Murray State
Jacksonville State
Special Day - Murray State Football vs JSU Saturday
9/27/2007 5:00:00 AM | Football
The Murray State Racers look for their first victory in the 2007 Ohio Valley Conference season Saturday when they host the Gamecocks of Jacksonville State at Roy Stewart Stadium.
The game finds Murray State celebrating family weekend and honoring the heroes of our military. Fans can expect to see a Black Hawk helicopter fly over and other military vehicles will be on display before the football game. Family weekend always adds a special feeling to the game.
The Racers and Gamecocks have played four times since JSU joined the OVC in 2003. The Racers won the first meeting in 2003 in overtime at home 23-17, but JSU has won the last three including their last visit to Murray 28-23 in 2005. The Racers lost at Jacksonville 49-17 in 2006.
Last Thursday at Tennessee Tech, the Racers did some very good things but still dropped a 48-24 decision in their OVC opener at Tucker Stadium. MSU tied the game in the late first quarter on a touchdown pass from Jeff Ehrhardt but trailed at half 31-10. The Racers started the third quarter with a touchdown drive to cut the Tech lead to 31-17, but could never get any closer.
Tamar Butler had another double digit tackle day with 13 stops, he has 24 tackles in the last two games. Josh Marshall picked off his first career interception as a MSU player in the third quarter and Taylor Lanigan picked off his second pass of 2007 as the Racers moved their interception total for the season to seven and all have come in the last two games.
The Racers also carry a streak of 10 straight quarters in which they have put points on the board.
Tyler Weiss got the chance to handle the field goal duties last week and kicked a 29 yarder in the second quarter.
The Racers continue to fight to find a way to put together a complete game. Through the first four games, MSU has had some good offensive and defensive moments, but largely their special teams haven't been as good as they would like. On the season, the Racers have four plays of 35 yards or more, while they have given up 10 such plays.
The story line of the Racers' youth has been well documented. In many cases underclassmen are learning on the job. MSU has 72 underclassmen and only 14 juniors and seniors on the roster.
After the game with Jacksonville State, MSU has the weekend of Oct. 6th off before hosting their homecoming game against Eastern Illinois on Oct. 13th.
