Murray State University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Racers Begin Final Month Of Season With TTU
10/31/2019 10:00:00 AM | Football
Date (Time): Nov. 2 (1 p.m.)
Opponent: Tennessee Tech
Site (Venue): Murray, Ky. (Roy Stewart Stadium)
Audio: Froggy 103.7 FM (PxP: Neal Bradley; Color: Jeff Waters)
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
Twitter In Game: @RacersFootball
MUR Record (Streak): 4-5 [2-3 OVC] (Lost 2)
TTU Record (Streak): 4-4 [1-3 OVC] (Lost 3)
All-Time Series vs. TTU (Streak): Golden Eagles lead 46-38-1 (Lost 1)
All-Time Series in Murray (Streak): Racers lead 22-18-01 (Won 1)
First Meeting: W 23-17 OT (Oct. 4, 2003; Murray, Ky.)
Last Meeting: L 15-42 (Oct. 27, 2018, Murray, Ky.)
Last Five vs. TTU: 1-4 (LWLLL)
MUR Next Game: Nov. 16 vs. Austin Peay
MUR Next Home Game: Nov. 16 vs. Austin Peay
The Game
The Murray State football team will head into Saturday's game with Tennessee Tech looking to snap a two-game skid, while the Golden Eagles will look to put an end to a three-game losing streak of their own. The game kicks off the final four weeks of the 2019 season for the Racer, with the bye looming next week. After the bye week, the Racers will host Austin Peay in a First Financial Bank Battle of the Border match-up on the Nov. 16, followed by the season finale at southeast Missouri on Nov. 23.
Saturday's Weather
Saturday is shaping up to be the coldest game of the season with a high of just 50 and winds as high as 13 mph out of the northwest. The good news is no rain is expected during the game, however the skies will be partly cloudy.
Last Time Out
The Murray State football team held No. 21 Jacksonville State scoreless for nearly the final 40 minutes of Saturday's game, however, a field goal that came up short as time expired left the Racers on the wrong end of a 14-12 decision.
The Racers held JSU scoreless for nearly the entire first quarter until Zion Webb hit Jamari Hester for a 45-yard touchdown to give the Gamecocks a 7-0 lead with 15 seconds left in the opening stanza. Webb added another touchdown minutes later to give the Gamecocks a 14-0 lead in what would be there last score of the game. Unfortunately, for MSU, despite the play of the defense, the offense struggled to find the end zone.
The Racers finally broke through at the end of the third when Preston Rice led Murray State on a 10 play, 95-yard drive that was capped off by a two-yard rush from Rice. In the middle of the fourth, after Steve Dawson pinned JSU at the four-yard line with a 40-yard punt, T.J. Warren came up with his second safety of the season to make it 14-9. Just minutes later, the Racers cut the deficit to just two when Zaden Webber hit the longest field goal by a Racer since 1983 when he converted on a 53-yarder.
After forcing the Gamecocks to punt, MSU got the ball back with 1:42 left in the contest. Twice on the drive the Racers faced third-and-ten and fourth-and-ten and twice Rice rushed for first downs to extend the drive. Finally, with five seconds left, Webber attempted a 51-yarder to win the game, but it came up short, allowing JSU to hold on for the win.
Rice finished the game 24-for-46 for 231 yards, while LaMartez Brooks tallied his third 100-yard game of the season with four catches for 100 yards. Defensively, Kendrick Catis had eight tackles with an interception, while TJ Warren had seven tackles and a safety.
The Tennessee Tech Series
Saturday will be the 85th meeting between the two teams with Tennessee Tech leading the all-time series, 45-38-1. The Golden Eagles picked up the latest win in the series last year when they picked up their first win of the season, edging the Racers, 27-24. Despite trailing in the all-time series, the Racers lead the in games played in Murray, 22-18-1.
Scouting The Golden Eagles
After jumping out to a 7-0 lead last Saturday against Austin Peay, the Golden Eagles allowed the Govs to score 41 unanswered points and put up over 600 yards of offense en route to a 58-21 defeat. The loss drops Tennessee Tech, who began the season at 4-1, to 4-4 on the year and 1-3 in OVC. After a tough double overtime loss to SEMO in week six, the Golden Eagles have had a tough go of it in their last two games, losing to Austin Peay and UT Marin by a combined score of 113-35.
Quarterback Bailey Fisher has thrown for 1,905 yards this season with 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions with his leading target, freshman Metrius Fleming, tallying over a quarter of those yards on his own for 521 on 36 catches with two touchdowns. On the ground, Fisher and Fleming have combined for 10 of TTU's 12 rushing scores with eight for Fisher and two for Fleming. David Gist currently leads the Golden Eagle running game with 300 yards and a touchdown on 65 carries.
Aderick Moore has done a little bit of everything for Tennessee Tech this season on defense as he leads the team with 64 tackles in addition two 1.0 sacks, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, two forced fumbles, an interception and a pass breakup. Henry Karlmu currently leads the Golden Eagles in sacks on the year with 4.0, while Chris Tucker leads in tackles-for-loss at 8.0.
The Century Club
With 100 yards against Jacksonville State, LaMartez Brooks became the 15th receiver in Racer history to notch three or more 100-plus yard games in the same season. The record for most 100-plus yard games in a season is currently six and was set by Walter Powell in 2012.
The Big Boot
When Zaden Webber made a 53-yard field goal last week at JSU, it became the longest by a MSU kicker in 36 years and placed him in the top five of longest field goals ever.
Kicker                                 Dist.      Opp.     Date
1. Paul Hickert                  63          EKU       10/14/86
2. Stan Watts                   58          WKU     11/20/71
3. Stan Watts                   53          WCU     9/11/71
   Jeff Lancaster 53          SEMO   9/3/83
   Zaden Webber             53          JSU        10/26/19
We Can Dance If You Want To
After Saturday's game at JSU, TJ Warren was probably doing his own safety dance as he recorded his second safety of the season in the game. The two safeties by the Racers in 2019 marks just the fourth-time in known history that MSU has recorded two safeties in the same season. The first time was in 1997, followed by 1999, 2009 and now 2019.
