Murray State University Athletics
Saturday, October 4
Cookeville, Tenn.
7 p.m.
Murray State
at
Tennessee Tech
Players Mentioned
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Photo by: Tab Brockman
Football Looks For 1st OVC Win at TTU
10/2/2014 2:39:00 PM | Football
Date (Time): Oct. 4 (7 p.m.)
Opponent: #8 Jacksonville State
Site (Venue): Cookeville, Tenn. (Tucker Stadium)
Audio: Froggy 103.7 FM (PxP: Neal Bradley; Commentary: Dave Winder)
Web Stream: OVCDigital Network.com
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
MSU Record (Streak): 1-3, 0-1 OVC (L3)
TTU Record (Streak): 1-3, 0-1 OVC (L3)
All-Time Series vs. TTU (Streak): TTU leads 41-37-1 (W4)
MSU Last Game: L 28-52 vs. #8 Jacksonville St. (Sept. 7)
TTU Last Game: L 7-50 at #10 Northern Iowa (Sept. 27)
MSU Next Game: Oct. 11 vs. Southeast Missouri (Homecoming)
MSU Next Home: Oct. 11 vs. Southeast Missouri (Homecoming)
The Game
Murray State will look to snap a three-game losing streak and notch its first OVC win of the season on Saturday at Tennessee Tech. Kickoff at Tucker Stadium in Cookeville is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be seen on OVCDigitalNetwork.com.
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Saturday Weather
Temperatures during the day will reach the high 50's with no chance of rain under sunny skies and moderate wind.
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vs. Tennessee Tech
The Racers are 37-41-1 all-time against Tennessee Tech and are 15-22 versus the Golden Eagles in Cookeville. MSU is currently on a four game win streak against TTU and has not lost to the Golden Eagles 2009.
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MSU's Last Time Out
The Racers's went toe-to-toe with the 8th-ranked Gamecocks in the first half, but ran out of gas in the second, losing to JSU, 52-28. Murray State stayed with Jacksonville State for the entire first half, virtually matching them touchdown for touchdown and only trailed by seven, 35-28, at the half. However, in the second Jax State scored 17 unanswered points to pick up the 24-point in front of the largest MSU crowd this millennium.
Jonathan Jackson and Travis Taylor had huge nights defensively for MSU, combining for 38 tackles with 19 and 17, respectively. The totals mark the second and third consecutive games, respectively, in which the duo has set new career highs. For Jackson it was the best MSU performance since 2008 and is tied for 10th all-time.
Despite the loss, KD Humphries had a positive outing as he was 27-for-41 on the for 247 yards, a career-high. In addition to his two passing touchdowns on the night, Humphries also picked up his first rushing score, a 16-yarder in the first quarter.
Pokey Harris had 41 yards on five catches with two touchdowns to lead the Racer receiving corps in the games. Nevar Griffin had 48 yards on six catches, while Jeremy Harness caught six passes for 37 yards and a touchdown. Rushing wise, Humphries led the way with 50 yards on 10 carries for an average of 5.0 per rush, while Harris followed with 48 yards over 14 rushes for 3.4 yards per carry.
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Scouting Tennessee Tech
The Golden Eagles enter the weekend with an overall record of 1-3 and a 0-1 mark in the OVC after a suffering a 50-7 defeat at No. 10 Northern Iowa. Head Coach Watson Brown is in his 8th season with the Golden Eagles and is 34-49 during his tenure in Cookeville. This season marks Brown's 30th season as a head coach and he currently has a 128-200-1 overall record.
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The TTU offense is currently scoring 15.2 points per game, while its defense is allowing 29.0. The Golden Eagles are also averaging 188.0 total yards per game, while giving up 369.8.
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Tennessee Tech's offense leans slightly more towards the pass with an average of 103.5 passing yards per game, while rushing for 84.5. Quarterback Jared Davis has gone 45-for-96 for 394 yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions. Cody Matthews has been his main target this season with 15 receptions for 177 yards and one score.Â
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The ground attack is led by Radir Annoor, who has run for 107 yards and a touchdown in his first four games of 2014. The Golden Eagles have rushed for 84.5 yards per game, while allowing 171.0
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The defense is led by safety Marty Jones. The senior has recorded 32 tackles, 1.5 TFL, a half sack and a pass break-up on the year. In addition, defensive end Midoho Okpokowuruk leads the team with six tackles for loss and a team-high 1.5 sacks. His tackles for loss total 19 yards, while his sacks have totaled five yards.
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Three Game Skid
Prior to this season, MSU has only experienced two other three-game losing streaks under Chris Hatcher in 2010 and 2013. The Racers have not lost more than three consecutive games under their current head coach.
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Hatcher vs. Brown
Chris Hatcher and Watson Brown have met on four different occasions with Hatcher winning each time. The two had never met prior to Hatcher coming to Murray State.
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Defensive Duo
Jonathan Jackson and Travis Taylor combined for 38 tackles on Saturday vs. JSU with 19 and 17, respectively. It was the third straight week Taylor has set a career mark and the second for Jackson. Jackson's performance was the best by a Racer since 2008 and is tied for 10th all-time in MSU history. Is it currently the best performance in the OVC this season and tied for third in the FCS.
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A Crowded Track
The crowd of 10,897 on-hand for the OVC opener vs. JSU is the largest crowd for an MSU football in nearly 14 years. On Oct. 28, 2000, there were 11,276 fans to watch the Racers play TTU. The 10,897 now stands as just one of three times attendance has topped 10,000 since then, one in each of the past four seasons, and is the largest since then, as well.
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These Cleats Are Made For Walking
On Thursday, members of the Murray State football team will take part in National Walk/Bike To School Day at Murray Middle School. Last year, 4,447 schools across the nation participated in the event and even more are expected to participate this year.
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New Number
Linebacker Reid Lucas will now wear 19, instead of his previous number 54. He will share this number with freshman quarterback Houston Hartz.
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Up Next
The Racers return to The Track for Homecoming 2014 against Southeast Missouri on Oct. 11 at 3 p.m. The Racers will be looking for a measure of revenge against the Redhawks after a 37-34 triple-overtime loss in Cape Girardeau last season.
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