Gage Johnson
Sports Editor
gjohnson17@murraystate.edu
Looking for its third-straight win, Murray State football will take on Eastern Kentucky University during Murray State’s 2019 Homecoming.
The Racers are coming off a 31-17 victory over Tennessee State University that moved them to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
Murray State was able to get the job done with a solid performance on both sides of the field. While he threw one interception, redshirt sophomore quarterback Preston Rice threw for three touchdowns and 277 yards on 24-for-44 passing attempts. Head Coach Mitch Stewart and company were also able to establish a solid run game, with the team running for 254 yards.
On the defensive end, the Racers forced three interceptions and two fumbles. With the absence of now-Jacksonville Jaguar linebacker Quincy Williams, senior linebacker Kendrick Catis and junior linebacker Anthony Kocklanakis have picked up the slack by leading the team in tackles with 49 and 68, respectively.
While Defensive Coordinator Jake Johnson said he probably wouldn’t have predicted that the two would be on pace to put up numbers like Williams did in his senior season, he’s known that they were capable of controlling things on the defensive end.
“They both started for us last year and they both had great offseasons,” Johnson said. “I don’t really look at [statistics] too much. I know they’re both good football players and good leaders for us. To be as good as Quincy right there in that pace (for 100 tackles each), he did a lot of good things for us last year so I probably wouldn’t have thought that.”
The Colonels are coming off of a 38-28 loss to UT Martin, which put them at 3-3 overall and 1-1 in OVC play.
EKU was able to score each quarter, but were unable to stop the Skyhawks’ run game. UT-Martin’s running backs flew past the Colonels for 234 total yards and four rushing touchdowns.
Despite that defensive performance, the Colonels own the second best ranking in the OVC for total defense and have the best scoring defense in the country. So Offensive Coordinator Nick Coleman knows the Racers have to come prepared.
“They’re a good football team,” Coleman said. “Statistically they’re really good on defense. They do a great job getting to the ball and stuff like that, so we have to come out ready to play offensively.”
Murray State will take the field for the Homecoming matchup with EKU at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19, at Roy Stewart Stadium.