MOREHEAD, Ky. — It’s the final hurrah for the Morehead State Football Eagles in 2021. Saturday’s 2 p.m. ET battle at Valparaiso will mark MSU’s 18th game versus outside competition in the calendar year, and the Eagles still have a mathematical path to the PFL’s automatic berth into the FCS playoffs.
The Eagles (6-4, 5-2 PFL) will face a Beacons (4-6, 4-3 PFL) team that has won three of its last four games. Morehead State can still claim the PFL title and berth into the playoffs if Davidson, San Diego and St. Thomas all lose and Marist and the Eagles win this weekend. The tiebreaker would then trickle all the way to the Marist-MSU head-to-head where the Eagles pulled out the win on the road earlier this season.
The game will air live on ESPN3 from Valpo. It 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 SERIESRecord vs. Valparaiso: 21-5First Meeting: 1996 (MOR won 24-0)Last Meeting: 4/10/21 (MOR won 28-24)Record in Morehead: 10-2Record in Valparaiso: 11-3
GAME NOTES• Morehead State has a commanding 21-5 lead in the all-time series with Valparaiso, including wins in three consecutive meetings. However, all three of those wins came with a margin of a touchdown or less. MSU has had success at Valpo’s Brown Field as well, going 11-3 all time. Six of the last seven meetings pitting the Eagles against the Beacons have resulted in a margin of victory for the Eagles of seven points or less.
• Morehead State has secured its first back-to-back above .500 seasons since 2002 and 2003. A win against Valparaiso would give MSU seven victories this year, the most since a 7-4 finish in 2015. A win could also send MSU into a tie for second place in the final PFL standings and be the second straight season with a second place finish.
• This game will serve as the college finale for the largest class of head coach Rob Tenyer‘s nine-year tenure. MSU’s final year players include: DeVonte Adams, Issiah Aguero, Steven Barongi, Cameron Barrett, BJ Byrd, Devon Connors, Michael Davis, Matt DeBlaiso, Andrew Foster, Jelani-Ray Garvin, Ian Holder, Dalton Lewis, DJ Niculescu, Tyler Noble, Mark Pappas, Fred Recio, Malik Richards, Cody Russell, Earl Stoudemire, Vaughn Taylor, Jr., Isaiah Tigler, Jacob Wilde and Vincent Winey.
• Senior wide receiver BJ Byrdobliterated four program records last Saturday: most single-season receiving yards (1214), catches (85) and TDs (13), and his four TD catches alone against Stetson set the single-game MSU record. In just 17 games as an Eagle after transferring from Jacksonville, Byrd is already ranked fourth in career catches at MSU (116) and ninth in yards (1681).
• Byrd has the most 100-yard games in program history in a single-season with eight, which leads ALL FCS players this year. Byrd has gone over 100 yards receiving in five consecutive games and came within seven yards of the MSU single-game record with 223 against Stetson. He already owns the 7th best single-season yards mark in PFL history at 1,214. His 121.4 yards per game would be the 5th highest single-season total in PFL history.
• Byrd ranks FIRST in the entire FCS in total yards (1214) and receptions per game (8.5) and SECOND in yards per game (121.4) and touchdowns (13).
• Defensive end Vaughn Taylor, Jr., is on the Buck Buchanan Award Watch List. The honor is the highest accolade given to an FCS defensive player.
• Vaughn Taylor, Jr., is the MSU career record holder for TFLs with 59.0 and is chasing the single-season program record of 27 set by linebacker Fred Johnson in 1992. Taylor’s 22.0 stops in the opponent backfields ranks SECOND among all FCS defenders. He also has 9.0 sacks this year and 22.5 sacks for his career. The MSU single-season sack record is 12, also held by Fred Johnson in 1992.
• Graduate student QB Mark Pappasbecame just the third QB in program history to eclipse 3,000 yards in a season with his 395 yards against Stetson last week. Pappas needs only 280 more yards to pass David Caudill for fourth place in career passing yards in program history, and he needs only 43 to become the fifth-ever Eagle signal caller with 7,000+ career passing yards.
• Pappas threw four touchdowns last weekend versus Stetson and passed former great Chris Swartz for career TD passes in program history with 58. His 231.9 yards per game average since 2018 would also rank third in career history at Morehead State.
• Grad student punter/kicker Andrew Foster ranks second among all FCS players in punting average at 46.8, which is only 0.2 behind leader Max Quick of Stephen F. Austin. Foster’s 42.1 career average is only 0.3 behind MSU career leader John Christopher. His season average this fall, if it holds up this weekend, will set the MSU single-season AND PFL record for punting average (PFL season record is 43.6 by Greg Wood and Ben Niesner of Valparaiso [current punter] ironically). Foster is the ONLY punter in program history to average 40+ for four consecutive seasons, and his 8,166 career total punting yards is the MSU record.
• Vincent Winey looks to end his career with five consecutive double-digit tackle games. He has 57 stops (14.2/game) just in his last four outings. Winey needs just eight tackles to become the first Eagle since current assistant coach Ryan Bennett had 102 in 2016. Winey ranks FIRST in the PFL in total tackles at 92.
• Khiyree Keith finds himself as the PFL co-leader in interceptions with four. Keith has six pickoffs in his career now.