By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations
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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- While all the eyes of the sports world will be on Indianapolis, Ind., Saturday for the men's basketball Final Four, there will be another crucial event taking place just a few miles north - crucial for the Morehead State football program.
The Eagles will be on the road again, facing the Butler Bulldogs at the Sellick Bowl at 3 p.m. ET.
MSU sits at 1-3, with a narrow three-point setback at Davidson last week. Butler has yet to pick up a win this spring, also losing a narrow three-point decision to Valparaiso last weekend.
Morehead State will look to make it two in a row over Butler as MSU defeated Butler 31-21 for Homecoming in 2019. The Eagles and Bulldogs will meet again in two weeks to conclude the 2021 spring season, marking the first time since 2004 MSU will face the same opponent twice in a season.
The game will air live on MSUEagles.com (WIVY-96.3 FM audio). Live video is available via the Bulldogs' YouTube channel.
ROSTER | SCHEDULE
THE SERIES
Record vs. Butler: 15-8
First Meeting: 1963 (MOR won 31-13)
Last Meeting: 10/19/19 (MOR won 31-21)
Record in Morehead: 10-3
Record in Indianapolis: 5-5
NOTABLE
• Morehead State's defense continues to lead the Pioneer League and ranks among FCS leaders in interceptions. The Eagle defenders have picked off six passes, all in the last three games.
• Morehead State enters the weekend ranked third in the PFL in passing. The Eagle quarterbacks combine to average 179.0 yards per game.
• The Eagles boast one of the top one-two combinations in wide receivers in the PFL and FCS. Senior
BJ Byrd (74.8) and junior
Thomas Campbell-Clay (70.8) combine to average 145.3 yards per game. That's 71 percent of the Eagles' total yards to receivers per game.
• Junior wideout
Thomas Campbell-Clay had the most receiving yards (150) for an Eagle at Davidson since
Darius Pritchett put up 185 at Dayton in 2016.
• Junior QB
Mark Pappas has recorded three touchdowns in the aerial game the past two games. He has eight touchdowns total in 2021, all in the last three games. In his career, Pappas now has six career games with three or more TDs passing.
•
Mark Pappas now has 2,731 career passing yards, needing just 269 more to become the 15th Eagle in program history with 3,000 or more career passing yards.
• Senior linebacker
Vincent Winey leads the Pioneer League with 11.2 tackles per game. Winey has been involved with 45 stops in the Eagles' four games, including a career-high 15 versus Stetson. He has recorded double-digit tackles in the past three games and had nine in the season opener at James Madison.
•
Vaughn Taylor, Jr., and
Andrew Foster were named to the spring 2021 PFL Players to Watch List.
•
Vaughn Taylor, Jr., now has 30 career tackles for loss, all in the past three seasons after transferring from Kansas.
• Among the five defenders with interceptions this season,
Kameron Frye,
Cameron Barrett,
Khiyree Keith and
Tyler Noble have all recorded their first career pickoffs.
• Morehead State now has a streak of 21 consecutive games with at least six different receivers catching at least one pass. That streak dates to Oct. 20, 2018 vs. Valparaiso.
• After rushing for nearly 1,000 yards in 2019, senior RB
Issiah Aguero is starting to churn up yardage again in 2021. In the past two games, he has led the Eagles with 160 rushing yards on 39 carries, or 80.0 yards per game.
