By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations
GAME NOTES (PDF) | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Morehead State football team makes a return to Jayne Stadium this weekend when the Eagles host Butler for the Whiteout game on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
The Eagles (2-3/1-1 PFL) have been solid in their two home games, outscoring opponents by a 45-21 average. The Bulldogs (2-3/0-2 PFL) enter having averaged 20.6 points in their five games. They lost 27-16 at home last week to Drake.
The game can be heard live on WIVY-96.3 FM in the Morehead area or live via links on MSUEagles.com. The contest will also air live on the OVC Digital Network.
QUOTING COACH TENYER
On the Campbell game last week -- "We were really out of rhythm all day. I thought our defense actually played pretty well in the first half and got some stops, but we could not do anything on offense."
On practice this week -- "We had a very good week of practice I feel. Yesterday (Tuesday) and today (Wednesday) were solid. We fixed some things that we have not been doing well."
On matching up with Butler - "They (Butler) are going to play hard, I know that. It looks like they have an improved defense. Those guys have more experience now. I would like to be on the plus side of the turnover margin and continue to be for the rest of the year. Stats show that the team with the most takeaways usually has a much better chance at winning."
GAME NOTES
THE BUTLER SERIES
Morehead State holds a strong 14-6 edge in the all-time series with Butler. The series actually began back in 1963 with two games. Morehead State won nine of the first 10 games in the series before the teams have split the last 10 contests. MSU is on a two-game winning streak against the Bulldogs, getting past Butler 54-28 last year on the road.
ONE TOWN.ONE TEAM
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 6,076 in the first two games in 2017.
COMEBACK KIDS
Morehead State 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). It also marked just the third fourth-quarter comeback since 2007 and the biggest rally solely in the fourth period since erasing a 25-13 disadvantage to win 26-25 at St. Francis (Pa.) on Sept. 3, 2005.
LET'S NOT REPEAT THIS
Last weekend's shutout at Campbell was the first time MSU had been held scoreless since Nov. 5, 2010 at San Diego (34-0). That was a span of 71 games.
WHAT A LEG
Redshirt sophomore punter
Bradley Boone's 44.2-yard punting average leads the PFL and ranks ninth in the country. He has blasted eight punts of more than 50 yards and landed eight inside the 20-yard line. The punt unit has also forced five fair catches. MSU's net punt average is a league-best 39.7.
RETURN TO SENDER
MSU only has six punt returns in 2017, but the Eagles lead the PFL in return average at 16.0. Freshman
Landon Hurst averages 20 yards per return but does not have enough to qualify for league rankings. He would be the PFL leader.
A NEW PAGE
Redshirt junior QB
Lawson Page ranks 31st in the nation in passing efficiency at 146.0. The Shelbyville, Ky., native has two games with four touchdowns, including the come-from-behind 34-28 victory over Dayton. Page's 1,129 total passing yards ranks 29th in the nation.
GOING DEEP
Junior wide receiver
Jarin Higginbotham ranks 10th in the PFL with 91.8 yards per game, but he leads the conference in yards per catch at 21.8. Higginbotham has 10 catches of more than 20 yards so far in 2017, which also leads the PFL. He also is tied for the league lead with five TD catches.
MR. ROBINSON'S NEIGHBORHOOD
Senior wide receiver
Christian Robinson caught a career-best eight passes for a career-high 149 yards and three touchdowns against Dayton. The three scores tied a program record for TD catches in a game as he became the ninth player to do so.
JEROMING THE BACKFIELD
Sophomore linebacker
Jerome Brooks leads the Eagles and ranks 28th in the nation in tackles for loss per game (2.0). Brooks has eight stops in the backfield and a team-best 30 tackles overall. He had three tackles behind Dayton's line of scrimmage.
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, including picks in the last two games. Cook ranks first in the PFL in passes defended and second in interceptions.
ALL-PURPOSE TARVER
Sophomore defender and return specialist
Jaunyea Tarver leads the team with 99.4 all-purpose yards per game. All of that is kickoff returns, where he averages 23.7 and has an 80-yard takeback this season.
