Murray State University Athletics
The Opener Almost Here - Murray State vs Louisville
8/28/2007 5:00:00 AM | Football
The Murray State Racers open the 2007 season with a game at Papa John's Stadium against the Louisville Cardinals. The game finds the Racers gaining momentum under second year head coach Matt Griffin. He began his first season with a roster of 58 freshmen and sophomores and only 24 upperclassmen. Many of those underclassmen found themselves playing key rolls throughout 2006. The 2007 squad is even younger as
     The good news is while the team is young, many of the players who were starters in 2006 are back in 2007. The Racers have eight returning starters on the offensive side of the ball and nine starters returning to the defense.
     The Racers had a tight battle at the quarterback spot during last spring's drills and during the fall camp. Redshirt freshman Jeff Ehrhardt was named the starter for the
     Ehrhardt will stand along side some very talented athletes. Sophomores Charlie Jordan and Josh Jones return in the backfield where they combined to rush for 712 yards last season. Jordan, who rushed for 111 yards against
     The Racers defense is anchored by the senior trio of linebacker Nathan Williams and defensive backs Derrick Parrott and Koji Farrington. Williams led the OVC and was seventh in the nation last season with 11.1 tackles per game. Sophomore linebacker Tamar Butler earned All-OVC Newcomer honors from 2006, and was one of only two players on the MSU team in 2006 that recorded at least one sack, one interception and one fumble recovery in the season.
     The Racers and Cardinals are meeting for the 17th time in a series that dates back to 1927. MSU and UL were original members of the OVC when the conference was formed in 1948. The last meeting was a
     MSU is playing an NCAA Bowl Subdivision team for the tenth time since 2000 and have played the likes of
GAME NOTES
“Young Guns”
     A total of 19 true freshmen played last season for the Racers. In addition, three more redshirt freshmen saw action as well. Of those 19 true freshmen that played, 12 started at least one game. There were 21 true freshmen listed on MSU's 44-player two-deep offensive/defensive depth chart. In the final week of the season, nine true freshmen were listed No. 1 on the depth chart.Â
     The current two-deep depth chart has 33 underclassemen on it including 14 starters.
“We Will Not Be Penalized”
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 “Catching On”
     Sophomore wide receiver Rod Harper has caught a pass in 16 consecutive games.
Racers In The NCAA Rankings
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Turning It Over Less In 2006
     In 2005,
Williams OVC Leader In Tackles Per Game
     Senior linebacker Nathan Williams finished the season first in the Ohio Valley Conference with an average of 11.1 tackles per game and fifth with 100 tackles. Williams missed the final two games of the regular season with a leg injury. In what turned out to be his final game of 2006, Williams finished with 10 tackles against
“Hot” Rod Harper Finishes Season Strong
     In the Racers' final two games of the season, sophomore Rod Harper caught 13 passes for 218 yards and scored three touchdowns. After gaining 138 yards on five catches and scoring twice against
Tackling Tamar
     In the final game of his first collegiate season, Tamar Butler registered a season best 12 tackles against No. 12 Tennessee-Martin. Of his 12 stops, nine were of the solo variety.
Freshman Leads Racers In Rushing
     Charlie Jordan, a freshman from
Frosh
     Freshman Charlie Jordan recorded his first career 100-yard rushing game against
. The
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