Racer Football Taken Out By Samford

Saturday, October 14

Murray, Ky.

3 p.m.

Murray State

Samford

10/14/2006 5:00:00 AM | Football

Murray State's football team fell to Samford, 33-7, today in at Stewart Stadium in Murray. The Bulldogs (3-4, 1-3 OVC) held MSU scoreless through three quarters and earned their first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season. The Racers (1-6, 0-4 OVC) turned the ball over six times.

Samford out-gained Murray State on the ground 136-39. Marcus Rice led the ground game with 92 yards on 19 carries. Quarterback Jefferson Adcock added 30 yards on the ground and scored twice. Adcock also completed 10-of-19 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns through the air.

Ryne Salyer came in late in the first half and finished the game with 101 passing yards on 10-of-20. Salyer hooked up with Ben Rush for the only Racer touchdown of the day but also threw two interceptions. Freshman Charlie Jordan ran for 48 yards on 12 carries and caught a game-high eight passes for 55 yards.

Samford wide receiver Freddy Young caught six passes for 43 yards including a touchdown catch a minute into the game. Young also completed a 31-yard pass.

The Bulldogs turned Murray State's six turnovers into 20 points. The Racers turned the ball over on four consecutive possessions, two to end the first half and the first two times the offense took the field in the second half.

Samford benefited from an odd bounce on the opening kickoff and the Bulldogs recovered the ball on the Murray State 10-yard line. Three plays later Adcock connected with Young from 15 yards out to put the visitors in front 7-0.

The Bulldogs forced a punt on the Racers offensive possession but Taylor Lanigan kept Samford out of the end zone when he intercepted a pass at the two-yard line.

Barnard completed four straight passes as MSU moved out to its own 29 yard line but two plays later Barnard was intercepted by Sean Hill and the Bulldogs had the ball back at the MSU 48 yard line.

Samford engineered an eight play, 48 yard drive to go in front 14-0. After a penalty backed up the Bulldogs into their own territory, Rice picked up 19 yards on the ground. Rice would rush for 36 of the 48 yards on the drive. Adcock capped it off with a three yard run to the end zone.

Early in the second quarter Murray State fumbled a punt return and Samford had the ball back at the MSU 45 yard line. Adcock connected with Jeff Moore from 15 yards out for a 20-0 lead. The Racers' Austen Lane blocked the extra point attempt.

On the Bulldogs next possession, Samford finished off a nine play, 86-yard drive with a 21 yard field goal by Shannon Fleming to go out in front 23-0 with 3:30 left in the second quarter.

Barnard drove the Racers 75 yards on their next drive but Samford picked off the redshirt freshman, for the second time, in the end zone. On second down and 24 early in the drive, Barnard completed back-to-back passes. The first went to Lee McGinnis for 11 yards. On third down and 13 Barnard found Dante Woods for 31 yards down to the Samford 37-yard line. On fourth down and one, Jordan took the team down to the Samford 17-yard line with an 11-yard run. On the next play, B.T. Hartloge stopped the drive with an interception.

Adcock completed 8-of 14 passes for 128 yards in the first half. Barnard went 11-of-19 for 93 yards. Rice finished with 42 yards on nine carries in the first half. The Bulldogs out-gained MSU 78-8 on the ground.

Samford turned Murray State's three first half turnovers into 13 points.

Another Murray State turnover, early in the third quarter, led to another Bulldog score. After the Racers lost a fumble on the first play of their first possession of the second half, Adcock led the Bulldogs to a 30-0 advantage. The Samford signal caller ran for eight yards and passed for 14. His one-yard carry finished off the seven play, 45-yard drive.

The Racers got on the board early in the fourth quarter when Salyer finished off a 10 play, 81 yard drive with a 15 yard completion to Rush. Salyer hit Jordan for six yards and Woods for 18 to open the drive and close out the third quarter.

After an incomplete pass, Salyer moved the offense five yards with a completion to Rush and then found Jordan again for a 20-yard completion down to the Samford 32-yard line. Jordan gained 16 yards on back-to-back carries. After an incomplete pass intended for Rush, Salyer connected with his sophomore tight end to cut the deficit to 30-7 with 12:18 left in the game.

Another Fleming field goal, this time from 31 yards, on Samford's next drive capped the scoring for both teams.

Neither team moved the ball out of its own territory on the next three possessions. After forcing an MSU punt Samford took over at its own 34-yard line with 4:09 left on the clock. The Bulldogs handed it to Rice six straight times and sophomore carried the team to the Murray State 29-yard line with an 18-yard gainer. Samford took a knee on the final two plays to run out the clock.

The Racers will take to the road next Saturday to face Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill. The game is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. CT.