Racers host No. 21 Youngstown State Saturday

The Murray State Racers will finally play a football game on Saturday where they are not facing one of the top ten teams in the nation. But, this weekend's opponent has spent the past few weeks in the top 25.

The Racers will host No. 21 Youngstown State (4-3) on Saturday at 1 p.m.

On consecutive Saturdays at Roy Stewart Stadium, the Racers faced two of the heavyweights of the Football Championship Subdivision in their own Missouri Valley Football Conference. Both weeks, the Racers (0-7) were up to the challenge.

Murray State dropped a shootout with the No. 9 Illinois State Redbirds 46-32 earlier this month, then trailed No. 2 South Dakota State by seven at halftime before the Jackrabbits pulled away in the fourth quarter.

The Racers have shown big-play capability and has topped 400 total offensive yards in each game over the past two weeks. Quarterback Jim Ogle had his second straight game of passing for more than 300 yards. The Racers’ running game was without starting back Jawaun Northington, recovering from a rib injury. 

Youngstown State is coming off a big win over Illinois State 40-35. With the loss, the Redbirds have slipped to No. 20 in national polls.

The Racer defense should have their hands full with Penguins quarterback Beau Brungard. He passed for 328 yards and two touchdowns last week, and he also carried the ball 30 times for 200 yards and 3 touchdowns.  The 528 yards of total offense are a school record and ranks fourth in MVFC history.