Nick Kendall
Staff Writer
nkendall1@murraystate.edu
Murray State football will head to Tennessee State University for a matchup against the Tigers.
The Racers are coming off a 24-17 victory against the Eastern Illinois University Panthers thanks to a major stop from junior defensive back Cortez Roberts as time expired.
Head Coach Mitch Stewart is always happy with a win, but he wants the offense to provide with consistency.
“They’ve got to be able to play more consistent football, Stewart said. “You go back and look at games where we played well and you look at some games where maybe played well for a half. We gotta get back to trying to create an identity.”
The Tigers are trying to rebound from a 31-23 loss to Jacksonville State last Saturday.
Tennessee State gained 470 total yards for the game, 240 passing and 230 rushing.
Stewart is looking for a way to stop senior wide receiver Chris Rowland, who gained 191 total yards last Saturday, and the rest of the Tiger offense.
“He [Rowland] is as good of a player as you’ll ever find,” Stewart said. “He’s short, but he’s not small, he’s built. He’s a little bowling ball of butcher knives and he’s very shifty.”
Redshirt senior defensive back T.J. Warren also gives props to Rowland and the Tigers as he knows what they are capable of.
“I give my respect to him, he’s a great athlete,” Warren said. “I see that’s who they want to get the ball to. It’s a tough team, they play like us, they love football and they get after it. It’s gonna be a fun game.”
Junior wide receiver DaQuon Green is also ready for the tough matchup.
“The goal is to go there and dominate,” Green said. “Don’t sleep on us. They know we’re gonna come with a fight, so I hope they’ll be ready for it.”
The game starts at 2.pm. on Saturday Oct. 12 at Hale Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.