Racers Fall In Season Finale At TTU

Saturday, November 19

Cookeville, Tenn.

1:30 p.m.

Murray State

4-7 , 4-4

Tennessee Tech

5-6 , 5-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Murray St.

Tennessee Tech

Photo by: Tab Brockman

11/19/2016 11:02:00 PM | Football

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

Just The Facts
The Murray State football team fell to Tennessee Tech, 55-19, in the final game of the 2016 season for both games at Saturday Tucker Stadium in Cookeville, Tennessee

The Turning Point
Tennessee Tech put the Racers in a hole early in the game, by taking a 20-0 lead. However, Murray State stayed in the game with two field goals by Connor Mitchell to cut the lead to 20-6 with just 1:33 left in the half. However, the Golden Eagles were able to go 75 yards in just one minute and five seconds to push the lead to 27-6. On the ensuing MSU drive, Tennessee Tech picked off KD Humphries and returned the interception for a touchdown to take a 34-6 lead that the Racers would never be able to recover from.

About The Golden Eagles
Michael Birdsong was 18-for-25 for 278 yards and three touchdowns to lead Tennessee Tech, while Dontez Byrd caught 14 passes for 198 yards and two scores. Yeedee Thaenrat led the TTU rushing attack with 118 yards and touchdown, while Birdsong added another 65 yards. Josh Poplar led the TTU defense with a game-high 11 tackles, while Maleek Hall and Deven Sullivan each had an interception, the last of which was returned for a touchdown. Hall later entered the game on offense and rushed five yards for a touchdown, on his lone touch of the game.

Alone At The Top
In his final game in the blue and gold, quarterback KD Humphries was 42-for-63 for 378 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. With 42 completions and 63 attempts Saturday, Humphries became MSU's all-time leader in each of those categories and now holds all four career passing records for the Racers. Humphries finishes his stellar MSU career with 940 completions on 1458 attempts for 10,458 yards and 73 touchdowns.

Going Out On A High Note
Mitch Stults racked up a career-high 98 yards on six catches to lead MSU's receivers Saturday, while Jordon Gandy added 78 yards and Jesse Blackburn tallied 57. Malik Golson had just 24 yards on four catches in the game, but had only receiving touchdown of the game for Murray State.

Goodbye Old Friends
Murray State said goodbye to eight seniors Saturday: wide receiver Jesse Blackburn, defensive lineman Zuri Elrington, wide receiver Malik Golson, quarterback KD Humphries, linebacker Jonathan Jackson, kicker Conner Mitchell, defensive back Toby Omli and wide receiver Mitch Stults. Omli led the MSU defense with nine tackles Saturday, while Jackson had seven and Elrington had five. Mitchell was 2-for-2 on field goal attempts in the game, hitting from 33 and 38 yards out.

2016 Season Wrap Up
The Racers, who started the season 0-4, finished their second season under head coach Mitch Stewart at 4-7 overall and 4-4 in the OVC, which put them in a tie for fifth place.