After suffering setbacks agianst Floria and Southern Illinois, the Skyhawks torched Murray State (MSU) in UTM’s conference-opening matchup on Saturday, Sept. 28.
The audience at Hardy Graham Stadium, which was full of students and their families enjoying UTM’s Family Weekend, was treated to an offensive spectacle that saw the Skyhawks put up 40 points.
Freshman quarterback (QB) John Bachus III took control of the offense for UTM’s first Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) game of the season. Senior QB Joe Hudson also made an appearance in the game.
Together, the two QB’s combined for 28 completions against 42 attempts for 332 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
While the QB tandem of Bachus and Hudson lit up the scoreboard through the air, the ground game was also a key contributor to UTM’s offensive production.
Junior running back (RB) Peyton Logan led the Skyhawks in rushing yards with 95 net yards and a touchdown. Bachus ranked second behind Bowe in rushing yards with 33 net yards and his own rushing touchdown.
Senior wide receiver (WR) Terry Williams also contributed a rushing touchdown, which was a seven-yard rush to give UTM its initial 7-0 lead. Williams also led the team in receptions with seven for 84 yards.
The receiving core accounted for two touchdowns of their own. Junior WR’s Donnell Williams and Lamarcus Young both recorded touchdowns and combined for 136 yards.
UTM’s offense also stepped up big to support the boys on the offense. Graduate defensive back (DB) Cam Ordway picked off MSU QB Preston Rice in the fourth quarter and a third quarter 43-yard field goal attempt by the Racers was blocked by junior defensive end (DE) Korbin Harmon.
The Skyhawks didn’t allow MSU to accomplish much on the offensive side of the ball. UTM put up 500 yards of total offense while MSU could only muster 267, according to Murray State Athletics.
The Family Weekend crowd made a good impression on UTM head coach Jason Simpson.
“We really appreciated the crowd,” Simpson told Sports Information.
“I really appreciate it. I have an idea – let’s just call every Saturday “Family Day” and get them here. This is a family atmosphere, why would you not want to come to the games here? If we could get this every Saturday, our goals would only go up.”
Following the win, the Skyhawks improve to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in OVC play, making 2019 the second straight year that UTM has opened conference play with a win.
Last year’s OVC slate began with a 37-7 over regional opponent Austin Peay, but was followed up by a 38-45 loss to MSU.
“Tonight was a great win – I am very proud of those guys in that locker room,” Simpson continued. “We left the Southern Illinois game with a bad taste in our mouth knowing we are a better football team than we played like that day. These two weeks, we have ground it out and these guys responded. We made some personnel changes on offense and I’m proud of those guys. It certainly wasn’t as clean as we wanted it to be but I really liked [John Bachus’] calmness and his execution tonight,” Simpson told Sports Information.
The Skyhawks will travel to Richmond, Kentucky, to take on the Eastern Kentucky Colonels (3-2 overall, 1-0 OVC) on Oct. 5, and can be viewed on EPSN3.
