Story by Keith Jaco
Staff writer
Last season, Central Arkansas got off to a hot start against the Racers, putting up 31 first-half points while Murray State managed to score just one field goal. This year, the Racers will look to contain the Bear’s offense and jumpstart their own in hopes of avenging their 2017 loss.
After a tough opening week loss, Head Coach Mitch Stewart expects a fight to the finish this week.
“The biggest thing I’m looking for going into this week is effort,” Stewart said. “I’ve told all the coaches ‘Don’t coach caution in your players’. If they do something 100 miles an hour and they swing and whiff, that’s okay. I don’t want them worried about all the negatives, but instead focus on all the positives.”
Murray State is coming off a loss to Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in its season opener on Aug. 30.
Turnovers were the main concern for the Racers, as three of the six total led to touchdowns for the Salukis. Minimizing turnovers and tightening alignments are just a couple things the Racers will look to do under the lights Saturday night.
The Racer defense showed signs of toughness against SIU-C with a multitude of booming hits and tackles for losses. Murray State will look to keep an upbeat tempo going into Saturday’s matchup with Central Arkansas. The Bears are coming off a week one 38-27 loss to the University of Tulsa and will be returning home to search for their first win of the young season.
Sophomore linebacker Anthony Koclanakis said he understands the importance of continuing to apply defensive pressure heading into Saturday’s contest.
“We put a big emphasis on turnovers,” Koclanakis said. “We practice every day, where we have to get three turnovers every practice or we’re running. Coach is really preaching getting the ball back to the offense, and it’s one of our big keys to winning.”
As the defense tries to turn up the pressure and increase the offense’s time of possession, senior quarterback Drew Anderson is confident his team can limit turnovers this week.
“Obviously you have to give SIU credit,” Anderson said. “They went for the ball when they had a chance, but I do think that the couple of batted balls and tucking the ball away are things we can correct easily. We had six turnovers, so if you take that away I think we’re right in that game.”
Murray State will travel to Conway, Arkansas to face off against the Bears of Central Arkansas at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8 at Estes Stadium.
