Murray State
Tennessee State (Homecoming)
Players Mentioned
Racers Look To Maintain Momentum Against TSU
10/24/2016 4:54:00 PM | Football
Date (Time): Oct. 29 (3 p.m.)
Opponent: #25 Tennessee St.
Site (Venue): Murray, Ky. (Roy Stewart Stadium)
Audio: Froggy 103.7 FM (PxP: Neal Bradley; Color: Josh McKeel)
Web Stream: OVCDigitialNetwork.com
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
Twitter In Game: @RacersFootball, @PGriffithMSU
MSU Record (Streak): 2-5, 2-2 OVC (Won 1)
TSU Record (Streak): 5-2, 1-1 OVC (Lost 1)
All-Time Series vs. TSU (Streak): Murray State leads 14-13 (Won 1)
First Meeting: Won 22-7 (Oct. 15, 1988 in Murray, Ky.)
Last Meeting: Won 46-43 OT (Nov. 7, 2015 in Nashville, Tenn.)
MSU Last Game: Lost 31-38 vs. UT Martin
TSU Last Game: Lost 17-35 at Vanderbilt
MSU Next Game: Nov. 5 at Eastern Kentucky
MSU Next Home Game: Nov. 12 vs. #2 Jacksonville State
The Game
For the second consecutive week, the Murray State football team will face a ranked opponent and for the second consecutive week the Racers will look for the upset when they face 25th-ranked Tennessee State Saturday at 3 p.m., at Roy Stewart Stadium.
Saturday's Weather
After just a taste of cooler weather, fans attending Saturday's homecoming game can put away the sweaters, as the forecasted high Saturday is 76 F. Chances for rain will be low at only 10 percent, while winds will be moderate at 7 mph coming out of the SW with gusts of up to 14 mph.
Last Time Out
Senior kicker Connor Mitchell kicked six field goals, the defense forced six turnovers and the offense had its highest rushing output of the season, as the Murray State football team overcame an 18-point deficit to knock off 15th-ranked Eastern Illinois, 40-38, Saturday at O'Brien Field in Charleston.
Down nine points in the fourth quarter, KD Humphries found Jesse Blackburn who went 87 yards to pull MSU within two, at 31-29, with just over 14 minutes to go. Two EIU turnovers later, Mareio McGraw broke off a 77-yard run to put MSU on top for the first time in the game, 35-31. On the two-point attempt, Mitch Stults found Blackburn in the end zone to extend the Racer lead to 37-31, on a play that would later prove crucial for MSU. With 2:31 to play, Connor Mitchell made his sixth field goal of the afternoon, from 29-yards out, to give MSU a nine point lead. However, EIU answered on the next drive by going 66 yards on 10 plays in just over a minute to cut the lead to 40-38 with under a minute to play. On the ensuing onside kick, after seemingly minutes of bouncing around and touches by both teams, the Racers finally recovered the ball, sealing their first win over a ranked team since 2014.
Murray State finished the game with 236 yards rushing and 299 yards passing for 535 total yards. The Racers were also a perfect 6-for-6 inside the red zone on the day with five field goals and a touchdown.
The Tennessee State Series
After a thrilling, 46-43, overtime win over Tennessee State last season at Hale Stadium, Murray State regained the all-time series lead and holds a 14-13 advantage over the Tigers. In Murray, the Racers also lead the all-time series, 8-6, after TSU snapped a four-game home win streak by Murray State in their last trip to Roy Stewart with a 48-33 win in 2014. This will be the last meeting between the two teams until 2018, again in Murray, as MSU and TSU will not play each other in 2017.
Scouting The Tigers
No. 25 Tennessee State hung tough with Vanderbilt Saturday, but could not pull the upset, losing 35-15 in Nashville. The Tigers will enter Saturday's game in Murray at 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the OVC. Patrick Smith finished the game with 170 yards and two touchdowns including a 93-yard catch in the first quarter, which is currently the second-longest in the FCS this season. Smith currently leads his team and is second in the OVC in total yards with 622 for 89.9 per game and eight touchdowns. After an early season injury to starter O'Shay Ackerman-Carter, Ronald Butler has assumed QB1 duties for the Tigers and as excelled in the role. Butler is 75-for-127 this year for 1110 yards, nine touchdowns and only four interceptions. The perennially stout TSU defense is being led this season by Chris Collins. Through seven games Collins has a team-high 54 tackles, 43 of which were solo, 7.5 tackle-for-loss totaling 25 yards, 1.5 sacks for 12 yards of loss, 2 interceptions with 11 yards of return, four pass breakups, two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble. Ebenezer Ogundeko has also been a defensive stalwart for the Tigers this season with 32 tackles, 20 solo, a team-high 9.5 tackles-for-loss totaling 57 yards, 5.5 sacks for 33 yards of loss, one pass breakup, four quarterback hurries, a fumble recovery, a forced fumble and blocked kick. As a team, TSU allows 25.4 points per game, while scoring 33.6. Leaning slightly towards the run, the Tigers are averaging 153.6 yards per game on an average of 35.3 carries per game, while tallying 244.0 yards in the air on 26.4 attempts.
Chasing History
Senior QB KD Humphries has a chance to take over as all-time leader in all four major passing categories (attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns) this season, all four of which are currently owned by current MSU WR coach, Casey Brockman. Below is a chart showing where Humphries currently is and what he needs for the record.
           Career Cur.                Needed
Cat.    #         Rank.  Record           Per Gm.
Yds      9,206  2         9,990  196.0
Att.     1,280  2         1,405  31.3   Â
Comp. 828     2         938     27.5
TDÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â 62Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 71Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 2.3
Road Warriors
With their wins at Austin Peay and #15 Eastern Illinois, the Racers have now won back-to-back road games for the first time since 2011. Coincidentally, that pair of wins also included a victory over the 15th-ranked team in the nation, Tennessee Tech.
To Be The Man...
With his interception Saturday, D'Montre Wade maintained his national lead in the passes defended category, averaging 1.9 per game. He currently shares the lead with Dante Blackmon of Kennesaw State and Tyler Williams of Central Arkansas.
Mitchell Mania
With his record-breaking six field goals Saturday, Connor Mitchell is now amongst the nation's elite kickers this season and the stats prove it. He currently leads the nation in field goals per game at 2.0, is 17th in the country and second in the OVC in field goal percentage at 77.8 and is 23rd in the nation and first in the OVC in scoring with 8.3 points per game. In addition, his six field goals against EIU is the most by any kicker in the FCS this season and is tied for the most by a kicker at any level of NCAA football.
What A Difference A Game Makes
Heading into Saturday's game, the Racers were eighth of nine teams in the OVC in turnover margin at -6 or giving up 1.0 turnover per game. After forcing six on defense Saturday and not committing any on offense, MSU skyrocketed to third in the category with a margin of zero.
OK, What's Next?
MSU will make its longest conference trip of the season to the other side of the Commonwealth to face Eastern Kentucky. Kick-off at Roy Kidd Stadium is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT/1 p.m. ET.
