Racers Fall At Eastern Kentucky In Final Road Game Of 2006

Saturday, November 4

Richmond, Ky.

12:00 p.m.

Murray State

Eastern Kentucky

Racers Fall At Eastern Kentucky In Final Road Game Of 2006

11/4/2006 6:00:00 AM | Football

Murray State got two touchdowns and 138 receiving yards from sophomore wide receiver Rod Harper but the Racers (1-9, 0-7 OVC) were beaten 51-21 by Eastern Kentucky today at Roy Kidd Stadium in Richmond, Ky. The Colonels (4-5, 3-3 OVC) got three touchdowns and 92 yards from tailback Mark Dunn.

MSU quarterback Ryne Salyer came in during the second quarter and finished 18-of-24 for 207 yards and two touchdowns.

EKU quarterbacks Josh Greco and Allan Holland combined for 323 yards. Greco finished 11-of-16 for 179 yards. Holland went 6-for-11 for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

Eastern Kentucky scored first after the Colonels took the opening drive and moved 74 yards on eight plays. On the second play of the drive, Greco found tailback Dunn for a 23 yard pass completion. After an illegal procedure penalty moved EKU back five yards, Bobby Washington ripped off a 15 yard run for the first down.

Two plays later Greco hit Quinton Williams with a 40-yard pass down to the MSU 10 yard line. Dunn picked up the final 10 yards with two carries, the second coming from one-yard out for a 7-0 Colonel lead with 11:30 left in the first quarter.

The Racers came right back and answered on their first offensive possession of the game. The EKU kickoff went out of bounds and Murray State started the drive at the 35 yard line.

Senior Dante Woods picked up nine yards on the ground to open the drive. On third down and one yard to go, freshman Josh Jones carried for three yards to move the chains.

From MSU's own 47 yard line, quarterback Zach Barnard took the Racers to the end zone with two passes. The first found tight end Zach Knight for 14 yards and then hooked up with Harper from 39 yards out for the tying touchdown.

Barnard dumped the ball off to Harper on the left side just before being sacked. The sophomore receiver dodged one defender before racing toward the sideline and hitting pay dirt to cap an eight play, 74 yard drive that lasted 3:30.

Eastern Kentucky wasted little time taking back the lead. On the Colonels next drive, Greco completed a third down and eight pass to Patrick Bugg that went for 25 yards. Greco gained 11 yards on two carries on the ground before finding Kyle Barber for 17 yards down to the MSU 25 yard line. On the next play Greco handed off to Dunn and the junior raced to the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.

Murray State was pinned deep in its own territory on the kickoff and after three plays was forced to punt from the five yard line. EKU's Zach Denton got a piece of the kick and the ball went out of the back of the end zone for a safety and a 16-7 Colonel advantage.

EKU made it three offensive possessions and three touchdowns when Holland connected with Bugg for 42 yards with 49 seconds left in the first quarter to extend the home team's lead to 23-7.

The Colonels gained 222 yards of offense on 21 plays in the first quarter. Greco and Holland combined for 159 yards through the air. The Racers totaled 75 yards on nine plays.

The Eastern Kentucky offense was stopped for the first time with 9:51 remaining in the second quarter.

Barnard was intercepted on the Racers next possession, but MSU cornerback Koji Farrington stopped the Colonels from extending the lead when he picked off Greco in the end zone.

With Salyer under center, Murray State capitalized on the EKU turnover.

Salyer moved the ball 19 yards with a completion to Knight to start the drive and then found Knight again for nine yards to move to the MSU 48 yard line. Jones picked up nine yards on back-to-back carries before Salyer threw his third straight completion, this time finding Shane McCleskey for 13 yards.

After a roughing the passer penalty gave Murray State the ball at the EKU 12-yard line, Salyer found Harper in the back of the end zone to cut the Colonel lead to 23-14.

Salyer completed 5-of-6 passes on the drive for 53 yards.

Eastern Kentucky came right back. Davin Walker returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards and Steven Sizemore converted the two-point conversion for a 31-14 advantage.

Murray State got a 63 yard return of its own from Derrick Parrott on the kickoff and had the ball at the EKU 36 yard line with 2:22 left before halftime. The Racer offense could only pick up seven yards and was stopped on fourth and three.

Greco was 6-for-11 in the first half for 114 yards. Dunn and Washington combined for 69 yards on 13 carries.

The Racers came out of the locker room at halftime looking to cut into the lead. Salyer drove the team down to the EKU 31 yard line on the opening drive of the second half but the progress stalled and MSU turned the ball over on downs.

Jones carried the ball 11 yards on the first two plays of the drive and then picked up six more yards two plays later. On third down and nine, Salyer hooked up with Woods for 26 yards to move into EKU territory. Jones picked up another 10 yards on the next play before the drive stalled.

Dunn scored for the third time on a 43-yard run with 4:26 remaining in the third quarter that put the Colonels out in front 37-14.

The Racers put together another drive but a fumble by Salyer at the EKU 26 yard line stopped a scoring opportunity.

Greco extended the lead to 44-14 when he found Barber for a 43-yard touchdown pass with 9:45 left in the game.

The Racers put together one more scoring drive. Jones picked up 15 yards on back-to-back carries to get things started. Salyer then connected with Harper for 57 yards down the left sideline to carry MSU to the EKU 30 yard line. Salyer's next two passes found their targets. The first went for nine yards to McCleskey, the second found Jones for seven more yards.

Jones picked up two yards on the ground before Salyer finished it off with a 2-yard touchdown pass to DeAngelo Nelson with 6:16 left in the game.

Jones finished with 60 yards on 13 carries. Charlie Jordan added 52 yards on 10 carries.

The Colonels had one more scoring big play before time ran out. Holland connected with Washington for a 46-yard touchdown pass to set the final score at 51-21.

EKU finished with 495 yards of offense while the Racers totaled 372.

The Racers will have a week off before closing out the 2006 season at home against Tennessee-Martin on Nov. 18. Kickoff at Stewart Stadium in Murray, Ky., is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.