Racers Ready To Go To Work Against #6 Illinois State

Murray State University's football team finally gets to play a home game in 2006. After starting the campaign with three straight road games, Murray State will open the home portion of its 2006 schedule on Saturday at Stewart Stadium against No. 6 Illinois State University. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

“Practice went well this week,” said Murray State Head Coach Matt Griffin. “The effort all year has been pretty consistent. We have a heck of an opportunity here, an unbelievable opponent, and we'll try to take advantage of it.”

Under Griffin the Racers have taken up a blue-collar work ethic. To remind the team of this, the seniors place a shovel and hard hat next to the field for each practice and game.

“It just represents hard work, blue collar worker,” said senior captain J.R. Webber. “You think of blue collar, you think of a construction worker. We bring it out and we touch it on the way out and touch it on the way in every practice just as a reminder of what we are and what we have to do.”

MSU earned its first win of the season, and the first win of the Griffin era, last Saturday when the team beat Indiana State, 59-40. The Racers racked up 514 yards of total offense against the Sycamores, more than Murray State had in its first two games combined.

“We had a really good week of practice this week,” Webber said. “Having a win under our belt gives us a little more confidence. We were really focused this week knowing we have a really good team coming here for a home game.”

Senior running back Chad Cook will lead the Racers' offensive attack. After rushing for 223 yards and scoring three touchdowns against Indiana State Cook was named Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Cook also moved into second place in the Ohio Valley Conference, and 16th in NCAA D-IAA, with an average of 116.7 yards per game.

Illinois State, ranked sixth in the Sports Network poll and in the College Sporting News coaches poll, nearly upset NCAA D-IA Kansas State in the season opener before falling 24-23. The Redbirds are coming off a 44-30 victory over No. 18 Eastern Illinois.

“They are one of the top teams in the country,” said senior offensive lineman Johnathan Harper. “It's our first chance this season to play in front of our home fans with coach Griffin and we just want to come out and play our best.”

ISU ranks 10th in NCAA D-IAA in passing, 19th in total offense and 34th in total defense.

The Redbirds' offensive attack centers around quarterback Luke Drone who has thrown for 769 yards and seven touchdowns while throwing only one interception in 102 pass attempts.

Pierre Rembert leads the ground attack. He averages 116.3 yards per game and has scored two touchdowns. Pierre Jackson is fifth in the nation with an average of 111 receiving yards per game. He has caught 18 passes including three touchdown tosses.

Derrick Parrott, J.R. Webber and Nathan Williams will be charged with leading the Racers' defense against ISU's offense.

Parrott did a little of everything to help the Racers earn their first win of the season and as a result was selected as the Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week after the Indiana State game. Parrott sealed the victory for MSU when he forced a fumble in the fourth quarter and then picked it up and raced 25 yards to the end zone. The junior also blocked an extra point attempt, had two pass breakups and recorded nine tackles.

Webber and Williams lead the team in tackles. Webber has 28 stops to go along with an interception and a fumble recovery. Williams leads the team with 36 tackles and ranks ninth in NCAA D-IAA. He recorded 17 tackles last week against the Sycamores.

Camero Siskowic leads the Illinois State defense and the nation in tackles. The senior linebacker was a third team All-American and a Buck Buchanan Award finalist in 2005. He has 45 tackles through three games in 2006.

Illinois State Head Coach Denver Johnson served as the head coach at Murray State for three seasons (1997-99) before taking over the ISU program in 2000. Johnson led the Racers to a 21-12 record. Saturday's game marks the second time Johnson has returned to Stewart Stadium as the visiting coach. He brought his Redbird squad to Murray in 2001 and fell, 32-17, to the Racers.

ISU has another Murray State connection. The Redbirds' offensive coordinator, Justin Fuente, was a record setting quarterback for the Racers in 1998 and 1999. He still holds MSU records for pass attempts in a season (400), completions in a season (240), best passing efficiency in a season (151.21), most passing yards in a game (553) and a season (3,497), and touchdowns in a season (27). In 1999 Fuente was named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year.

Murray State University Athletics

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