Murray State University Athletics
100 Years of Football – First Stewart Stadium Game 1973
6/24/2024 2:16:00 PM | Football
Under Hall of Fame Coach Bill Fergerson – Opening night began a home win streak that didn’t end until 1975
As Murray State Athletics celebrates the 100th season in football history, the Racer Report Podcast and the Runnin' with the Racers Podcast are revisiting some of the great moments in the previous
99 seasons.
Visit Racers Podcast Central to find both podcasts and the Racer Report LIVE Podcast that begins the week of the Racers' 100th season opener at Missouri (Aug. 29) which is the first game for Murray State head coach Jody Wright. Racers Podcast Central can be found wherever you find podcasts, but especially GoRacers.com, iTunes and Spotify.
After breaking ground in 1969, the Racers were ready to play football in their new home, Roy Stewart Stadium on Sept. 15, 1973 and a crowd of 12,000 was there to watch.
One thing was certain, the Racers didn't bring in an easy mark for a win, they welcomed the Western Carolina Catamounts, the No. 9 team in the nation.
The official stat book records Western Carolina won the coin toss and elected to take the ball first. However, they fumbled inside their own 5-yard line and it was recovered by Murray State's Dan Helfich.
The story of the first MSU touchdown was written moments later when quarterback Tom Pandolfi punched it in.
"Weston Carolina fumbled the ball at the 1-yard line, and coach sent in the play for me to get the handoff," running back Don Clayton recalled. "It was supposed to be dive play to me, but Pandolfi decided he was going to run a quarterback sneak. He laughed the whole time he was doing it! He always reminded of that me years later! We had fun with it. At that time, it kind of rubbed me the wrong way for a second, but then I thought about it. Hey, we won the game. It was our stadium right from the start, we didn't get to smell the grass, but everything else was perfect for us."
Having never played on any surface other than natural grass, the new artificial turf at Roy Stewart Stadium thrust the Racers into the future of game. The artificial surfaces of 2024 are much easier on elbows and knees as the players found out the hard way in the early 70's.
"The difference between natural grass and the new turf caused us to wear pads on the elbows and the knees," said Mark Lacy, MSU offensive lineman. "We had many, many turf burns."
Marty Strauss, who played tight end remembers the close games the Racers played in those first two seasons as the team went 6-0 in games decided by five or fewer points.
"It was amazing, we won several games at the last minute and it was awesome," Strauss recalled. "We had never been in front of a crowd that size."
Rob Stanfa's memory of opening night is different. Because he was a freshman and wasn't dressing out for the game.
"I was the first in my family to go to college and had never been to college, let alone a college football game," Stanfa said. "I was blown away. I mean, I felt like I was in the NFL, whatever that meant at that time, I was just glad to be there. I didn't realize what I was about to encounter that night. There were so many emotional things involved for me with that first game, that it's difficult to describe all of them."
The Racers led 15-13 at the intermission after Don Wright, likely the first Canadian to play for Racer football booted a 31-yard field goal.
The Racers came back to take the lead twice with the deciding play coming on a Pandolfi 56-yard pass to Bill Farrell to set the Racers up for the winning touchdown with 7:49 to play and ultimately a 27-25 victory.
The Racers and Catamounts were tied at the end of the game with 360 total yards each. MSU's Tom Johnson picked off the first pass for the Racers as he recorded the first MSU interception in the mid second quarter. Hall of Famer, Clayton rushed for 111 yards on 20 carries and Pandolfi completed 16-of-23 pass for 220-yards. Scotty Crump led the Racers by catching seven of those Pandophi passes for 70 yards.
History shows the Racers were ready to play in this palace as Coach Fergerson wished.
Speaking on the day ground was broken for the stadium in 1969, Fergerson became emotional about finally seeing the construction of a new home for Racer Football.
"There's been a lot blood, sweat and tears go into this thing," Fergerson stated. "We thought we lost it so many times. Our football people are going to do everything we can to try and prove they deserve this facility.""
After beating the Catamounts, the Racers closed out September with over Tennessee Tech, 18-17 and Morehead State, 30-16. MSU beat Eastern Kentucky on homecoming day, 21-20 and then Austin Peay, 31-19 in early November. In 1974, the Racers were undefeated at home again in six games. After a 35-27 victory over Cameron in the opener, they took care of UT Martin, 14-6 to start October. They finished the month with victories over Middle Tennessee, 14-12 and East Tennessee, 17-3. MSU made it 11-straight wins with wins over Eastern Illinois, 13-0 and Western Kentucky 13-0.
The Racers carried that 11-game run into the 1975 opener against the same Western Carolina team the streak against. In a close game, the Racers' home win streak was stopped in a 16-9 defeat to the Catamounts.
Once it was decided the Racers would leave Carlisle Cutchin Stadium, which had served them well for 38 seasons (1934-72), the decision of naming Roy Stewart it Stadium was easy. Serving Murray State Athletics from 1932-67, Stewart was head football coach for 12 seasons and also served other years as director of athletics. His 60 wins is tops at Murray State along with Coach Bill Fergerson who matched it.
Stewart was a founding father of the Ohio Valley Conference in 1948. He was inducted into the Murray State Hall of Fame in 1971 and to the OVC Hall of Fame in 1977.
