Murray State University Athletics
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Murray State Gets Back Into OVC Play With Home Game Against Tennessee Tech
9/28/2006 5:00:00 AM | Football
Murray
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The 1986 squad finished 7-4-1 and captured the Ohio Valley Conference championship under head coach Frank Beamer.
The 1996 team, led by head coach Houston Nutt, lost just one regular season game, put together a 11-game winning streak, finished undefeated in the OVC for the second straight year and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA D-IAA playoffs.
Murray State opened the home portion of its 2006 schedule against sixth ranked Illinois State last Saturday. The Racers came from two touchdowns down to tie the game, 14-14, at halftime but two costly turnovers in the opening minutes of the third quarter allowed the Redbirds to push out in front 28-14. ISU tacked on another score for the 35-14 victory.
The Racers will attempt to get the ground game back on track against Tech. Last week MSU finished with just 28 rushing yards against Illinois State, but two weeks ago the Racers ran for 335 yards against Indiana State.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Zach Barnard had his first 200-yard performance of his collegiate career. Barnard finished the night against
Sophomore Rod Harper caught seven of Barnard's passes for 78 yards, including a touchdown catch.
Chad Cook, the key to the Racers ground attack finished with 51 yards on 15 carries against the Redbirds. Cook did not score and still sits in fourth place on MSU's all-time touchdown list. He did move into seventh place on the all-time rushing list. He needs 123 yards to break into the top five.
Senior captain J.R. Webber finished with 15 tackles against ISU, all of which were solo stops. Dominic Spinks picked up his third interception of the season and finished with eight tackles against Illinois State.
The Golden Eagles picked up their first win of the season against the Colonels in Cookeville, Tenn., on Thursday, Sept. 21.
Last season when Tech and MSU met in Cookeville, TTU quarterback Stephen Britton tossed five touchdown passes while completing 14-of-18 passes for 211 yards. Britton has only played in one game and attempted one pass this season. He has been replaced by redshirt freshman Lee Sweeney, who transferred from the University of Louisville before the spring semester.
Sweeney has completed 51-of-97 passes for 612 yards and four touchdowns but he has thrown seven interceptions.
The Golden Eagles have split carries on the ground between Anthony Ash and Derek White. Ash has rushed 56 times for 252 yards (4.5 avg.) and four touchdowns while White has 154 yards on 49 carries (3.1 avg.). Ash had 110 yards on 16 carries against EKU. Larry Shipp leads the team with 16 catches for 255 yards and three touchdowns.
Freshman linebacker Aaron Williams leads the team with 28 tackles, including 6.5 stops for a loss. He earned OVC Defensive Player of the Week honors this week after recording 11 tackles and recovering a fumble against
