Racers Rush Past MVSU In Season Opener

Thursday, September 2

Murray, Ky.

7 p.m.

Murray State

1-0 , 0-0

Mississippi Valley

0-1 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Mississippi Val.

Murray St.

Mississippi Valley State at Murray State
Roy Stewart Stadium - Murray, Ky.
Sept. 2, 2021Mississippi Valley State at Murray State
Roy Stewart Stadium - Murray, Ky.
Sept. 2, 2021

9/3/2021 12:45:00 AM | Football

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MSU tallies first shutout win since 2011

In A Nutshell
The Murray State football team opened up its 97^th season in grand fashion Thursday night with a 35-0 win over Mississippi Valley and Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray, Kentucky.

Fast Facts

The Racers notched their first shutout since 2011 when they beat Mississippi Valley, 39-0, in Itta Benna.
The Racer rushing attack netted 307 yards on the night, marking the first 300-plus yard game for MSU since 2018 and only the second against a Division I opponent since 2011.
Preston Rice tied a school record by scoring four touchdowns to become just the 11^th Racer to accomplish the feat.
Cortezz Jones ruled the rushing attack for Murray State with 107 yards, including a long of 69, and a touchdown.
Mississippi Valley's 162 total offensive yards Thursday is the least allowed by a Racer defense against a Division I opponent since 2004.
Thursday marks just the second time since 2012 that Murray State has scored five rushing touchdowns against a Division I opponent.
The 6,874 fans attendance at The Track Thursday is the most for a Racer home opener since 2012.

Recap
The Racers opened the 2021 season with two first-quarter rushing touchdowns from Preston Rice. Rice would go on to score the next two touchdowns in the second and third quarters, respectively, while Cortezz Jones put the cherry on top for Murray State in the fourth.

Rice was 10-of-16 in the air for 157 yards with one interception Thursday, while adding another 81 on the ground and four touchdowns on the ground. Jones rushed the ball 10 times for 10.7 yards per carry, while Damonta Witherspoon, Rodney Castille and DJ Williams added 49, 46 and 25 yards each to the effort, respectively.

LaMartez Brooks led the MSU receiving corps with 63 yards on four catches, while Witherspoon added 54 yards on three catches to finish the game with 103 all-purpose yards.
Defensively, Jacobi Hearn and Levi Matheny led MSU with five tackles each, while Scotty Humpich and DaVontae McKee had the lone sacks for the Racers in the game. Humpich also notched a game-high 2.0 tackles-for-loss out of a total of seven Thursday Murray State. Hearn, McKee, Maurice Greene and Alec Long finished the game with 1.0 each, while Erica Samuta and Kameron Petty each had 0.5.

Next Game
Murray State faces a big test next Saturday when they travel to FBS No. 8 Cincinnati. Kickoff from historic Nippert Stadium is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT/3:30 p.m. ET with the game being broadcast live on ESPN+.