Murray State University Athletics
Saturday, November 21
Jacksonville, Ala.
1 p.m.
Murray State
at
Jacksonville State
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
QB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
Photo by: Tab Brockman
Racers To End Season At No. 1 JSU
11/16/2015 4:26:00 PM | Football
Date (Time): Nov. 21 (1:00 p.m.)
Opponent: #1 Jacksonville St.
Site (Venue): Jacksonville, Ala. (Burgess-Snow Field)
Audio: Froggy 103.7 FM (PxP: Jeff Waters; Color: Logan Stout)
Web Stream: OVCDigitalNetwork.com
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
Twitter In Game: @RacersFootball, @PGriffithMSU
MSU Record (Streak): 3-7, 2-5 OVC (L1)
JSU Record (Streak): 9-1, 10-0 (W8)
All-Time Series vs. JSU (Streak): JSU Leads 10-2 [JSU leads 5-1 in Jacksonville] (L1)
Last Meeting: L 28-52 (Sept. 27, 2014 - Murray, Ky.)
MSU Last Game: vs. #24 Eastern Ky., L 34-41 2OT
JSU Last Game: vs. Southeast Mo., W 56-28
MSU Next Game: 2016 Season
The Game
The Racers will travel to Jacksonville, Alabama Saturday to take on the No. 1 ranked Jacksonville State Gamecocks at 1 p.m. at Burgess-Snow Field.
Saturday's Weather
Saturday will be mostly sunny with highs in the upper 50's. Winds should be slight for the game, coming out of the NNE at just 6 mph.
Last Time Out
The Murray State football team outscored 24th-ranked Eastern Kentucky, 20-7, in the second half, to force overtime Saturday at Stewart Stadium in Murray. However, an interception on the first play of the second overtime ended the game for the Racers, as they took a hard luck, 41-34 double overtime loss. After being outscored 20-0 in the second half and trailing 27-20, the Colonels took over after a MSU field goal with 2:38 to go in the game. EKU then drove the ball down the field 77 yards in eight plays and 1:12 of clock time to tie the game, a drive that was punctuated by a one-yard rush from Dy'Shawn Mobley.
After both teams, put up seven points in the first overtime, EKU struck first in the second with a one-yard punch in from Kentayvus Hopkins, to give his team a 41-34 lead. On the first play of MSU's ensuing possession, Jesse Blackburn was intercepted by Kobie Grace at the five on a double pass to clinch the win for the Colonels.
The JSU Series
The series with the Gamecocks is one of the newer ones for Murray State with just 12 games played between the two teams total. However, the series has been pretty lopsided, as Jax State has 10 wins, while Murray State has just two. MSU won the first meeting in the series in 2003 with a 23-17 overtime victory at Stewart Stadium. The Gamecocks, however, would go on to win the next nine meetings, until MSU's last trip to Jacksonville in 2013. Murray State improved to 2-0 against JSU when more than regulation is needed to decide the outcome, as the Racers walked away 35-34 winners in triple overtime.
Scouting The Gamecocks
The top-ranked Jacksonville State Gamecocks clinched the regular-season OVC championship last week with a 56-28 win at home over Southeast Missouri. The duo of Troymaine Pope and Christian LeMay rushed for 137 and 124 yards, respectively, to help lead the Gamecocks to victory. Eli Jenkins was 14-for-24 for 194 yards with three touchdowns in the game, while Josh Barge had 108 of those yards and two scores to lead the receiving corps.
The JSU offense has leaned slightly towards the run this run with 277.4 yards per game on the ground and 225.5 yards in the air for 502.9 yards of total offense. They currently lead the league in both scoring offense and scoring defense, putting up 37.1 yards per game, while allowing just 15.9 points per game. Jenkins currently averaged 197.3 yards per game with 1,973 yards and 16 touchdowns on the year. Josh Barge has caught 68 passes for 795 yards and nine touchdowns this season and last week the junior became the school's all-time reception leader at 179. On the ground, Pope has reached the 1,000 yard plateau with 1,014 and he is currently fifth in the nation in yards per carry at 7.35.
