Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Middle Tennessee
Racers Fall to Blue Raiders in Weather-Shorted Contest
9/6/2026 1:42:00 AM | Football
Severe weather halts Racers' late fourth-quarter drive to end storm-delayed contest at MTSU.
The Murray State Racers (0-2) fell to the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (0-1) in a rain-shortened contest on a stormy night in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
The game was called with 11:01 remaining in the fourth quarter at 1 a.m. on Sunday in the midst of a two-hour, 40-minute delay, the third prolonged delay of the night. At the time of the delay, the Racers were driving in the Blue Raiders' red zone, with Jim Ogle having just completed a pass to Jaxon Potter for a first down on the 19-yard line. A targeting penalty was called on the play that could have placed the Racers on the 4-yard line; however, play was officially halted during the ensuing review.
Ogle and Collin Shannon both saw time under center, with Ogle finishing 11 of 16 for 118 yards and Shannon completing 2 of 6 for 26 yards. Tyrell Campbell led a productive Murray State rushing attack, as the London, Ontario, native put up 75 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. Mykel Allen had 48 yards on 12 carries, and Jawaun Northington chipped in eight yards and a touchdown on three carries.
Dimitri Howard was the leading receiver for the Racers with 49 yards on three catches and added 80 yards on four returns despite having a kickoff-return touchdown called back in the second quarter. Trey Firestone contributed 42 yards on two catches, and Jaxon Potter continued his productive start to the season with 32 yards on four catches.
After the Racers failed to score on the opening drive of the game, Middle Tennessee got the scoring started as Roman Gagliano hit Neo Clifton on a 10-yard touchdown pass to cap off a 7-play, 56-yard drive. The Blue Raiders increased their lead on another Gagliano touchdown pass, this time to Cam'ron Lacy with 27 seconds left in the first quarter, to give MTSU a 14-0 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
After forcing a turnover on downs with 11:03 to go in the second quarter, the Racers embarked on a 9-play, 84-yard drive capped off by a 46-yard touchdown run by Tyrell Campbell to get Murray State on the board and make it 14-7. After a field goal and another touchdown for Gagliano put the Blue Raiders ahead 24-7, Jawaun Northington scored his first touchdown of 2026 on a dive out of the wildcat formation to cut the deficit to 24-14. Middle Tennessee added another pair of touchdowns on a 15-yard run by Terrence Brown Jr. and a fumble recovery before weather brought the contest to an end.
For the game, Murray State generated 275 total yards of offense, compiling 144 passing yards and 131 rushing yards. Middle Tennessee finished with 362 total yards, posting 218 passing yards and 144 on the ground. The Racers committed two turnovers on the night, while the defense forced one turnover on downs.
In total, the game was delayed for four hours and 15 minutes across three separate weather delays.
Up Next
The Racers return home to host the Valparaiso Beacons of the Pioneer Football League on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 6 p.m. CT at Rudolph Family Field at Roy Stewart Stadium.
