Racers Mindful Of Progress in Louisville Defeat

Thursday, September 7

Louisville, Ky.

6:30 p.m.

Murray State

1-1 , 0-0

Louisville

2-0 , 1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Murray St.

Louisville

Photo by: Nicole Finch

9/7/2023 9:23:00 PM | Football

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Reed and McGhee make a pair of first half interceptions at UL

The Murray State Racers dropped a 56-0 loss in their 21^st all-time meeting with the Louisville Cardinals Thursday night at L&N Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky.

Louisville scored first on 12-yard run with 10:06 remaining in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead. The Racers were limited to 42 yards of total offense (23 yards on a carry by Cortezz Jones) as the quarter ended with UL in front 7-0. MSU newcomer, Zayteak McGhee, made his first interception as a Racer with 8:58 left in the second quarter, but the MSU defense was hit by two big plays by the Cardinals on a 73-yard pass and a 72-yard run that put the Cardinals in front 28-0 at the halftime intermission after Murray State's KaVan Reed intercepted a pass on the final play.
It was a difficult day for the Murray State on both sides of the ball as the offense managed just 70 yards through the air and held to 166 yards in total.

Game Notes

Ryan Batsch (Sr., LB, Loveland, Ohio) and Jacob Bell (Sr., WR, Vero Beach, Fla.) served as MSU's captains.
The Cardinals won the coin toss and elected to defer and the Racers received the opening kick.
The Racers had two interceptions in the first half by Zayteak McGhee and KaVan Reed.
It marked the first time MSU had two interceptions in a game since Lawaun Powell and Jamari Dailey at Eastern Illinois. (11-20-21) and first time MSU had two in a half since Quinaz Turner and DaVontae McKee in the second half vs Mississippi Valley (09-06-21).
45,273 watched it in Louisville. Last season the Racers played in front of a crowd of 58,823 at Texas Tech (09-03-22).
While not preferring to use the punter 10 times, those reps for MSU's freshman Aussie, Orion Phillips, showed everyone the type of talent he is.
Phillips punted 10 times for an average pf 43.7 yards per punt and booted his longest punt of the season with an effort of 55 yards.
The MSU record for punts in a single game is 13, by Landon Stratton at Jacksonville State in 2017.
With the Thursday game tonight at Louisville, the Racers have more than a week before they take on Middle Tennessee (Sept. 16) in Murfreesboro.
The game marks the Racers' first game with the Blue Raiders since 2000, which was a 44-28 win for the Blue Raiders.
Murray State and Middle Tennessee have a long history dating back to 1927 and later, 49 seasons (1952-98) as rivals in the Ohio Valley Conference.
MSU trails in the all-time series with MTSU 37-30 and are 14-21 all-time at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium.