Story by Keith Jaco
Staff writer
rjaco@murraystate.edu
A close contest quickly turned into a blowout as Murray State football suffered its first conference loss of the season to Jacksonville State University 42-15 on Saturday afternoon.
Third-down conversions were the biggest shortcoming for the Racers in the loss, as Murray State went 0-11 on third downs and was held to just six second-half points.
The afternoon started out promising after a pick-six from sophomore linebacker Anthony Koclanakis cut the lead to 7-6. The Racers found themselves back down quickly, though, as JSU responded with a 9-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Zerrick Cooper to junior wide receiver Josh Pearson.
A pair of missed field goals from each team riddled the second quarter with missed opportunities and not much to show for on the scoreboard. Jacksonville State would add to its lead late, scoring on a one-yard quarterback keeper from Cooper.
Racer senior kicker Gabriel Vicente put one through the uprights just before the half to make it a 21-9 game going into the locker room.
Murray State came out of halftime ready to mount its comeback, as senior cornerback Marquez Sanford recovered a fumble at midfield on JSU’s first play of the second half. Senior quarterback Drew Anderson and company would take advantage of the takeaway, by taking a 17-yard touchdown run to the house for six more, making it a one-touchdown game.
Jacksonville State stayed with its gameplan in the second half and got back to work after its costly fumble. JSU rattled off 21 unanswered points to end the ballgame, leaving its mark in Murray.
On a day where things didn’t click like they had in previous weeks, Vicente snapped his perfect kick streak by missing one field goal as well as two extra points.
Head Coach Mitch Stewart was disappointed with his team’s execution following the loss.
“We didn’t play very well,” Stewart said. “We had a lot of missed opportunities and a lot of things we have to get corrected. Murray State beat Murray State.”
Stewart is excited to get back to work and see how his team responds to their first OVC loss..
“There’s nowhere we can go but up,” Stewart said. “We’re looking forward to Monday, so we can get ourselves back on the right track. I’m not even sure who we play next, but I’ll find out on Monday and we’ll go from there.”
The Racers head into next week with a 4-1 record in conference play and 4-4 overall.
Murray State will face Tennessee Tech University at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3, at Tucker Stadium.