By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations
GAME NOTES (PDF) | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Morehead State football team is back on the road this weekend as it travels to northern Indiana to face PFL foe Valparaiso. Game time is 2 p.m. ET Saturday at Brown Field.
The game is set to air live on ESPN3 and fans can also catch live audio on WIVY-96.3 FM in the Morehead area. The Eagles and Crusaders are meeting for the 23rd time in the series.
QUOTING COACH TENYER
On last weekend's Homecoming win -- "It really showed our resiliency in coming back to win last week. We have done that now twice. We'd prefer not to have to be in those situations and execute earlier in the game to be in a better position, but it shows we have the fight to always battle until the final play."
On winning the turnover battle last weekend -- "It was very crucial. We scored on the first turnover and got a special team turnover right away, so it was huge to go up 14-0. I have said it many times, the team that wins the turnover battle will almost always end up winning."
On the Valparaiso series -- "We are preparing for a very good Valparaiso team. They have nearly beaten us three years in a row. It has turned into a nice rivalry. We have had a good week of preparations, and I believe we are ready with a good game plan."
GAME NOTES
THE VALPARAISO SERIES
In what has become a very closely-battled series, Morehead State has won the last three meetings with a touchdown drive in the last three minutes. Overall the Eagles lead the series 18-4 and have won 10 straight against Valparaiso. In games played in Indiana, the Eagles are 9-1 overall and the only loss was the 2003 PFL Championship game. See page 3 for the last 10 game results.
HOME ATTENDANCE LEADERS
Morehead and the region have shown tremendous support for the Eagle football program, and in fact MSU has led the Pioneer Football league in attendance for four consecutive seasons. Last year, MSU averaged 5,736 and averaged 6,401 in the first four games in 2017 - again leading the league.
NO. 1 RETURN MAN
Sophomore
Jaunyea Tarver continues to LEAD the nation (FCS) in combined kick returns with 895 yards. Tarver had an 80-yard kickoff return against Kentucky Christian and a 78-yarder last week against Stetson.
TURNING THE PAGE
Redshirt junior QB
Lawson Page leads the PFL and ranks 17th in the nation in passing yards with 1,815. He has a pair of 300-yard
games, including a career-best 330 at San Diego. He also has three
games where he hasÂ
accounted for four touchdowns.
STARTING TO SHINE
Redshirt freshman
Landon Hurst has piled up 139 receiving yards on 11 catches and three touchdowns just in the past two
games. In the previous six
games, Hurst had only 156 yards on 17 catches. Hurst would also lead the PFL in punt return average (16.3) but does not have enough returns to qualify for the list.
HIGGIE IS THE DEEP MAN
Junior wide receiver
Jarin Higginbotham leads the conference in yards per catch at 18.2. Higginbotham has three
games with more than 100 yards, including a 126-yard effort at San Diego on a career-best 10 catches. If his current yard-per-
game average holds up, it would be the third best season in program history terms of yards per
game
MR. ROBINSON IS MR. RELIABLE
Senior wide receiver
Christian Robinson has a pair of 100-yard
games this season, his first two of his career. He had a career-best 149 yards against Dayton and three scores and went for 107 yards on eight catches (and a touchdown) against San Diego. Robinson now has 1,106 career yards on 86 catches for 12.8 per catch in his career.
YOU GOT COOK'ED
Senior cornerback
Braylyn Cook leads all active players with 42 career passes defended and nine interceptions. He has three picks this season. Cook ranks second in the PFL in passes defended and third in interceptions.
A STARR IS BORN
Freshman safety
Starr Hutcherson finds himself as the leading tackler on the defense in his first collegiate season. He has started the last three
games and has piled up 48 total stops this year. Hutcherson has 17 solo tackles just in the last four
games and had a career-best 11 stops at Campbell - his first career start.
COMEBACK KIDS
Morehead State has a pair of fourth quarter game-winning rallies this year. The Eagles erased a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Dayton on Sept. 23. It marked the largest overall rally to win since being down by as many as 16 against Valparaiso on Oct. 25, 2014 (MSU rallied to win 48-47). Last weekend, the Eagles scored with just 30 seconds left to defeat Stetson 29-26. Since 2007, those two make only four fourth-quarter successful rallies for Morehead State.
