Football Set For Homecoming Clash With Peay

Date (Time): Oct. 10 (3 p.m.)
Opponent: Austin Peay
Site (Venue): Murray, Ky. (Stewart Stadium)
Audio: Froggy 103.7 FM (PxP: Neal Bradley; Color: Josh McKeel)
Web Stream: OVCDigitalNetwork.com
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
Twitter In Game: @RacersFootball, @PGriffithMSU
MSU Record (Streak): 1-4, 0-2 OVC (L4)
APSU Record (Streak): 0-5, 0-2 OVC (L5)
All-Time Series vs. APSU (Streak): MSU leads 33-14 (L1)
Last Meeting: L 13-20 (Oct. 18, 2015 – Clarksville, Tenn.)
MSU Last Game: at Southeast Mo., L 10-27
APSU Last Game: vs. Eastern Ill., L 16-40
MSU Next Game: Oct. 24 at UT Martin
MSU Next Home: Oct. 31 vs. Eastern Illinois

The Game
Murray State returns to The Track Saturday in hopes of snapping a four-game skid against Austin Peay. It will be Homecoming Saturday at Stewart Stadium where kick-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Saturday's Weather
Saturday is scheduled for a high of 69°F, with a low of 48°F. While thunderstorms are scheduled for Friday, there is little possibility of precipitation on Saturday with the chance rated at just 10%. Winds are expected to be moderate coming out of the NNE at 7 mph.

Last Time Out
Despite over 500 yards of offense, the Murray State football team scored just 10 points Saturday, as they fell to Southeast Missouri, 27-10, at Houck Stadium in Cape Girardeau. The Racers (1-4, 0-2) rushed for 172 yards in the game and passed for another 368, but were unable to score when it counted, going 2-for-5 in the red zone. Murray State also struggled on third down in the game, converting just three of 15 attempts.
At the break, Murray State trailed Southeast Missouri by just a field goal at 10-7. However, the Redhawks were able to score on the opening drive of the second half, while the Racers had to settle for field goal later in the quarter. After a missed field goal attempt late in the third quarter by Murray State, the Redhawks answered with a touchdown, virtually putting the game out of reach for the Racers.

The APSU Series
Murray State is 33-14 all-time against the Governors and leads the series 20-4 all-time in Murray. Last season, the Govs snapped a six-game losing streak to Racers when they won, 20-13, in Clarksville. Despite last season's loss, the Racers have won the last three meetings in Murray where they have not lost since 2007.

Scouting The Governors
After a 27-10 loss to Eastern Illinois Saturday, Austin Peay will enter this week's game 0-5 overall and 0-2 in the OVC. The Governors are currently averaging 9.8 points on 227.2 yards per game, while allowing 43.6 point on 488.0 total yards per game. Austin Peay's offense currently leans slightly towards the run with an average of 121.0 yards on the ground per game, while also averaging 106.2 yards per game in the air.

Trey Taylor serves as QBI for Austin Peay and is 70-for-132 on the year for 531 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. His leading target this year has been Jared Beard who has 162 yards on 19 catches with one touchdown. On the ground, Kendall Morris leads the way with 57.8 yards per game for a total of 289 yards on 63 carries.

Defensively, Roderick Owens and Damien Whitfield lead the team with 29 tackles with Whitfield adding 1.0 tackles-for-loss and Owens coming up with an interception and four pass breakups. Nicholis Matiere-Bey has so far come up with Austin Peay's lone sack of the season, while also leading the team in tackles-for-loss at 5.0.

Welcome Home
This week's game will mark the annual Homecoming festivities for Murray State. The date and its traditionally large crowd has proved helpful for the Racers in recent history as they have lost just once in the last five Homecoming games.

Welcome Home: Part 2
As part of the homecoming festivities, the 1995 & 1996 OVC Championship MSU football teams will be honored Friday and Saturday for the 20th anniversary of the 1995 title. Houston Nutt, head coach of both teams, and members of those teams will be honored at halftime and will also be available for a media Q&A from 12-1 p.m. in Tent City.

Climbing The Charts
Jeremy Harness and Janawski Davis continue to chip away at several career receiving records.

Jeremy Harness
Cat. (Rank)     #          Next Milestone
Rec. (3)            179      Powell - 208
100 YG (3)       8          Tillman - 9
Yards (5)          2021    Swinton - 2346
TD (11)            11        4          Players -12

Janawski Davis
Cat. (Rank)     #          Next Milestone
TD (4)             20        Harris - 21
Rec. (7)            130      Swinton - 144
Yards (8)          1786    McCormick - 1837
100 YG (7)       5          Slater - 6

Streak Ender
For the first time since the Austin Peay game last season, KD Humphries failed to pass for a touchdown Saturday. Despite the fact he did not score through the air for the first time in nine games, Humphries was still 37-for-59 in the game for 368 yards with just one pick, marking his fourth 300-plus yard game of the season.

Fantastic Five
Senior Jeremy Harness set a new school record Saturday, by recording his fifth consecutive game of 100-plus yards receiving. The previous record of four was held by a pair of Racers in Marcus Harris from 2010 and Walter Powell from 2012. Harness finished the game with 117 yards on 12 catches.

Roman Empire
For the first time since the Kentucky Wesleyan game in 2014, Murray State had a 100-yard plus rusher last Saturday. Roman Clay rushed for a career-high 148 yards on 16 carries with one touchdown for an average of 9.3 yards per carry.

Playing Clean
The two teams combined for a Murray State season-low 54 penalty yards on Saturday. The Racers were penalized just twice for 24 yards, while SEMO was penalized three times for only 30 yards.

Up Next
Murray State will take a week off for its annual bye week. After the bye, the Racers will make the short drive to UT Martin to face off with Skyhawks on Oct. 24.

Murray State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Roman Clay

Janawski Davis

Jeremy Harness

KD Humphries

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