 loss against Samford on Saturday and are still searching for an OVC victory in 2006. The Bulldogs managed just 111 yards of offense and five first downs in the second half against MSU, but the damage was already done. Samford went ahead 7-0 a minute into the game and led 23-0 at halftime.
Six turnovers by the Racers stymied any chance at a comeback. Murray State turned the ball over on four straight possessions, two to end the first half and two to start the second half.
True freshman Charlie Jordan totaled 103 all-purpose yards. The Memphis, Tenn., native picked up 48 yards on the ground and caught a game-high eight passes for 55 yards.
Junior linebacker Nathan Williams turned in his third double digit tackle performance of the season. Williams registered 14 tackles against Samford. Earlier in the season he made 14 stops against Missouri and 17 against Indiana State. Williams leads the OVC, and ranks 14th in NCAA D-IAA, with an average of 10.7 tackles per game.
Freshman Taylor Lanigan earned his first collegiate interception against Samford. The Naples, Fla., native picked off a Jefferson Adcock pass at the MSU two yard line in the first quarter. Lanigan is third on the team with 43 tackles and is tied for second with five tackles for a loss. Lanigan and fellow freshman Tamar Butler are the only two players on the team that have recorded a sack, an interception and a fumble recovery.
Senior running back Chad Cook will miss the Eastern Illinois game as he continues to recover from a sprained knee suffered against Tennessee Tech. Cornerback Derrick Parrott has missed the last two games but is likely to play Saturday against Eastern Illinois.
Eastern Illinois jumped out to a 28-0 first quarter lead against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday and then held on for a 28-21 road victory. Two of the Panthers three losses this season have come against I-A teams (Illinois and Hawaii) and was against a top-5 Illinois State team.
EIU's rushing attack ranks 18th in the nation at 206.4 yards per game. The Panthers average 377.4 yards of total offense per game which is 21st in I-AA. Defensively, Eastern Illinois ranks 97 out of 116 I-AA teams, allowing 387.5 yards per game. However, against OVC teams the Panthers cut more than 100 yards off that total and are allowing 278 yards of total offense, including a mere 98.7 yards on the ground. Conference teams have scored just one rushing touchdown against the Panther defense.
Vincent Webb leads the EIU offensive attack. The senior running back averages 123.4 yards per game, good enough for 12th in I-AA. Webb has 864 yards on the season and is averaging 6.3 yards per carry.
Wide receiver Micah Rucker has caught 33 passes for 674 yards, an average of 20.4 yards per catch.
LeMarcus Rowell earned OVC Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording two sacks to go along with five total tackles, a forced fumble and two quarterback hurries.
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