Racers Fall Short At Louisville

Saturday, September 6

Louisville, Ky.

6 p.m.

Murray State

1-1

Louisville

2-0 , 1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Murray St.

Louisville

Photo by: Kyser Lough

9/6/2014 10:15:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Despite scoring the most points against an FBS program in nearly 15 years, No. 25 Louisville proved to be too much for Murray State on Saturday evening, as the Cardinals topped the Racers, 66-21, at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in Louisville.

The Racers' 21 points were the most against an FBS opponent since scoring 28 in a loss to Middle Tennessee in 2000, the Raiders' first season in the Sun Belt. It was also the most points MSU has scored against Louisville, or any team currently in a power five conference, since topping the Cards, 26-23, in 1984.

Both teams went three and out in their opening drives, but in the Cardinals' next drive they would score on three plays for 43 yards to take an early 7-0 lead. Louisville (2-0) would continue that trend for the next nine drives as they scored on each one tallying eight touchdowns and one field goal over the span. The Cards were finally forced to punt with 2:13 left in the third quarter for the first time since the opening drive.

With the score at 14-0 in the first, Murray State (1-1) did get on the board with a CJ Bennett pass to Janawski Davis, who took the ball 57 yards for the score. In the third quarter, KD Humphries found Davis, who this time took the ball nine yards for his second score of the night, cutting the lead to 59-14. Just minutes later in the early moments of the fourth quarter, Humphries tossed a slant pass to Jeremy Harness, who cut the lead to 59-21 with the 16 yard reception. The Cardinals would go on to score one more touchdown in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring at 66-21.

Davis finished the contest with 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns, both of which were game and career highs. It was not only the first 100-yard receiving game of his career for Davis, it also marked first time that a Racer had registered between 100-149 yards in game since Walter Powell did so against Eastern Kentucky in 2012.

Bennett finished the game at 8-for-19 for 93 yards with one touchdown and an interception, while Humphries was 13-for-19 for 158 yards with two touchdowns. In other receiving, Harness ended his night with seven catches for 50 yards, while Jesse Blackburn had six catches for 57 yards and Nevar Griffin had 3 for 44.

Defensively, Travis Taylor stole the show for the Racers with a game-high 12 total tackles, seven of which were solo, both of which were also career highs. He also had 2.0 tackles for loss for a total of 13 yards including a seven-yard sack. Jonathan Jackson followed Taylor on the night with seven total tackles, including four solo, and a hurry.

The Racers will now have a week off before resuming action against FBS opponent Western Michigan on Sept. 20. Kick-off at Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo is scheduled for 6 p.m. CDT.