Racers Finish Non-Conference Slate With KWC

Date (Time): Oct. 25 (3 p.m.)
Opponent: Kentucky Wesleyan
Site (Venue): Murray, Ky. (Roy Stewart Stadium)
Audio: Froggy 103.7 FM (PxP: Neal Bradley; Commentary: Josh McKeel)
Web Stream: OVCDigitalNetwork.com
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
MSU Record (Streak): 2-5 (L1)
KWC Record (Streak): 4-3 (W1)
All-Time Series vs. KWC (Streak): MSU leads 2-0 (W2)
Last Meeting: MSU 66, KWC 10 (Sept. 3, 2009 – Murray, Ky.)
MSU Last Game: L 13-20 at Austin Peay (Oct. 18)
KWC Last Game: W 55-28 vs. Lindenwood (IL) (Oct. 18)
MSU Next Game: Nov. 1 vs. UT Martin
MSU Next Home: Nov. 1 vs. UT Martin

The Game
Murray State will close out its 2014 non-conference schedule on Saturday with Kentucky Wesleyan. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. at the track and can be seen on OVCDigitalNetwork.com.

Saturday Weather
Temperatures during the day will reach a high of 76° F with just a 0% chance of rain. The wind will be moderate out of the west at six miles per hour.

vs. Kentucky Wesleyan
The Racers are 2-0 all-time against the Panthers with both games taking place at The Track. MSU picked up a 53-0 win over Kentucky Wesleyan in 1999 and then a 66-10 victory in 2009.

MSU's Last Time Out
Five turnovers led to Murray State's 20-13 loss at Austin Peay, its first since 2007.
The offense had little trouble moving the ball on the Govs, but Murray State could not seem to finish. The Racers had two turnovers inside the red zone, along with a fumble at the Austin Peay 22-yard line with just over 3 minutes to play in the game, sealed MSU's fate and game the Govs their first win in 19 tries.

Austin Peay scored 14 pints off of MSU turnovers in the contest, compared to just six by the Racers. All 20 points for APSU came from quarterback Mickey Macius to receiver Jared Beard with passes of 30, seven and 14 yards.

KD Humphries was 28-for-44 in the contest with 235 total yards. His leading receiver in the game was Jesse Blackburn who caught six passes for 74 yards.

Pokey Harris scored the lone touchdown for Murray State in the game with a 24-yard run. He finished the game with a total of 88 yards in 13 carries. Kicker Carson Greifenkamp did the rest of the scoring for MSU with field goals of 36 and 28 yards.

Jonathan Jackson led Murray state with 11 tackles on the evening, while Felton Collins and Anthony Hayes followed with nine and eight tackles, respectively. Hayes and Travis Taylor each had a solo sack, while Taylor had a team-high 3.0 tackles-for-loss for a total of 16 yards.

Scouting Kentucky Wesleyan
The Panthers will enter Saturday at 4-3 on the season after a 55-28 victory over Lindenwood (MO) in Owensboro.

Brent Holsclaw is in his 10th season at KWC and is 24-79 all-time. Holsclaw is 0-1 all-time against the Racers, having lost to MSU, 66-10, in 2009.

The Panthers are currently averaging 37.1 points on 490.3 yards per game, while allowing opponents to score 30.0 points on 391.0 yards. Much like Murray State, Kentucky Wesleyan relies heavily on the pass, averaging 369.7 yards in the air per game, while only averaging 120.6 on the ground.

Oliver Dalton has been the go to quarterback this season going 131-for-226 with 20 touchdown and six interceptions for 2,273 yards. He entered last week's game at 32nd in passing yards (1,727), 16th in passing yards per game (291.2) and fourth in yards per completion (16.8). Last week, Dalton passed for 526 with six touchdowns, despite throwing a pick and being sacked five times.

Dalton's main target this season has been Keelan Cole, who has over 1,029 yards and 13 touchdowns. Heading into last week he was fifth in receiving yards (834), fourth in receiving touchdowns (10) and third in receiving yards per game (139.0).

The leading KWC rusher is Myles Walkers who has 380 yards on 66 attempts for 5.8 yards a carry and one touchdown.

Cody Mills leads the Panther defense with 41.5 tackles and 10.0 tackles-for-loss for a total of 45 yards. He and Micah Crutcher have a team-high 4.0 sacks for a loss of 25 and 26 yards, respectively.

Homecoming For Holsclaw
Kentucky Wesleyan head coach Brent Holsclaw started his playing career in 1989 at Murray State. After his freshman year, he transferred to Kentucky Wesleyan where he finished his career.

Hatcher vs. Holsclaw
Chris Hatcher and Brent Holsclaw have never met on the gridiron. The last time Holsclaw brought his Panthers to Murray was 2009, the year before Hatcher arrived.

Outside Of Divison I
Since 1996, the Racers are 9-0 when playing non-Division I (FBS or FCS) opponents. During that span, MSU has outscored its opponents 521-83 for an average of 57.9 points to 9.2 points per game. Murray State's last loss outside of Division I came in 1982, when Central Missouri topped the Racers, 10-0, in Murray.

Costly Turnovers
The Racers had five turnovers in the lost to Austin Peay, three fumble and two interceptions, the most since 2007. The last time MSU had five-plus turnovers was in final game of 2007 when it had eight, the game was also the last time before Saturday the Racers had lost to the Govs.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jesse Blackburn

Felton Collins

Carson Greifenkamp

Pokey Harris

Anthony Hayes

KD Humphries

Jonathan Jackson

Travis Taylor

Murray State University Athletics