Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Tennessee State
Players Mentioned
Ranked Racers Host TSU on Dennis Jackson Day
3/18/2021 4:54:00 PM | Football
Murray State returns home with 3-0 record for first time since 1998
Date (Time): Mar. 21 (2 p.m.)
Opponent: Tennessee State
Site (Venue): Murray, Ky. (Roy Stewart Stadium)
Audio: Froggy 103.7 FM (PxP: Neal Bradley; Color: Josh McKeel)
TV: ESPN+ (PxP: Neal Bradley; Color: Josh McKeel)
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
Twitter In Game: @RacersFootball
MUR Record (Streak): 3-0, 3-0 OVC (Won 3)
TSU Record (Streak): 1-2, 1-2 OVC (Won 1)
All-Time Series vs. TSU (Streak): MUR leads 17-13 (Won 4)
All-Time Series in Murray (Streak): MUR leads 11-6 (Won 2)
First Meeting: W 22-7 (Oct. 15, 1988; Murray, Ky.)
Last Meeting: W 31-17 (Oct. 12, 2019, Nashville, Tenn.)
Largest MSU Win: 36 Points [W 50-14] (Nov. 16, 1996; Murray, Ky.)
Largest MSU Loss: 25 Points [L 10-35] (Nov. 22, 2003, Murray, Ky.)
Last Five vs. TSU: 4-1 (WWWWL)
MUR Next Game: Mar. 28 vs. Eastern Illinois
MUR Next Home Game: Mar. 28 vs. Eastern Illinois
The Game
For the first time since 1998, the Murray State football team is 3-0 and for the first time since 2011, it is ranked as well. The 25th-ranked Racers return home Sunday for the first of two consecutive home games to host the Tigers of Tennessee State for Dennis Jackson Day. The game will be aired live Froggy 103.7 FM and ESPN+.
The Series At A Glance
Sunday will be the 31st meeting between Tennessee Tech and Murray State with the Racers leading the all-time series, 17-13 overall and 11-5 in Murray. The Racers have now won each of the past four meetings with TSU and nine of the last 11.
Scouting The Tigers
Tennessee State picked up its first win of the season last week, when Antonio Zita nailed a 35-yarder as time expired to lift the Tigers past Eastern Illinois in Nashville. Earlier in the game, Zita tied the OVC record for longest field goal with a 62-yarder, in addition to a 51-yarder to begin the day.
The Tigers are currently averaging 19.0 points per game on 308.3 yards of total offense, while allowing 28.3 points per game on 376.7 yards. The TSU offense is pass heavy with 212.0 of their 308.3 total yards per game coming in the air. The man primarily putting the ball in the air for the Tigers this season is Isaiah Green. Green is 48-for-62 on the season for 575 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
On the ground, Devon Starling has been a work horse for TSU this season, rushing the ball 49 times for 231 yards for an average of 4.7 yards per carry, 77.0 yards per game and one touchdown with a long rush of 35 yards.
Defensively, Nyle Love has a team-high 26 tackles for TSU, while Davoan Hawkins and Nick Harper have 17 each. Hawkins also has 2.0 sacks and 5.0 tackle-for-loss, with two hurries, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble, while Josh Green and James Green each have an interception.
DJ Day
On Sunday, Murray State will honor the life and legacy of Dennis Jackson by officially naming the Racer Room on the bottom floor of Roy Stewart Stadium in his honor. Jackson, 80, was the first student-athlete to break the color barrier at Murray State in 1961, as a member of both the football and track & field teams. Jackson's #25 will be featured prominently throughout the game, including on the Racers' helmets. Usually wearing their own numbers on one-side of the helmet, for Sunday all players will remove their own numbers and replace them with 25 for the day.
Welcome Back
For the first time since 2011, Murray State will enter a game with a national ranking. The Racers were 25th in this week's STATS PERFORM poll and 24th in the AFCA Coaches' poll. This week's appearance in the STATS PERFORM poll marks MSU's first appearance since September of 2011 and just the second since the final poll of 2002. As for the AFCA poll, this ranking marks the first for MSU in the known history of the poll.
Baum's Away
Last Sunday against Tennessee Tech, Aaron Baum made his way into the MSU history books when he kicked a 55-yard field goal. Baum's kick against the Golden Eagles went down as the third longest in school history, only behind Paul Hickert's school and OVC record 62-yarder in 1986 and Stan Watts 58-yarder in 1971. In a college football rarity, Baum is not the only current Racer kicker in the top five for longest kicks in school history, as Zaden Webber's 53-yarder last season is currently tied with Jeff Lancaster's 53-yarder from 1983.
Back-To-Back
For the second week in a row, a Murray State player was named as OVC Defensive Player of the Week. Eric Samuta earned the award this week, in large part due to his pick-six at Tennessee Tech, while Marcis Floyd earned it last week.
Pick & Run
With three interceptions including two pick-sixes, the Racers set a new school record last Sunday at Tennessee tech for most interception return yards in a single game with 163. The previous record was 139 which was set against Southern Illinois in 2000 on six returns. The Racers performance at TTU eclipsed the old mark by 24 yards in exactly half of the amount of returns.
Through three games this season, Murray State is leading the FCS in turnover margin per game at 2.33. Murray State has recovered two fumbles and picked off 8 passes this season, while only losing the ball three times themselves.
