Murray State
Illinois State
Racers Fall in Tough Battle With Illinois State
9/13/2008 5:00:00 AM | Football
The Murray State defense put together one of its best efforts in recent games as Austen Lane recorded a pair of sacks and Nathan Williams recorded a career-best 23 tackles in the Racers 42-23 loss to Illinois State Saturday evening at Stewart Stadium.
The final numbers are misleading as the majority of the Redbirds stats came late in the game against a worn-down Racer defense that spent 33:23 on the field. The defense forced four turnovers and scored their second touchdown of the season. Head coach Matt Griffin said it best when talking about his defense during his post-game press conference when he plainly stated that they played their butts off tonight.
The anchor of the defense was the sixth-year senior, Williams, who turned in one of the best single-game tackling performances in MSU history. The Murray native posted a career-best 23 stops, recorded a sack and also recovered a fumble in his second-straight game. Williams fell just three tackles shy of the single-game record of 26 set by Frank Head against Eastern Kentucky in 1969. The 23-tackle effort also gives Williams to top two single-game highs in the FCS this season.
"This is the first time since I've been here where I can feel how hurt they are on the sideline of that game and in the locker room, where the guys are crying," said Griffin. "I feel it too. And I'm tired of it and they're tired of it, but we are going to give ourselves a chance no matter who is playing quarterback, no matter who is playing safety. We are going to do things that our players do well. If we run one run play, one pass play, then we are going to be good at it."
Neither team was able to manage much offense in the early going as after the Racers were forced to punt on their first possession, Lane broke through the line and forced a fumble that was recovered by Williams. The Racers could not capitalize as they would put the ball on the turf on their next possession.
The Redbirds were able to capitalize on the Racer miscue as they capped off a 13-play drive with a Parrish Fisher three-yard touchdown run.
ISU added to its lead early in the second quarter Tom Nelson fielded a punt on his own 18-yard line and went right up the middle before finding the right sideline on his way to the 82-yard punt return touchdown.
The Racers (1-2) finally got on the board on their ensuing drive as Chris Franklin connected on a pair of passes with Marcus Harris that put the Racers at the Redbird 21-yard line. Kienan Cullen ended the drive with points as he hit on a 41-yard field goal, the longest of his career.
The Racers special teams help set up the next score as Cullen delivered a 50-yard punt that was downed on the three-yard line. On third down at the seven, Lane broke through the line and corralled the Redbird quarterback and forced a fumble that was recovered in the endzone by freshman Jamal Crook.
The Redbird (1-1) running game came out in the second half and scored a pair of rushing touchdowns to help push the lead to 28-10. MSU responded as Franklin hit Daniel Ard on a pass in the back of the endzone. Franklin would throw his second touchdown pass of the game on the next drive as he hit Harris on a 17-yard score down the left sideline.
Franklin would finish the game by going 16-for-25 for 145 yards and a pair of scores. Harris was his favorite target as he caught a career-best 10 balls for 95 yards and a score. It was the first time a Racer caught 10 passes in a game since Charlie Jordan hauled in 10 passes against Eastern Illinois in 2006.
Williams was not the only defensive star for the Racers as Zach Kutch added a career-best 14 tackles and Will Werner added 10 stops. Lane finished the game with four tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles.
The Racers close out their non-conference schedule on Sept. 20 when they travel to take on Western Kentucky. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. in Bowling Green.
