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Photo Gallery (by
Sandy King)
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Murray State converted six Eastern Illinois turnovers into 20 points as the Racers came from behind to upset No. 15 EIU, 40-38, during the Panthers homecoming game Saturday afternoon at O'Brien Field.
The final turnover came with 4:17 left to play and Eastern Illinois trailing 37-31. D'Montre Wade picked off a pass at the EIU 25 yard line as the Panthers were pinned deep in their own territory. Five plays later Connor Mitchell knocked home his sixth field goal of the game to give Murray State a nine point edge. This kick was from 29 yards out as Mitchell was good from 37, 36, 37, 49 and 25 yards on his other five makes.
EIU would take the next possession and score on a 1-yard run by
Bud Martin with 58 seconds remaining. The Panthers then sent an onside kick over the Murray State kick return team and after several players battled for the loose ball the Racers recovered it at their own ten yard line and ran the clock out for the win. Murray State improved to 2-5 overall, 2-2 in the OVC. EIU dropped to 5-3 overall, 3-2 in the OVC.
The Panthers opened the game building a 21-3 lead with starting quarterback
Mitch Kimble looking sharp for the EIU offense. Kimble was 16-of-19 from 200 yards and two touchdowns. He was injured midway through the second quarter giving way to back-ups
Austin Green and Martin.
Kimble hit Shawn Mitchell for a 28-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive. Murray State answered with the first of Mitchell's field goals of the afternoon to trail 7-3.
Devin Church then scored back-to-back touchdowns with a 51-yard screen pass from Kimble and a 13-yard run. Church added a third touchdown with a 1-yard run to open the fourth quarter that gave EIU a 31-22 lead at the time. Church rushed for a career high 155 yards while adding four receptions for 58 yards and returning three kickoffs for 74 yards.
Murray State's offense gained some momentum on the drive following Church's fourth quarter touchdown. KD Humphries hit Jesse Blackburn in the flat and the wide receiver ran through two tackles and broke free for an 87-yard touchdown cutting EIU's lead to 31-29 with 14:17 to play in the game.
EIU turned the ball over for the fourth time following Blackburn's touchdown but the defense held on a fourth and one at the Murray State 42 yard line as
David Johnson and
Tayler Arterburn combined for a tackle in the backfield to turn the ball over to EIU at the Murray State 39 yard line.
The Panthers could not capitalize on that defensive stop as they turned the ball over on the next play with Greg Willard picking off an EIU pass in the end zone. Two plays later Mareio McGraw found a seam on a draw play and ran 77-yards for the touchdown giving the Racers their first lead of the game. Mitch Stults hit Blackburn for a two-point conversion to put Murray State up 37-31 with 8:53 to play. The two-point conversion proved to be big as it allowed the Racers to go up two scores with the late Mitchell field goal.
Humphries finished the day passing for 299 yards and the one long touchdown pass to Blackburn. Blackburn had four catches for 147 yards. McGraw had 139 yards on the ground as Murray State had 535 yards of total offense.
Dennis Turner was EIU's top receiver with five catches for 68 yards. EIU finished with 566 yards of total offense. Green was 5-of-10 for 23 yards passing. Martin was 7-of-14 for 119 yards passing.
Marico Paige had 13 tackles to lead Murray State with Isaiah Foster added 11.
Seth McDonald had 13 tackles to lead EIU.
David Johnson had eight tackles including 2.5 tackles for loss.
Nick Horne had eight tackles and two pass break-ups.
