2012 SCHEDULE (HTML) |
2012 SCHEDULE (PDF)
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Morehead State football program will play six home games and five road contests in 2012. The Eagles will face three non-conference opponents, including Eastern Kentucky, and eight Pioneer Football League foes, including defending co-champions Drake and San Diego.
“We’ve been working extremely hard this off-season and we’re excited about the 2012 campaign,” said Matt Ballard, who enters his 19th season as the head coach at Morehead State. “It will be nice to have six home games overall and two out of our first three at Jayne Stadium.”
Morehead State opens the season on Aug. 30 when it hosts Southern Virginia. The Eagles then travel to Ohio Valley Conference rival Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 8 before wrapping up the non-conference slate at home against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sept. 15.
“We’ve had past success with Southern Virginia, so we’re looking forward to the opener,” Ballard said. “Saint Francis could be the most exciting and competitive game on our schedule. We had a 50-49 shootout at their place last year. It was certainly a whacky and crazy game.”
MSU owns a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series against SVU and 5-2 upper hand vs. SFU. The Eagles and Colonels, who squared off regularly when Morehead State played football in the OVC and do battle in virtually every other sport, will be meeting for the 68th time in football.
“We’re also excited about the game at Eastern Kentucky,” Ballard said. “I think it will be terrific for football fans in the state, in addition to our students and alumni. Eastern Kentucky is a fully-funded scholarship program, but we will get better by playing a tough schedule.”
Morehead State will host Jacksonville (Oct. 6), Campbell (Oct. 27), Davidson (Nov. 3) and Valparaiso (Nov. 17) in league play, while the Eagles will travel to Drake (Sept. 22), Dayton (Oct. 13), Butler (Oct. 20) and San Diego (Nov. 10) in conference action.
“There are a lot of good football teams in the PFL and each game is a challenge,” Ballard said. “Drake, Dayton and San Diego all finished in the top half of our conference last season, so we’ll definitely have our work cut out for us on the road this year.”
Morehead State will play 11 contests in 12 weeks, beginning Aug. 30 and ending Nov. 17. The Eagles will enjoy their only open date on Sept. 29.
Times and promotions for all 2012 football games will be announced at a later date.
“The PFL is the most unique conference in the nation for any sport,” Ballard added. “The geography of our league literally covers the entire country – from San Diego (Calif.) to Jacksonville (Fla.) to Marist (N.Y.). There are 10 really solid football programs in the conference right now, and we’re looking forward to the addition of Mercer and Stetson in 2013.”
Morehead State finished last season 3-8 overall and 2-6 in the PFL. Half of MSU’s eight defeats came in heartbreaking fashion, by less than five points.
Morehead State led all Football Championship Subdivision schools in first downs (25.2), while ranking second in total yards (478.9) and passing yards (358.2). The Eagles also placed sixth in the nation with 36.1 points per outing.
Individually, junior quarterback Zach Lewis ranked fifth nationally in passing yards (325.9) and seventh in total yards (313.5), while junior wide receiver Donte Sawyer placed 15th in all-purpose yards (146.2) and 28th in receiving yards (82.2).
The Eagles set 17 school records a year ago – eight team and nine individual. The list was highlighted by Lewis, who set single-season marks for completions (324), attempts (315) and passing yards (3,585).
