Murray State University Athletics
Record-Breaking Performance Earns Ehrhardt Two Weekly OVC Honors
11/4/2007 5:00:00 AM | Football
After becoming the first Murray State quarterback to pass for over 300 yards and rush for over 100 yards in the same game, redshirt freshman quarterback Jeff Ehrhardt was named the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week, as well as the league's Newcomer of the Week for the week of Nov. 4, announced the league office on Sunday. It is the third OVC honor in the last two weeks for Ehrhardt after earning co-newcomer honors last week.
Ehrhardt (St. Louis, Mo.) earned both honors after going 36-for-46 for 330 yards and two touchdowns against Tennessee State. He also carried the ball 30 times for 104 yards and a touchdown. The 36 completions is a new MSU record, breaking the old record of 35 set by Justin Fuente against Southern Illinois in 1999. It is also the first time a Racer quarterback has passed for 300 yards in back-to-back games since Fuente ended the 1999 season with three-straight 300-yard performances. His 104 yards rushing mark just the third time a Racer quarterback has gone over the century mark on the ground in 27 years.
The 300/100 performance by Ehrhardt is first by an OVC quarterback since Ray Nelson of Samford did it during the 2004 season. Ehrhardt is also the fifth quarterback in the FCS reach this mark in 2006, joining Rhett Bomar (Sam Houston State), Duran Lawson (The Citadel), Jonathan Dally (Cal Poly) and Cameron Higgins (Weber State). His 434 yards against TSU is the 23rd best performance in the FCS this season.
Ehrhardt spread the ball around as he connected with 10 different receivers with running back Josh Jones hauling in a team-high eight passes. Ehrhardt got the Racers on the board in the second quarter as he connected on a 31-yard TD pass to receiver Rod Harper. Ehrhardt took it upon himself to score the second touchdown for the Racers as he took on a pair of defenders at the goaline to dive into the endzone. He would close out the scoring in the fourth quarter by hitting Marcus Harris on an 11-yard connection.
On the season, Ehrhardt is 192-for-321 for 2,087 yards, 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He is the OVC leader in completions, touchdown passes, yards, yards a game (231.9) and total offense (270.6). He needs two touchdown passes to tie Stewart Childress for the MSU record for TD passes by a freshman.
The Racers return to the field on Nov. 10 when they travel to take on UT Martin. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. at Hardy Graham Stadium.
