Racers Victorious in Historic MVFC Opener

The Murray State Racers defeated the Indiana State Sycamores 30-28 Saturday in their first Missouri Valley Football Conference game at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray, Kentucky.

The victory for the Racers (2-2) came in front of a crowd of 13,213, the 15^th largest in Stewart Stadium history and the largest in the history of MSU Family Weekend.

The Racers began the game by scoring a safety by Caldra Williford and ended it with putting the game away with a 37-yard scoring pass from DJ Williams to Cole Rusk. Chris Hill, Jr. gave the MSU defense another big play when he grabbed a batted pass by CJ Barnes and took it 32 yards for a touchdown to start the second half.

Cortezz Jones led the Racers on the ground with 70 yards rushing on 15 carries, while Williams hit on 11-of-17 passing for 157 yards and pushed his streak of attempts without an interception to 112. Rusk caught five passes for 58 yards.

Next up for the Racers is their first road game in MVFC play with a Saturday (Oct. 7) contest against the South Dakota Coyotes. The 2 p.m. Central Time kickoff is played at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, S.D. The Racers return for homecoming (Oct. 14) against the Southern Illinois Salukis.

Game Notes

Murray State becomes the eighth MVFC team to play its first conference game after the league's inaugural season in 1985.
The announced crowd of 13,213 is the 15^th largest crowd in Stewart Stadium history. The Racers' home field is in its 51^st season.
Orion Phillips' 67-yard punt at the end of MSU's opening drive is the second-longest of the season in the MVFC. The longest of 71 yards came from Illinois State's Ian Wagner at Eastern Illinois.
Phillips' punt was the longest for MSU since Louis Halton had a 67-yard kick against Jacksonville State on April 11, 2021 at Stewart Stadium. This was the 2020 season that was postponed and eventually played in spring 2021.
Caldra Williford tackled Cade Chambers for the safety with 12:03 remaining in the first quarter 1Q. It marked the Racers' first since a game last season against UT Martin (10-8-22).
When Chris Hill., Jr., scored on an interception to start the third quarter, it marked MSU's first since Marcis Floyd vs Austin Peay (11-06-21).
In offensive big plays (of 15-yards or more passing or 10-yards or more in rushing) the Racers produced seven such plays, led by 41-yard pass from Williams to Michael Fox in the first quarter and the longest run of the night, a 20-yarder by Cortezz Jones also in the first quarter.
The Racers are 11-13 since 2001 when coming off an open week and have won their last three under Coach Dean Hood.
Hood wins his 15^th game at Murray State and his 70^th overall as a head coach.
MSU's win streak at Stewart Stadium is now four after they defeated Presbyterian in the season opener and Tennessee State and Robert Morris in the final home games of 2022.
The Racers are back at home (Oct. 14) on homecoming against Southern Illinois.
Murray State's captains today were Kanyon Walker (Sr., FS, Leesburg, Fla.) and Cole Williamson (Sr., LG, Carrollton, Ga.).

Murray State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

CJ Barnes

Marcis Floyd

Michael Fox

Chris Hill, Jr.

Cortezz Jones

Orion Phillips

Cole Rusk

Kanyon Walker

DJ Williams

Cole Williamson

Caldra Williford

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