The Skyhawks will conclude their 2014 season with a three game road trip beginning Saturday when they take on the Murray State Racers.
The Skyhawks (4-5, 3-3 OVC) are coming off a 37-7 win over Austin Peay and are currently riding a three game win streak. Quarterback Dylan Favre played most of the game and had 205 passing yards and two touchdowns. Abou Toure had 114 rushing yards and two touchdowns as well.
Murray State (3-5, 1-3 OVC) set a single-game scoring record last week with its 86-29 win over Division II Kentucky Wesleyan. The Racers had 720 yards of total offense, including 408 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. Two weeks ago, the Racers were upset by Austin Peay 20-13.
Murray State brings in one of the top offenses and passing attacks in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Racers lead the OVC in scoring offense, averaging 38 points per game and 41 total touchdowns.
The Racers also have the top passing offense, led by their redshirt sophomore quarterback KD Humphries. Humphries has completed 66 percent of his passes (176-263) and has thrown 14 touchdowns and four interceptions.
However, defense has been a problem for this Murray State team this season. Murray State gives up an average 453 yards per game and has allowed 38 touchdowns this season, both ranked eighth in the OVC. A key matchup will be the against a red-hot Skyhawk rushing attack and the Racer defense,which has allowed an average of 213 yards per game and 23 touchdowns.
In his weekly press conference, UTM head coach Jason Simpson mentioned the importance of attacking on both sides of the ball.
“I think we’re pretty similar, with athletes and players,” said Simpson. “[Murray State] obviously more explosive of offense than we are…obviously we’ve got to get some turnovers, get them in some long yardage…and physically we have got to be able to get points in the red-zone because they’re going to score.”
The Skyhawks have won eight of the last nine meetings between the two rivals, including a high-scoring 66-59 shootout between two former quarterbacks, Derek Carr of the Skyhawks and Casey Brockman of the Racers. The last time these two teams met was at Graham Stadium, where UTM blew out Murray State, 45-17.
Murray State head coach Chris Hatcher emphasized the importance of this rivalry game in his weekly press conference.
“It doesn’t even matter what they’ve done at this point, our goal is to go out there and play well because they’ve done whooped us three years in a row.”
UTM and Murray State will meet for the 54th time this Saturday at Roy Stewart Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
