By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations
GAME NOTES (PDF) | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS
MOREHEAD, Ky. — Morehead State football certainly will have a different type of preparation for its opponent this week. No, the Eagles won’t be changing everything, but they will be focused on an unconventional style of play from its opponent in Presbyterian.
The Eagles and Blue Hose will kick off in South Carolina at 1 p.m. ET Saturday, a place where the Eagles opened PFL play in the spring and fell 31-16. PC has a new coach in Kevin Kelley and an air raid offense averaging nearly 450 yards passing per game, plus other unique aspects like onside kicks after nearly every score and rarely punting. But after a couple of lopsided wins in their first two games, the Blue Hose defense has surrendered more than 60 points in its next two games against FCS competition to fall to 2-2.
MSU, meanwhile, is coming off a critical PFL-opening win over Dayton (45-38) in overtime, marking the first time since 2015 MSU has won its league lid-lifter. With both teams heavily relying on the passing game and fairly evenly matched at least on paper there, it could be the running game and special teams that makes the difference.
The game will air live on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Eagle Sports Radio Network with WIVY-96.3 FM serving as flagship station. Chuck Mraz and Jason Blanton provide the radio call. Fans can also hear it on MSUEagles.com, WGOH-110.9 FM/1370 AM and WMST-106.9 FM/1150 AM.
THE SERIES
Record vs. PC: 0-1First Meeting: 3/13/21 (PC won 31-16 at PC)Last Meeting: SameRecord in Morehead: 0-0Record in Clinton: 0-1
GAME NOTES • Defensive end Vaughn Taylor, Jr., again LEADS the PFL in tackles for loss (11.5) and finds himself as the FCS LEADER in tackles behind the line of scrimmage this week. The Washington, D.C. native and Kansas transfer has 45 TFLs in his three seasons at MSU.
• Graduate student QB Mark Pappas set the Morehead State program single-game record with 481 passing yards in the overtime win over Dayton and nearly tied the program mark for touchdown passes with six. He earned his second PFL Offensive Player of the Week honor after theeffort. With 1,228 yards and 12 TDs, Pappas ranks ninth in the FCS in yards and 10th in touchdowns.
• In the past three games, Morehead State has scored on average 47.3 points per game and averaged 514 yards per game.
• Graduate student Andrew Foster is on the FCS Punter of the Year watch list and for good reasons. He leads the PFL and ranks sixth in the FCS at 47.6 yards per punt. Foster has averaged 45 yards or more on punts in all four games and has boomed six more than 50 yards. He has also forced four fair catches and landed six inside the opponent 20-yard lines.
• BJ Byrd has played in 11 career games for Morehead State after transferring from Jacksonville and has caught at least one TD in nine of them. In fact, the only two games he does not have a TD catch in are both James Madison games.
• BJ Byrd ranks FIRST in the nation in the FCS in receptions per game at 8.8. In fact he ranks fifth among all players on the FBS and FCS level in catches per game. Byrd’s 14 catches for 191 yards against Dayton ranked second all-tie in single-game program history in both categories (yards and catches). He also LEADS the PFL and ranks third in the nation in yards per game at 116.2 with three 100-yard games so far.
• Morehead State’s defense leads the PFL and ranks fourth in the FCS in tackles for loss. The Eagles have stopped opponents in the backfield 37 times. MSU has had no less than 7 TFLs in a game this fall and has had double digits twice.
• Morehead State ranks tied for first in the nation in the FCS in red zone scoring efficiency. The Eagles have scored every time they have made it into the red zone, going 16-for-16.
• The offense has been efficient at staying with drives in third down situations. MSU ranks 11th in the FCS in third down conversion percentage at 48 percent.