Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Southeast Missouri (Family Weekend)
Players Mentioned
Racers To Open OVC Play With SEMO at Home
9/19/2016 10:45:00 AM | Football
Date (Time): Sept. 24 (6 p.m.)
Opponent: Southeast Missouri
Site (Venue): Murray, Ky. (Roy Stewart Stadium)
Audio: Froggy 103.7 FM (PxP: Neal Bradley; Color: Josh McKeel)
Web Stream: ESPN3/WatchESPN.com (PxP: Bob Belvin; Color: Kevin Ingram)
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
Twitter In Game: @RacersFootball, @PGriffithMSU
MSU Record (Streak): 0-3 (Lost 3)
SEMO Record (Streak): 0-3 (Lost 3)
All-Time Series vs. SEMO (Streak): Murray State leads 39-10-1 (Lost 1)
First Meeting: Won 3-0 (Oct. 29, 1926 in Murray, Ky.)
Last Meeting: Lost 10-27 (Oct. 3, 2003 in Cape Girardeau, Mo.)
MSU Last Game: Lost 17-50 at Southern Illinois
SEMO Last Game: Lost 24-27 vs. Indiana State
MSU Next Game: Oct 1. at Austin Peay
MSU Next Home Game: Oct. 15 vs. UT Martin
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The Game
Murray State opens is 69th season of OVC football with Southeast Missouri Saturday at 6 p.m. at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and WatchESPN.com.
Saturday's Weather
The high during the day Saturday is predicted to be 89 degrees, with just a 13-percent chance of rain, despite a fair amount of clouds. However, the forecast for the evening is less promising with temps expected in the mid-70's, rain predicted at 52-percent and a chance of thunderstorms in spots. Winds, however, will be calm coming out of the N at just 4 mph.
Last Time Out
For the second straight game, the Murray State football team got down early in the contest and could not recover, falling 50-17 to Southern Illinois Saturday at Saluki Stadium in Carbondale. D. J. Davis ran back the game's opening kickoff for a touchdown to give SIU the early 7-0 lead. The Salukis would go on to add a field goal and another touchdown, to put the Racers in a 17-0 hole with just under eight minutes to play in the opening stanza. Murray State would add a touchdown and field goal of its own in the quarter, but couldn't score in the second quarter and would never be able to recover from the 38-10 halftime deficit.
Jordon Gandy led the MSU offense by notching over 100 receiving yards and a touchdown for the second consecutive game. He finished Saturday with three catches for a career-high 106 yards with his touchdown coming on a 64-yard pass from Cameron Birse. Rushing wise, Mareio McGraw led the team with 78 yards on five carries and a touchdown. On his first touch of the game, McGraw carried the ball 68 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
On special teams, Landon Stratton began the game with a career-long 78 yard punt and would only build from there. He finished the night with a career-high tying eight punts for a career high 395 yards, placing three punts inside the 20-yard line and having three punts go a distance of 50 yards or more. He also set a new career high for per punt average with 49.4 yards per punt. Defensively, D'Montre Wade and Zachary Wade led the MSU defense with nine tackle each on Saturday night. D'Montre also added five pass breakups on the night, while Zachary had a fumble recovery.
The Southeast Missouri Series
While the Racers own an overwhelming 39-10-1 advantage in the all-time series and a 21-3 series lead at home, recent results have favored the Redhawks. Southeast Missouri has split the last 10 meetings with Murray State, accounting for exactly half of its all-time series wins in the 50-game series that dates back to 1926 and began occurring annually in 1976 sans two years off in 1990 and 1991.
Scouting The Redhawks
Like the Racers, SEMO will enter Saturday's game at 0-3 overall after suffering a 27-24 loss at home against Indiana State last week. The Sycamores scored two touchdowns with just three minutes left in the game, including one with only 10 second left in regulation to overcome a 24-13 fourth quarter deficit.
Jesse Hosket was 16-for-25 for 214 yards in the air, while three different rushers scored to lead SEMO's 166 yards on the ground. Kendall Donnerson led his team defensively on the night with nine tackles, 3.0 of which were for a loss of 16 yards, 1.0 sack for a loss of 10 yards, one forced fumble and one quarterback hurry.
Southeast Missouri is currently averaging 144.0 rushing and yards per game and 198.7 passing yards per game and are currently being outscored by their opponents, 30.7 points per game to 21.0. Hosket is currently averaging 198.7 yards per game at quarterback with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Kristian Wilkerson has been has lead receiver thus far with 191 yards on 12 catches and one touchdown. On the ground, Will Young leads the way with 234 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, Roper Garrett is once again doing big things for SEMO with a team-high 23 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, an interception, a pass breakup, a quarterback hurry and a fumble recovery.
Coach To Cure
Coach To Cure MD is a one-day, nationwide awareness building and fundraising event that will be held on September 24, 2016. The goal of Coach To Cure MD is to raise awareness of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne, pronounced "DOO-SHIN"), generate new financial support for Duchenne research and to demonstrate coaches' commitment to the betterment of young men and the core academic research missions of their universities. College football coaches all over the country have been asked to wear a patch with the Coach To Cure MD insignia on Saturday, September 24th. By wearing this patch, coaches will show their support for Coach To Cure MD and the fight against this disease. On Saturday, Hunter Shaw, who suffers from DMD, and his family will be the guests of the Racer and will conduct the opening coin toss.Â
OVC Openers
Murray State is 29-39 all-time in OVC openers and is 16-17 when the opener takes place in Murray. When SEMO entered the league in 1992, the two teams met every year as each's OVC opener until 1999. Since then, they have met just once in an OVC opener, with SEMO besting with Racers at home in 2010. Murray State is now 9-2 all-time in OVC openers vs. the Redhawks and 5-1 in Murray.
Mr. 100
With 104 yards against Missouri State and 106 at SIU, Jordon Gandy has now hit the century mark in back-to-back-game. With 246 total yards and 86.0 yards per game he is currently ranked second in the OVC in both categories. He is also ranked 13th in the nation and first in the OVC in receiving touchdowns with three.
Special Specialists
Connor Mitchell currently leads the OVC and is ranked 13th in the nation field goals per game at 1.7, while he is also 22nd in the nation and second in the OVC in field goal percentage at 83.3 percent (5-for-6). Meanwhile, Landon Stratton currently boast the nation's 25th highest punt average and third best in the league at 41.5 yards per punt.
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      7,861  3         9,990  266.13
Att.     1,099  4         1,405  38.3   Â
Comp. 710     2         938     28.5
TDÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â 52Â Â Â Â Â Â Â T-2Â Â Â Â Â Â 71Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 2.4
Up Next
Murray State will make the short drive to Clarksville for a meeting with rival, Austin Peay. Kickoff from Fortera Stadium is scheduled for 4 p.m.
