Jakob Milani
Sports Editor
[email protected]
The Murray State football team took their first loss of the Fall 2021 season Saturday, Sept. 11, when they fell to the University of Cincinnati Bearcats by a score of 42-7.
Despite a tied score of 7-7 at halftime, the Racers were unable to hold on as they allowed 35 unanswered points in the second half.
The Racers started with the ball on their own 23 yard line and began a long drive up the field. Junior quarterback Preston Rice got the drive going with an 11-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Deshaun Britten, then followed it up with back-to-back complete passes to sophomore wide receiver Jacob Bell. After a false start call moved the Racers back five yards, Rice found Bell again for a 11 yard gain.
Later on in the drive, Rice completed a pass to Britten for a 12 yard gain, moving the Racers up to the Cincinnati 24 yard line.However, the Racers finished the with a zero on the scoreboard after Rice overthrew a deep ball to Bell in the endzone, leading to Rice’s first interception of the game.
The Bearcats took over at their own 11 yard line, but the Racers defense managed to hold the Bearcats off and force a quick punt after just three plays.
The Racers took the punt up to their 35 yard line, where their next long drive began. On third down and seven, Rice completed a 16-yard pass to senior wide receiver Malik Honeycutt, his first reception of the season. After another false start penalty, Rice found Britten downfield for a 23-yard catch, moving the Racers up to Cincinnati’s 28 yard line.
Following the Racers fourth false start penalty of the quarter, Rice kept the ball moving with a 12 yard rush that advanced the ball up to Cincinnati’s 16 yard line. The Racers ended the first quarter with a fifth false start penalty, adding up to five total penalties and 25 yards lost. However, the Racers didn’t walk off the field empty handed on this drive as Rice rushed in for a one-yard touchdown early in the second quarter, marking his fifth rushing touchdown of the season. This put the Racers up with a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Following the touchdown, the Racers defense stepped up yet again, forcing another punt for the Bearcats and keeping the score at 7-0. However, on the next drive for the Racers, Rice threw his second interception of the game, giving the Bearcats the ball at Murray State’s 40 yard line.
The Bearcats made quick work of the defense with their field position. Senior quarterback Desmond Ridder started the drive with a 19-yard pass to senior wide receiver Alec Pierce, then junior running back Jerome Ford followed it up with an 11-yard rush to move the ball up to the Racers’ 10 yard line. Three plays later, Ridder completed a two yard pass to graduate tight end Noah Davis for a touchdown, tying the game at 7.
Rice threw his third interception of the game on the next drive, giving the Bearcats another drive with good field position, but the Racers’ defense held them out of the end zone, to keep the score tied. Neither defense was willing to give way for the rest of the half and the two teams went into the locker rooms at halftime tied 7-7.
The Racers controlled the ball for 21 minutes and 53 seconds in the first half, much longer than Cincinnati’s 8 minutes and 7 seconds of possession time. The Racers also out threw the Bearcast with 134 passing yards to 38 passing yards in the half.
The switch was flipped in the second half as the Bearcats offense started to take over almost completely. On their first drive, Ridder completed two deep passes to Pierce and sophomore wide receiver Tyler Scott, setting up a 13-yard rushing touchdown from Ford to give the Bearcats a 14-7 lead.
Ford continued to rush through the Racers defense on the next drive, recording a 20-yard rush later on in the drive to put the ball on the Murray State 20 yard line. Two plays later, Ridder set the Bearcats up for success with a 17-yard pass to graduate wide receiver Michael Young. Ford capped the drive off with another rushing touchdown, this time from eight yards out to put the Bearcats up 21-7.
The Bearcats kept piling on the points in the half as Ridder found Scott downfield again later in the game for a 23 yard touchdown reception, extending the lead to 28-7. On the next drive, Ridder found yet another receiver open downfield as he completed a 48-yard pass to graduate wide receiver Tre Tucker. The deep pass helped set up a three yard rushing touchdown by Ford to push the score to 35-0.
The Bearcats brought in backup freshman quarterback Evan Prater to finish out the fourth quarter and he was sure to put his name on the scoreboard. After a fumble recovery on kickoff, Prater made short work of the Racers defense, completing an 18-yard touchdown pass to freshman tight end Payten Singletary on the first play of the drive. The touchdown boosted the Bearcats to a 42-7 lead where the score stood as the time wound down.
Head Coach Dean Hood spoke after the game about the team’s performance and their fall in the second half. Hood said the turnovers were a major part of the loss for the Racers.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Hood said. “We played really well in the first half, actually probably should have gone into halftime up six or three points. We left points out there on the field… In the second half, we just really didn’t play as well as we did in the first. We just turned the ball over and in a game with five turnovers and only one from them, it’s never going to be good no matter who you play.”
Hood also spoke about the team’s early success on offense in the first half. He said it was just part of the game plan for the Racers going in.
“We wanted to run the ball but we threw the ball more than normal early on,” Hood said. “We just felt like that’s where we had a chance to move the ball and the kids were catching the ball well, Preston was throwing the ball well, the defense was getting off the field quickly. The problem in the second half was the defense couldn’t get off the field.”
The Racers fall to 1-1 on the season and will look to bounce back on Saturday, Sept. 18, when they travel to take on Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Kickoff for the game is set for 4 p.m.
