Racers Battle For Third In Season Finale At Tech

Date (Time): Nov. 19 (1:30 p.m.)
Opponent: Tennessee Tech
Site (Venue): Cookeville, Tenn. (Tucker Stadium)
Audio: Froggy 103.7 FM (PxP: Jeff Waters; Color: Aaron Clayton)
Web Stream: OVCDigitialNetwork.com
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
Twitter In Game: @RacersFootball, @PGriffithMSU
MSU Record (Streak): 4-4, 4-3 OVC (Lost 1)
TTU Record (Streak): 4-6, 4-3 OVC (Won 1
All-Time Series vs. TTU (Streak): Tennessee Tech leads 43-37-1 (Lost 2)
First Meeting: Lost 6-26 (Nov. 7, 1930 in Murray, Ky.)
Last Meeting: Lost 29-31 (Sept 26, 2015 in Murray, Ky.)
MSU Last Game: Lost 15-33 vs. #1 Jacksonville State
TTU Last Game: Won 44-16 at Tennessee State
MSU Next Game: 2017 Season

The Game
Murray State travels to Tennessee tech Saturday for its 2016 finale Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Tucker Stadium in Cookeville. After starting league play 0-2, a win against the Golden Eagles would give the Racers a 5-3 record in the OVC, marking its first winning season in conference action since 2011.

Saturday's Weather
The temps will be in the mid to low 50's for Saturday's game in Cookeville. Precipitation has been given a 25-percent chance and the winds will be at 7 mph out of the ESE.

Last Time Out
Senior quarterback KD Humphries became Murray State's all-time leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns Saturday, despite his team falling to top-ranked Jacksonville State, 33-15, at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray, Kentucky. For the first time this season it was the Racers that drew first blood, as Connor Mitchell gave his team an early 3-0 lead in the second quarter on 45-yard field goal. However, with just 17 seconds left in half, Jax State's Jamari Hester caught a 23-yard pass from Eli Jenkins to give the Gamecocks the lead at the break. Roc Thomas added six to the board for Jacksonville State in the third on a seven yard just to extend the JSU lead to 13-3 headed into the fourth quarter. In the final stanza, JSU almost doubled its offensive output for the game by erupting for three touchdowns on 243 yards to virtually seal the win. Murray State did have two late touchdowns in the game, but it was not enough as JSU held on for the win. The loss for Murray State put an end its three-game win streak, while the win for the Gamecocks clinched at least a share of their third consecutive OVC title.

The Tennessee Tech Series
With two consecutive wins, the Golden Eagles now lead the series with Murray State, 43-37-1. The Racers have lost the past two meetings with MSU by just a total of five points, including an overtime affair in Cookeville in 2014. In Cookeville, Tennessee Tech's lead is more commanding standing at 23 wins to only 15 losses.

Scouting The Golden Eagles
Tennessee Tech moved to 4-6 overall and 4-3 in OVC play last week with a 44-16 win over Tennessee State. Yeedee Thaenrat rushed for 164 yards with a score, while Nick Madonia was 3-for-4 on field goals including a school record 57-yarder in the win. Tennessee Tech currently averages 341.8 yards and 24.1 points per game, while giving up 407.1 and 29.7. The pass currently makes up 67-percent of the Golden Eagle's offensive production at 229.5 yards per game, while their 112.3 yards per game on the ground accounts for the rest. Michael Birdsong has raced up 229.9 yards per game as the quarterback for Tennessee Tech this season, while throwing 14 touchdown passes to just seven interceptions. Thaenrat has averaged 58.9 yards per game on the ground, while Dontez Byrd has been Birdsong's number one target with 73.5 yards per game. Defensively, Josh Poplar leads the way for Tennessee with a team high 9.4 tackles per game, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and a pass breakup.

Battle For Bronze
When the Racers and Golden Eagles meet Saturday, it will be for sole possession of third place in the final OVC standings, as both teams will enter the game with a 4-3 OVC record, an coincidentally a 4-6 overall record. The fact that the two teams are battling to finish in the top third of the league is impressive, given that Tennessee Tech and Murray State were picked seventh and eighth, respectively, to begin the season.

Still Chasing History
After becoming MSU's all-time leader in passing yard and passing touchdowns, the senior has a chance at passing Casey Brockman Saturday for the other two major passing records. He needs just 10 attempts to tie Brockman and 11 to take over in the category, however the taller order will be the 42 to tie and 43 to pass in completions. While it is 13 over his current season average, his career high is 49, which was set this season at Austin Peay. In addition, to passing Brockman in yards, he joined EIU's Jimmy Ga

       Career   Cur.       Needed
Cat.   #   Rank.   Record       Per Gm.
Yds   10,080   1   10,080       ---
Att.   1,395   2   1,405       10
Comp.   898   2   938       42
TD   72   1   72       ---

Gandy's Grab For Records
If he can amass 100 yards against Tennessee Tech, Jordon Gandy will tie Walter Powell for most 100-plus yard games in a season with six. With 11 touchdowns, Gandy is now also fifth all-time in single season touchdowns. He would need three to tie and four to break the 1999 record set by Terrance Tillman.

OK, What's Next?
Murray State will return to the stables where it will look to rebuild during February's signing day and replace the nine seniors on this year's squad.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jordon Gandy

KD Humphries

Connor Mitchell

Murray State University Athletics