Racers Out Gain Illinois State But Drop 43-17 Decision

Saturday, September 8

Normal, Ill.

6:30 p.m.

Murray State

Illinois State University

Racers Out Gain Illinois State But Drop 43-17 Decision

9/8/2007 5:00:00 AM | Football

The Murray State Racers made some good things happen in their contest with Illinois State Saturday, including out gaining the home team in total yards, but came out on the wrong end of a 43-17 loss to the Redbirds at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Ill.

The Racers gave up a touchdown on the opening Redbird drive, but came right back in their second drive and scored on a 23-yard touchdown toss from Jeff Ehrhardt to Rod Harper to tie the score at 7-7 with 5:42 remaining in the opening quarter.

On the ensuing ISU drive, MSU linebacker Wade Peters blitzed from the left side and caused Redbird quarterback Luke Drone to fumble the ball. Will Roach recovered at the Murray State 36.

The Racers took the ball all the way to the Illinois State four before settling for a 20-yard field goal from Sean O'Brien with 14:15 in the second quarter. MSU's 10-7 lead marked the first time this season they had pushed in front.

The Redbirds answered when Tom Nelson returned the kickoff 59 yards to the MSU 34. Drone hit Jason Horton on a 31-yard TD pass to put Illinois State in front 14-10 with 12:43 before half.

The Racers drove to the ISU 32 before punting; they were pushed back by a false start penalty.

Illinois State chewed up the next 7:45 and put together an 80 yard drive that ended with a one-yard TD run by Drone for a 20-10 lead with 1:11 before half.

The half ended with Murray State leading the battle for total offense with 234 yards in 39 plays, while Illinois State had 141 yards on 30 plays. The Racers were hurt by special teams and penalties. MSU gave up 106 yards on two kickoff returns and were hit with six penalties.

The third quarter started off bad for MSU when Jason Horton returned the opening kick of the third quarter 64 yards to the Racer 12-yard line. Illinois State faked a field goal and scored a touchdown, but it was nullified by a holding penalty. The Racers got out of it giving up a field goal which made the score 23-10 in favor of Illinois State.

With 10:42 left in the third quarter, Ehrhardt took off on an 18-yard run, followed by another 12 yards from Charlie Jordan to push the ball to the Illinois State 35. The Racers had a fourth and one from the ISU 26, but Paul McKinnis was stopped to end the Racer threat.

Illinois State scored four plays later on a 10-yard run by Rafael Rice to make it a ISU 30-10 lead with 7:25 left in the third quarter.

Murray State got on the board again with an 86 yard drive that ended with 5:19 left when Jordan scored from four yards out.

Ehrhardt ended the game as MSU's leading rusher with 57 yards on 22 carries. Charlie Jordan gained 54 yards on six carries and he also caught five passes for 15 yards. Paul McKinnis rushed for 52 yards on 12 carries.

In the passing department, Ehrhardt was 21 for 36 for 237 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.

DeAngelo Nelson caught three for 62 yards, while Rod Harper caught four passes for 57 yards,

On defense, the Racers were led by Taylor Lanigan who made 13 tackles, seven were solo. Wade Peters and Tamar Butler each made eight tackles.

The final stat sheet showed the Racers out gained the Redbirds 422 total yards to 318.

Game Notes

MSU quarterback Jeff Ehrhardt has gone through his first eight quarters of collegiate football without throwing an interception.

The Racers have come close, but have never been able to win at Illinois State. The Redbirds now lead the all-time series 4-1 with the only Racers win coming at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray, Ky. 32-17 in 2001.

Murray State began the game converting their first four third down tries.

Rod Harper has caught a pass in 18 consecutive games. His touchdown catch tonight was his 11^th at Murray State.

Charlie Jordan's touchdown tonight gives him two for his MSU career.

The Racers are now looking forward to their 2007 home opener at Roy Stewart Stadium. Murray State will host the Lambuth Eagles Saturday, Sep. 15 at 6 p.m. The game will mark the first game played on the new FieldTurf that was installed at the Stadium over the summer.

Lambuth will enter the game with a 1-1 mark after beating Union, Ky. on the road today 48-44. Lambuth began the season with a 44-0 loss at Saint Xavier on Sep. 1.