Defensively, Brandon Bender leads the way at 62 tackles and a league-high three forced fumbles. Darius Jackson has racked up a team-highs og12.5 tackles-for-loss this season for 39 yards, and 4.5 sacks for 20 yards of loss. Dawson Wells leads the Gamecocks in interception with three to go along with 83 return yards, while Rashod Byers has four pass breakups.
Air Raid
With just one week left in the regular season, MSU's passing offense currently ranks second in the nation with 351.0 yards per game. Eastern Washington currently leads the category with 367.1.
Just The Beginning
While Mitch Stewart has won just three games in his first season with just one to play, if history is any indication, good things are in store for him. Other Racer greats to win four or less games in their first season at the helm include Roy Stewart, Bill Furgerson, Mike Gottfried and Houston Nutt.
Climbing The Charts
Saturday will be the last chance for Jeremy Harness and Janawski Davis to take a crack at several of the career receiving record lists. Below is where they currently stand.
Jeremy Harness
Cat. (Rank) # Next Milestone
Rec. (3) 196 Powell - 208
100 YG (3) 8 Tillman - 9
Yards (5) 2239 Swinton - 2346
TD (10) 12 2 Players -13
Janawski Davis
Cat. (Rank) # Next Milestone
TD (3) 22 Tillman - 26
Rec. (4) 155 Harness - 196
Yards (6) 2098 Harness - 2239
100 YG (6) 6 Swinton - 7
Look Out, Coach
With an average of 349.7 yards per game and one game remaining, KD Humphries is currently on pace to break MSU's single-season passing yardage record, held by current quarterbacks coach Casey Brockman. Humphries currently leads the FCS with 3,497 yards and needs to surpass the 3,729 throw by Brockman in 2012 to take over the record.
Rice Is Always A Good Choice
Paul Rice racked up 113 yards on six catches with one touchdown against EKU to lead the Racer receiving corps. The total gives him 831 yards on the season to lead all MSU receivers heading into the final game of the season.
Up Next
The Racers move into the offseason with signing day in February and spring practice in April.
Opponent: #1 Jacksonville St.
Site (Venue): Jacksonville, Ala. (Burgess-Snow Field)
Audio: Froggy 103.7 FM (PxP: Jeff Waters; Color: Logan Stout)
Web Stream: OVCDigitalNetwork.com
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
Twitter In Game: @RacersFootball, @PGriffithMSU
MSU Record (Streak): 3-7, 2-5 OVC (L1)
JSU Record (Streak): 9-1, 10-0 (W8)
All-Time Series vs. JSU (Streak): JSU Leads 10-2 [JSU leads 5-1 in Jacksonville] (L1)
Last Meeting: L 28-52 (Sept. 27, 2014 - Murray, Ky.)
MSU Last Game: vs. #24 Eastern Ky., L 34-41 2OT
JSU Last Game: vs. Southeast Mo., W 56-28
MSU Next Game: 2016 Season
The Game
The Racers will travel to Jacksonville, Alabama Saturday to take on the No. 1 ranked Jacksonville State Gamecocks at 1 p.m. at Burgess-Snow Field.
Saturday's Weather
Saturday will be mostly sunny with highs in the upper 50's. Winds should be slight for the game, coming out of the NNE at just 6 mph.
Last Time Out
The Murray State football team outscored 24th-ranked Eastern Kentucky, 20-7, in the second half, to force overtime Saturday at Stewart Stadium in Murray. However, an interception on the first play of the second overtime ended the game for the Racers, as they took a hard luck, 41-34 double overtime loss. After being outscored 20-0 in the second half and trailing 27-20, the Colonels took over after a MSU field goal with 2:38 to go in the game. EKU then drove the ball down the field 77 yards in eight plays and 1:12 of clock time to tie the game, a drive that was punctuated by a one-yard rush from Dy'Shawn Mobley.
