Racers Beat TSU For Second Straight Win Over Ranked Team

Saturday, October 29

Roy Stewart Stadium

3 p.m.

Murray State

3-5 , 3-2

Tennessee State (Homecoming)

5-3 , 2-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Tennessee St.

Murray St.

Photo by: Curt Hart

Racers Beat TSU For Second Straight Win Over Ranked Team

10/29/2016 8:42:00 PM | Football

Box Score BOX SCORE (PDF)SEASON STATS (PDF)PHOTO GALLERY OVCDN REPLAY

Just The Facts
For the second time in as many weeks, the Murray State football team beat a Top 25 opponent, defeating 25^th-ranked Tennessee State, 38-31, Saturday at Roy Stewart Stadium in front of a homecoming crowd and returning OVC and MSU Hall of Famer Frank Beamer.

The Turning Point
Down three at the half, the Racers scored twice in the third quarter to take a commanding 31-20 lead into the final stanza. In the fourth, Jordon Gandy answered a TSU field goal by going 75 yards on a pass from KD Humphries on the first play of the ensuing drive to give Murray State a 38-23 lead with just under nine minutes to play.

However, Tennessee State was not done as Ronald Butler capped a five play, 62-yard drive with a 13-yard pass to Patrick Smith for a touchdown. The two hooked up again on the two-point conversion that followed, to cut the lead to just seven, at 38-31 with 7:23 to play.

After Murray State could not get anything going on their next offensive drive, TSU drove 53 yards and ate 3:34 of clock time only to miss a 42-yard field goal attempt and give MSU the ball back with 1:47 to go in the contest. With 1:30 left, the Racers faced having to punt the ball and give TSU a final shot at the win on a third-and five at their own 30-yard line. Despite the pressure, KD Humphries completed a pass to Jensen Feggins, who scrambled for the first down to seal back-to-back wins over ranked opponents for Murray State.

About The Tigers
Ronald Butler threw for 329 yards and rushed for 109 more to lead a TSU offense that amassed 555 yards on the day. LaQuarius Cook led the TSU defense with 11 tackles, while David Kamara had eight tackles, 1.0 sacks and 1.5 tackles-for-loss.

KD Doing What KD Does
For the 17^th time in his career and the fourth time this season, senior quarterback KD Humphries passed for at least 300 yards, finishing the day at 27-for-35 for 398 yards and five touchdowns. The redshirt senior completed passes to 10 different receivers on the day and did not throw an interception. Humphries completed six passes of 25 yards or more in the game and had longs of 52 and 75, both of which went for touchdowns.

The Workhorse
Senior receiver Jesse Blackburn scratched out 132 yards Saturday on eight catches, with no play going longer than 30 yards.

Big Play DJ
Junior running back Demetric Johnson caught just two passes Saturday, but made them count as he went for 52 and 39 yards on his two catches and scored touchdowns on both plays, for a new career-high in scores.

Under Pressure
The Murray State defense had a season-high seven quarterback hurries, four of which came from junior Marico Paige, forcing the TSU offense to throw multiple interception for just the second time this season. The Racers came up with two picks in the game, thanks to juniors Nigel Walton and Zach Shipley, to give the unit five interceptions over the past two games.

Defensive Highlights
Senior Toby led Murray State with a season-high 11 tackles in the game, while junior Sean Rodriguez followed with eight. Paige ended his day with five tackles, a sack for a loss of nine yards, 1.5 tackles-for-loss for 11 yards to go along with his four hurries. Zuri Elrington also had a sack in the game, in addition to two tackles, while D'Montre Wade had six tackles, 1.0 for loss and a blocked field goal.

Consistency Counts
For the fourth time this season, Murray State put points on the board in each of the four quarters. With the win, the Racers improve to 3-1 on the year when scoring in each and every quarter.

Back-To-Back Wins
While Murray State records are inconclusive on when the last time the Racers beat two ranked teams in consecutive games, Saturday's win does mark the first time that MSU has won back-to-back-games, regardless of the opponents' rank, since 2013. Murray State has now won three of its last four game on the year.

Up 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.