EIU Pushes Past Racers

Saturday, October 31

Stewart Stadium

1 p.m.

Murray State

2-6 , 1-4

Eastern Illinois

5-3 , 5-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Eastern Ill.

Murray St.

Photo by: Tab Brockman

10/31/2015 7:08:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Just The Facts
The Murray State football team came up short Saturday, dropping a 34-20 decision to Eastern Illinois at Stewart Stadium in Murray.

The Turning Point
Despite leading 13-10 after the first quarter, the Racers allowed the Panthers to drive 76 yards for a touchdown in the second to push the lead to 17-13. After the break, the Racers came up with three straight stops from their defense, but were unable to capitalize offensively. On EIU's fourth drive of the third quarter, Jalen Whitlow connected with Ben Odugbesan for an 80-yard score, extending the lead to 27-13 and virtually putting the game out of reach for MSU.

About The Panthers
Shepard Little rushed for 109 yards and two scores to lead Eastern Illinois on the day. Jalen Whitlow was 18-for-27 with one interception and a touchdown for EIU Saturday, to finish with 236 yards. Ben Odugbesan was the leading receiver for the Panthers finishing the game with three catches for 80 yards and a touchdown, including a long of 80 yards. Jourdan Wickliffe led EIU's defense with 11 tackles, while Dino Fanti had six solo tackles, 2.0 sacks with 14 yards, 4.0 tackles for a loss of 18 yards and a forced fumble.

Reservations For 6
On the first play of the game, Marquez Sanford returned an interception for a touchdown, making him the first Racer to do so in over a year. T-Ray Malone was the last MSU player to accomplish the feat, when he ran back an interception 64 yards last season at Western Michigan.

A Crazy First
The first quarter of Saturday's game contained an unusual sequence of events that began with Sanford intercepting EIU's first play from scrimmage and returning it for a touchdown. Following a missed PAT by Murray State, the Panther's Tray Mitchell returned the ensuing kick-off 94 yards to give his team a 7-6 lead. Murray State would fumble the ball in Panther territory on the next drive, which led to EIU extending its lead to 10-6 with a field goal. Finally, in the waning minutes of the opening stanza, KD Humphries found Jesse Blackburn in the end zone on fourth-and-nine from 27 yards out to give MSU a 13-10 lead.

Lost Momentum
The Racers fumbled five times on Saturday, losing three to the Panthers. While EIU was only able to score three points off turnovers, it was the momentum that proved to be the true casualty of the fumbles. The first fumble, which the Panthers converted into a field goal, stopped a Racer drive at the EIU 33 yard-line in the first quarter. The other two stopped things before they even got going with a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half and one just one play into a third quarter drive, after holding EIU to a three-and-out on the previous drive.

The St. Louis Treat
Senior Paul Rice hauled in a career-high 136 yards on Saturday, including a long of 61. He finished the day with seven catches for an average of 19.4 yards per reception.

Black-Burned
Junior Jesse Blackburn scored two touchdowns in Saturday's game, both on fourth down situations. The first was a fourth-and-nine in the opening stanza for 27 yards, with the second coming late in the fourth quarter on a fourth-and-five from 14 yards out.

The 300
For the sixth time in eight games this season, junior KD Humphries passed for more than 300 yards in a game. Humphries was 28-for-51 for 346 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions on Saturday.

Strong Effort
The MSU defense limited Eastern Illinois to a season-low three touchdowns against FCS opponents and held the Panthers to just 411 yards of total offense. Zach Dean and Jonathan Jackson led the way with seven tackles each, while Demetrius Mason had four, three of which were for loss.

A Promising Beginning
After playing offense for over a year and a half for Murray State, sophomore Zach Shipley switched to defensive back this week in practice. The moved proved to be a good one, as Shipley had four tackles on the day, including two solo.

Up Next
Next Saturday, Murray State will travel to Hale Stadium in Nashville for the first time in 20 years to take on Tennessee State. Kick-off in Music City, U.S.A., is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., with the game being broadcast on the American Sports Network.