After both teams, put up seven points in the first overtime, EKU struck first in the second with a one-yard punch in from Kentayvus Hopkins, to give his team a 41-34 lead. On the first play of MSU's ensuing possession, Jesse Blackburn was intercepted by Kobie Grace at the five on a double pass to clinch the win for the Colonels.
The JSU Series
The series with the Gamecocks is one of the newer ones for Murray State with just 12 games played between the two teams total. However, the series has been pretty lopsided, as Jax State has 10 wins, while Murray State has just two. MSU won the first meeting in the series in 2003 with a 23-17 overtime victory at Stewart Stadium. The Gamecocks, however, would go on to win the next nine meetings, until MSU's last trip to Jacksonville in 2013. Murray State improved to 2-0 against JSU when more than regulation is needed to decide the outcome, as the Racers walked away 35-34 winners in triple overtime.
Scouting The Gamecocks
The top-ranked Jacksonville State Gamecocks clinched the regular-season OVC championship last week with a 56-28 win at home over Southeast Missouri. The duo of Troymaine Pope and Christian LeMay rushed for 137 and 124 yards, respectively, to help lead the Gamecocks to victory. Eli Jenkins was 14-for-24 for 194 yards with three touchdowns in the game, while Josh Barge had 108 of those yards and two scores to lead the receiving corps.
The JSU offense has leaned slightly towards the run this run with 277.4 yards per game on the ground and 225.5 yards in the air for 502.9 yards of total offense. They currently lead the league in both scoring offense and scoring defense, putting up 37.1 yards per game, while allowing just 15.9 points per game. Jenkins currently averaged 197.3 yards per game with 1,973 yards and 16 touchdowns on the year. Josh Barge has caught 68 passes for 795 yards and nine touchdowns this season and last week the junior became the school's all-time reception leader at 179. On the ground, Pope has reached the 1,000 yard plateau with 1,014 and he is currently fifth in the nation in yards per carry at 7.35.
Defensively, Brandon Bender leads the way at 62 tackles and a league-high three forced fumbles. Darius Jackson has racked up a team-highs og12.5 tackles-for-loss this season for 39 yards, and 4.5 sacks for 20 yards of loss. Dawson Wells leads the Gamecocks in interception with three to go along with 83 return yards, while Rashod Byers has four pass breakups.
Air Raid
With just one week left in the regular season, MSU's passing offense currently ranks second in the nation with 351.0 yards per game. Eastern Washington currently leads the category with 367.1.
Just The Beginning
While Mitch Stewart has won just three games in his first season with just one to play, if history is any indication, good things are in store for him. Other Racer greats to win four or less games in their first season at the helm include Roy Stewart, Bill Furgerson, Mike Gottfried and Houston Nutt.
Climbing The Charts
Saturday will be the last chance for Jeremy Harness and Janawski Davis to take a crack at several of the career receiving record lists. Below is where they currently stand.
Jeremy Harness
Cat. (Rank) # Next Milestone
Rec. (3) 196 Powell - 208
100 YG (3) 8 Tillman - 9
Yards (5) 2239 Swinton - 2346
TD (10) 12 2 Players -13
Janawski Davis
Cat. (Rank) # Next Milestone
TD (3) 22 Tillman - 26
Rec. (4) 155 Harness - 196
Yards (6) 2098 Harness - 2239
100 YG (6) 6 Swinton - 7
Look Out, Coach
With an average of 349.7 yards per game and one game remaining, KD Humphries is currently on pace to break MSU's single-season passing yardage record, held by current quarterbacks coach Casey Brockman. Humphries currently leads the FCS with 3,497 yards and needs to surpass the 3,729 throw by Brockman in 2012 to take over the record.
Rice Is Always A Good Choice
Paul Rice racked up 113 yards on six catches with one touchdown against EKU to lead the Racer receiving corps. The total gives him 831 yards on the season to lead all MSU receivers heading into the final game of the season.
Up Next
The Racers move into the offseason with signing day in February and spring practice in April.
Friday, May 22
Saturday, February 28
Friday, February 27
Friday, February 27