Follow the Racers on Twitter (@MSURacers), Instagram (@RacersAthletics) and Facebook to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Murray State Athletics. Follow Murray State Football on Twitter and Instagram (@RacersFootball).
99 seasons.Visit Racers Podcast Central to find both podcasts and the Racer Report LIVE Podcast that begins the week of the Racers' 100th season opener at Missouri (Aug. 29) which is the first game for Murray State head coach Jody Wright. Racers Podcast Central can be found wherever you find podcasts, but especially GoRacers.com, iTunes and Spotify.
After breaking ground in 1969, the Racers were ready to play football in their new home, Roy Stewart Stadium on Sept. 15, 1973 and a crowd of 12,000 was there to watch.
One thing was certain, the Racers didn't bring in an easy mark for a win, they welcomed the Western Carolina Catamounts, the No. 9 team in the nation.
The official stat book records Western Carolina won the coin toss and elected to take the ball first. However, they fumbled inside their own 5-yard line and it was recovered by Murray State's Dan Helfich.
The story of the first MSU touchdown was written moments later when quarterback Tom Pandolfi punched it in.
"Weston Carolina fumbled the ball at the 1-yard line, and coach sent in the play for me to get the handoff," running back Don Clayton recalled. "It was supposed to be dive play to me, but Pandolfi decided he was going to run a quarterback sneak. He laughed the whole time he was doing it! He always reminded of that me years later! We had fun with it. At that time, it kind of rubbed me the wrong way for a second, but then I thought about it. Hey, we won the game. It was our stadium right from the start, we didn't get to smell the grass, but everything else was perfect for us."
Having never played on any surface other than natural grass, the new artificial turf at Roy Stewart Stadium thrust the Racers into the future of game. The artificial surfaces of 2024 are much easier on elbows and knees as the players found out the hard way in the early 70's.
"The difference between natural grass and the new turf caused us to wear pads on the elbows and the knees," said Mark Lacy, MSU offensive lineman. "We had many, many turf burns."
Marty Strauss, who played tight end remembers the close games the Racers played in those first two seasons as the team went 6-0 in games decided by five or fewer points.
"It was amazing, we won several games at the last minute and it was awesome," Strauss recalled. "We had never been in front of a crowd that size."
Rob Stanfa's memory of opening night is different. Because he was a freshman and wasn't dressing out for the game.
"I was the first in my family to go to college and had never been to college, let alone a college football game," Stanfa said. "I was blown away. I mean, I felt like I was in the NFL, whatever that meant at that time, I was just glad to be there. I didn't realize what I was about to encounter that night. There were so many emotional things involved for me with that first game, that it's difficult to describe all of them."
The Racers led 15-13 at the intermission after Don Wright, likely the first Canadian to play for Racer football booted a 31-yard field goal.
The Racers came back to take the lead twice with the deciding play coming on a Pandolfi 56-yard pass to Bill Farrell to set the Racers up for the winning touchdown with 7:49 to play and ultimately a 27-25 victory.
The Racers and Catamounts were tied at the end of the game with 360 total yards each. MSU's Tom Johnson picked off the first pass for the Racers as he recorded the first MSU interception in the mid second quarter. Hall of Famer, Clayton rushed for 111 yards on 20 carries and Pandolfi completed 16-of-23 pass for 220-yards. Scotty Crump led the Racers by catching seven of those Pandophi passes for 70 yards.
History shows the Racers were ready to play in this palace as Coach Fergerson wished.
Speaking on the day ground was broken for the stadium in 1969, Fergerson became emotional about finally seeing the construction of a new home for Racer Football.
"There's been a lot blood, sweat and tears go into this thing," Fergerson stated. "We thought we lost it so many times. Our football people are going to do everything we can to try and prove they deserve this facility.""
After beating the Catamounts, the Racers closed out September with over Tennessee Tech, 18-17 and Morehead State, 30-16. MSU beat Eastern Kentucky on homecoming day, 21-20 and then Austin Peay, 31-19 in early November. In 1974, the Racers were undefeated at home again in six games. After a 35-27 victory over Cameron in the opener, they took care of UT Martin, 14-6 to start October. They finished the month with victories over Middle Tennessee, 14-12 and East Tennessee, 17-3. MSU made it 11-straight wins with wins over Eastern Illinois, 13-0 and Western Kentucky 13-0.
The Racers carried that 11-game run into the 1975 opener against the same Western Carolina team the streak against. In a close game, the Racers' home win streak was stopped in a 16-9 defeat to the Catamounts.
Once it was decided the Racers would leave Carlisle Cutchin Stadium, which had served them well for 38 seasons (1934-72), the decision of naming Roy Stewart it Stadium was easy. Serving Murray State Athletics from 1932-67, Stewart was head football coach for 12 seasons and also served other years as director of athletics. His 60 wins is tops at Murray State along with Coach Bill Fergerson who matched it.
Stewart was a founding father of the Ohio Valley Conference in 1948. He was inducted into the Murray State Hall of Fame in 1971 and to the OVC Hall of Fame in 1977.
Follow the Racers on Twitter (@MSURacers), Instagram (@RacersAthletics) and Facebook to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Murray State Athletics. Follow Murray State Football on Twitter and Instagram (@RacersFootball).
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