Preview: Murray State at Southeast Missouri

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From OVCSports.com...

Murray State Racers (3-7, 2-4 OVC)
at Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (2-8, 2-5 OVC)
Saturday, November 18 • 1:00 p.m. CT
Houck Field (10,000) • Cape Girardeau, Mo.
TV:.................................................. OVC Digital Network
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=178772
Series Record:........................ Murray State leads 39-11-1
Last Meeting:........ Southeast Missouri won 17-16 (9/24/16)
Mitch Stewart at Murray State:..................... 10-22 (3 yrs.)
Mitch Stewart Overall:.............................................. same
Tom Matukewicz at Southeast Missouri:....... 14-30 (4 yrs.)
Tom Matukewicz Overall:............................. 15-30 (5 yrs.)
Murray State Last Week:..... W, 31-21 vs. Tennessee Tech
Southeast Missouri Last Week: L, 23-20 at Tennessee State

GAME NOTES: Murray State travels to Southeast Missouri for the final game of the season for both teams. The programs have played 51 previous times with Murray State holding a 39-11-1 advantage. Southeast Missouri, however, has won two in a row, three of the past four and five of the past eight since 2009. Over that span the teams have had some competitive games, including two multi-overtime games and a one-point affair a season ago. In that contest a year ago, Jesse Hosket connected with Adrian Davis for a 20-yard touchdown pass with 1:05 to play to give Southeast the victory. Hosket finished the day with 257 passing yards, as Tremane McCullough caught nine passes for 94 yards and a score. Murray State was paced by KD Humphries who passed for 343 yards and a touchdown.

SCOUTING MURRAY STATE: Murray State snapped a three-game losing streak with a 31-21 win over Tennessee Tech in its final home game of the season. The Racers jumped out to a 24-7 lead and racked up over 400 yards of total offense in the win. Senior wide receiver Jordon Gandy hauled in eight catches for 160 yards and two touchdowns in the win. In the process he moved into third place in MSU history for receiving touchdowns (23), fifth in 100-yard receiving games (7) and eighth in total receiving yards (1,933). Gandy currently ranks seventh nationally in receiving touchdowns (10). Freshman D.J. Penick had a career-high 139 rushing yards on 19 carries (7.3 ypc) and scored a pair of touchdowns. Included in his total was a 48-yard touchdown, the longest run of the season by a Racer. Marico Paige had a game-high 11 tackles and helped key a defense that limited Tennessee Tech to 3-of-16 on third down. Marquez Sanford picked off a pass, the 17th interception by a Murray State player this season (a mark that ranks MSU fourth nationally). Overall the Murray State defense is first nationally in turnovers gained (28) and 14th in turnover margin (+1.0/game). MSU also ranks third nationally in red zone offense (91.3%).

SCOUTING SOUTHEAST MISSOURI: Southeast Missouri is looking to end the season with a win for the first time since 2008 and end a current four-game losing streak in the process. The Redhawks have lost five games by a combined 17 points this season. That latest close loss came at Tennessee State where SEMO tied the game at 20 with nine minutes to play, only to see TSU nail the game-winning field goal with 2:07 to play. Marquis Terry ran for a game-high 116 yards (his fourth 100-yard game of the season), on 16 total carries (7.2 ypc). Terry is just 16 yards away from eclipsing 1,000 yards on the season, which would make him just the second Redhawk in the last five years to reach that mark. Terry currently ranks 12th nationally in total rushing yards and 15th in rushing yards/game (98.4). Jesse Hosket had his OVC-leading fifth multi-passing touchdown game of the season and now leads the OVC with 15 passing touchdowns on the season. Both of those touchdowns went to Kristian Wilkerson who finished the game with seven catches. Zach Hall had a team-high 10 tackles, 4.0 for loss, and recorded 2.0 sacks against Tennessee State. He is tied for second in the OVC and 14th nationally in sacks (0.9/game). As a team, Southeast is first in the OVC and 13th nationally in sacks/game (3.1).

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