Murray State University Athletics
Saturday, November 7
Stewart Stadium
1 p.m.
Murray State
27
vs
17
Austin Peay
Record Setting Day Sends Seniors Out With 27-17 Victory
11/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Box Score
On a day that was reserved to honor 14 Murray State seniors playing their final home game at Stewart Stadium, it was a young 19-year old walk-on freshman that made his collegiate debut and helped the Racers erase a 10-point deficit on their way to a 27-17 victory over Austin Peay Saturday afternoon.
Hometown product Casey Brockman (Calloway County HS) took the reigns of the Racer offense on Saturday and calmly went 18-for-33 for 216 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. After throwing incompletion on his first two passes on the first possession, Brockman came out on the next drive and found Derrick Townsel for 11 yards.
“When I heard the trumpets start playing the butterflies were rolling,” said Brockman. “When we had the media timeout after we stopped them twice, it helped. It got me calmed down a little bit and I shook the nerves off. We just went out there and played pretty well.”
The Govs (3-6, 2-4 OVC) jumped out to the early advantage in the second quarter as Stephen Stansell used the wind to his advantage to hit a 52-yard field goal. Following a three-and-out on the Racers next possession, Jake Ryan hit Adrian Mines for a 46-yard completion and then Terrence Holt went over right tackle on the next play for the 30-yard touchdown.
The Racer (3-6, 2-4 OVC) helped setup the first points for MSU as Joe Gamsky made a stop on fourth-and-short near midfield with just over 90 seconds to play before the half.
Brockman brought the offense out and hit Townsel for 11 yards and later hit Marcus Harris for nine yards to set up a first down at the 25-yard line. Prince Nwagbara did the rest as he caught a ball in the left flat and cut back through the Govs defense and found his way into the endzone for the 25-yard touchdown.
The Racers tied the game on their second possession of the third quarter as an 11-play drive was helped by a roughing the punter penalty. MSU was not able to convert a first down after the penalty and Cullen connected on a 34-yard field goal with 3:53 left in the stanza.
The fourth quarter was completely dominated by the Racers as MSU scored 17 unanswered points to seal the victory.
MSU took nearly seven minutes off the clock on their first drive of the fourth as they put together a 14-play drive that netted a Cullen 21-yard field goal. After a pass interference call and an 11-yard run by Dexter Durrante, MSU was out across midfield.
Midway through the drive, Townsel picked up a first down by laying out for a 16-yard reception over the middle. The catch was the fifth of the game and 147th in his career, passing Terrance Tillman for the all-time record at MSU.
Charlie Jordan setup the field goal with a 25-yard run to the two-yard line.
Townsel wasn't done with his day as after the Racers forced a punt on the Govs next possession, Townsel picked up a bouncing kick and broke the near sideline and raced his way to a 56-yard return to the APSU 10. Two plays later, Jordan went up the middle for the three-yard touchdown.
The next defensive series belonged to All-America defensive end Austen Lane. Following a first down by the Govs, Lane broke through line and sacked Ryan for a nine-yard loss. The sack was the 29th in the career for Lane and moved him into first place on the school's all-time list. Lane wasn't done yet as he showed his versatility three plays later by dropping back into coverage and intercepting the Ryan pass and returning it 21 yards for the touchdown.
“I think Mark Oliver tipped that ball so I had an easy time catching it and taking it into the endzone,” said Lane. “I didn't really know what to do when I scored, but I will take the touchdown.”
The Govs got their first points since the second quarter as Holt took the ensuing kickoff and raced 99 yards for the touchdown.
Jordan finished the game with 69 yards on the ground and raised his career total to 2,000 yards. He became just the 10th Racer running back to reach that milestone.
The Racer defense held the OVC's leading ground attack to just 101 yards. Tamar Butler led the surge with nine tackles. Taylor Lanigan added 3.5 tackles-for-loss as the Racers totaled 11 tackles-for-loss.
“It was a good win, it was good for our seniors to get a win at home after a couple tough losses,” said head coach Matt Griffin. “That is a tribute to the character, they are resilient. I was really please with that, quite honestly. It has been two tough weeks and we played two games we had a chance to win, but let get away. The kids didn't get done. They have proven that week after week and year after year.”
