Racers Hang Tough In Loss at BGSU

Saturday, September 18

Bowling Green, Ohio

4 p.m.

Murray State

1-2 , 0-0

Bowling Green

1-2 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Murray St.

Bowling Green

9/18/2021 11:06:00 PM | Football

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Big second half pushes Falcons past Racers

In A Nutshell
For the second consecutive week, the Murray State football team entered the locker room at halftime tied with an FBS opponent. However, like Cincinnati before them, Bowling Green rallied in the second half to secure a 27-10 win over the Racers Saturday evening at Doyt Perry Stadium in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Fast Facts

· Saturday marked just the second time since 1985 that Murray State has held an FBS opponent to under 30 points. The last time the Racers held an FBS to less than 30-points was a 21-9 loss to Louisville in 2011.

· With the second quarter interception by Davontae McKee, Murray State has now forced a turnover in nine of 10 games in the Dean Hood era.

· Saturday's loss to Bowling Green will go down as the third closest to an FBS team in program history behind a 12-point loss to Louisville in 2011 and a 16-point loss to Middle Tennessee in 2000.

Recap
After a tough first 20-plus minutes of play that saw the Racers throw a pick on their opening drive and fall in an early 10-0 hole, the Racers answered late in the second with a touchdown and a field goal after an interception to tie the game at 10. The Racers looked poised to take a lead into the locker room at the break, but problems plagued MSU's final drive of the half leaving the score tied at 10.

In the second half, it was all Falcons as they scored 17 points off of 210 yards in the final 30 minutes, while the Racers went scoreless on 83 yards, including just two yards on in the third quarter. Murray State had one final chance to score in the waning minutes of the game but came up short on a fourth-and-one from Bowling Green 16 with 1:12 to go in the contest

Preston Rice went 13-for-28 for 132 yards with two interceptions Saturday, while LaMartez Brooks caught four passes for 50 yards and Damonta Witherspoon rushed the ball 13 times for 38 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Eric Samuta led the way with nine tackles and 1.5-tackles for loss, while Cortez Roberts had seven and Cayvian Holmes and Don Parker had six each. Levi Matheny and Austin Daulton also got in on the action Saturday with each coming up with a solo sack,

Next Game
The Racers now have a bye week before returning to action in two weeks at home in a non-conference matchup with Eastern Illinois on Oct. 2 for their annual Family Weekend affair.