Murray State football will host Mississippi Valley State this year during Family Weekend as they hope to win their first game of the 2024 season.
Every year since 2006, except 2020, a Family Weekend football game has been played and with it, a plethora of great performances and games. The Racers are 9-8 all-time in games during Family Weekend.
Murray State won last year’s Family Weekend game, which was also their first game as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, against Indiana State 31-28. Quarterback DJ Williams threw for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
Cortez Jones would give the Racers some help in the running game by rushing for 70 yards and a touchdown.
Murray State’s Family Weekend success would not start right away, as they would lose the first Family Weekend game against Illinois State 35-14.
The Racers had a four-game winning streak in Family Weekend games from 2010-2013.
They beat UT Martin, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and Missouri State in that stint. Murray State also had a three-game win streak from 2018-2021.
Murray State has played the most Family Weekend games against Illinois State, Tennessee Tech and Eastern Illinois, who they’ve played twice each.
The Racers are 0-2 against Illinois State, 1-1 against Tech and 1-1 against EIU.
The largest margin of victory on a Family Weekend game came in 2019, when Murray State would beat Morehead State 59-7.
The Racers were led by QB Preston Rice, who had 17 completions for 214 yards and four touchdowns. He would also rush for 86 yards.
One of the best individual performances from Family Weekend came in 2011, when QB Casey Brockman completed 45 passes out of 67 attempts and threw for seven touchdowns in a 58-27 win over Tennessee State. In 2015, QB KD Humphries completed 43 passes out of 57 attempts for 491 yards and three touchdowns against Tennessee Tech.
Another great performance came in 2013 courtesy of Maikhail Miller, who threw for five touchdowns, four to receiver Walter Powell against Missouri State.
The Racers highest point total during Family Weekend came against Tennessee Tech when they put up 70 points on the Golden Eagles in 2012.
Four different Racers would score a rushing touchdown, Casey Brockman would throw for two touchdowns, a punt was returned 70 yards for a touchdown and the defense would get an 18 yard interception return touchdown.
The Racers will play in their 18th Family Weekend game since its inception.
With so many eyes on head coach Jody Wright and what he’s building, this game could be the turning point to get this team going in the “Wright” direction.