The Racers return to the field next Saturday as they travel to take on Southeast Missouri. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Houck Stadium.
On a day that was reserved to honor 14 Murray State seniors playing their final home game at Stewart Stadium, it was a young 19-year old walk-on freshman that made his collegiate debut and helped the Racers erase a 10-point deficit on their way to a 27-17 victory over Austin Peay Saturday afternoon.
Hometown product Casey Brockman (Calloway County HS) took the reigns of the Racer offense on Saturday and calmly went 18-for-33 for 216 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. After throwing incompletion on his first two passes on the first possession, Brockman came out on the next drive and found Derrick Townsel for 11 yards.
“When I heard the trumpets start playing the butterflies were rolling,” said Brockman. “When we had the media timeout after we stopped them twice, it helped. It got me calmed down a little bit and I shook the nerves off. We just went out there and played pretty well.”
The Govs (3-6, 2-4 OVC) jumped out to the early advantage in the second quarter as Stephen Stansell used the wind to his advantage to hit a 52-yard field goal. Following a three-and-out on the Racers next possession, Jake Ryan hit Adrian Mines for a 46-yard completion and then Terrence Holt went over right tackle on the next play for the 30-yard touchdown.
The Racer (3-6, 2-4 OVC) helped setup the first points for MSU as Joe Gamsky made a stop on fourth-and-short near midfield with just over 90 seconds to play before the half.
Brockman brought the offense out and hit Townsel for 11 yards and later hit Marcus Harris for nine yards to set up a first down at the 25-yard line. Prince Nwagbara did the rest as he caught a ball in the left flat and cut back through the Govs defense and found his way into the endzone for the 25-yard touchdown.
The Racers tied the game on their second possession of the third quarter as an 11-play drive was helped by a roughing the punter penalty. MSU was not able to convert a first down after the penalty and Cullen connected on a 34-yard field goal with 3:53 left in the stanza.
The fourth quarter was completely dominated by the Racers as MSU scored 17 unanswered points to seal the victory.
MSU took nearly seven minutes off the clock on their first drive of the fourth as they put together a 14-play drive that netted a Cullen 21-yard field goal. After a pass interference call and an 11-yard run by Dexter Durrante, MSU was out across midfield.
Midway through the drive, Townsel picked up a first down by laying out for a 16-yard reception over the middle. The catch was the fifth of the game and 147th in his career, passing Terrance Tillman for the all-time record at MSU.
Charlie Jordan setup the field goal with a 25-yard run to the two-yard line.
Townsel wasn't done with his day as after the Racers forced a punt on the Govs next possession, Townsel picked up a bouncing kick and broke the near sideline and raced his way to a 56-yard return to the APSU 10. Two plays later, Jordan went up the middle for the three-yard touchdown.
The next defensive series belonged to All-America defensive end Austen Lane. Following a first down by the Govs, Lane broke through line and sacked Ryan for a nine-yard loss. The sack was the 29th in the career for Lane and moved him into first place on the school's all-time list. Lane wasn't done yet as he showed his versatility three plays later by dropping back into coverage and intercepting the Ryan pass and returning it 21 yards for the touchdown.
“I think Mark Oliver tipped that ball so I had an easy time catching it and taking it into the endzone,” said Lane. “I didn't really know what to do when I scored, but I will take the touchdown.”
The Govs got their first points since the second quarter as Holt took the ensuing kickoff and raced 99 yards for the touchdown.
Jordan finished the game with 69 yards on the ground and raised his career total to 2,000 yards. He became just the 10th Racer running back to reach that milestone.
The Racer defense held the OVC's leading ground attack to just 101 yards. Tamar Butler led the surge with nine tackles. Taylor Lanigan added 3.5 tackles-for-loss as the Racers totaled 11 tackles-for-loss.
“It was a good win, it was good for our seniors to get a win at home after a couple tough losses,” said head coach Matt Griffin. “That is a tribute to the character, they are resilient. I was really please with that, quite honestly. It has been two tough weeks and we played two games we had a chance to win, but let get away. The kids didn't get done. They have proven that week after week and year after year.”
The Racers return to the field next Saturday as they travel to take on Southeast Missouri. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Houck Stadium.
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