Following Bye Week, Football Goes Head First Into Rest of PFL Slate; Eagles at Davidson Saturday

GAME NOTES
Morehead State ranks No. 1 in all the FCS division in fewest total penalty yards (142) and penalty yards assessed per game (28.4).

• Jihad McCall leads the entire FCS division in blocked punts with four. McCall is on the cusp of a record if he can get his hands on one more blocked punt. He is just one short of the FCS and MSU record for block punts in a season, held by Dominic Jones (The Citadel in 2011) and Tevin Richard (South Carolina State in 2015). The MSU record for most total kicks blocked in a season is 5 by Paul Ousley in 1954 (pre FCS or Divsion I-AA era).

• McCall's four blocks, plus two blocks by Cooper Krezek, have Morehead State ranked No. 1 in the FCS in blocked kicks with six.

• Morehead State's primary two running backs - James Louis and Chance Harris - combine to average 114 yards per game. Both have 100-yard games to their credit this season.

• Kicker Nathan Hazlett was the PFL Special Teams Player of the Week following the KCU game. He was a perfect 7-of-7 on PATs against KCU and averaged 61 yards on kickoffs with two touchbacks. In his first full year as the primary placekicker, Hazlett is perfect on PATs (11-of-11) and field goals (7-of-7). Hazlett was also recognized as one of the top 25 kickers in the non-FBS level for the month of September by the Fred Mitchell Award.

• Kick return man Gunnison Bloodgood ranks No. 6 in FCS in returns, averaging more than 30 yards. He had a 95-yard return at Stetson.

• Safety Cooper Krezek ranks eighth in the PFL and leads MSU by averaging nearly 8 tackles per game. He also leads the team with 5.5 tackles for loss.

•  Starting offensive center Cam Marriott has appeared in 46 career games and has started 41 career games, including a string of 40 consecutive starts. Marriott has played virtually all positions on the line, settling into the role of full time center the past two seasons.

• Morehead State's defense has 17 sacks, all in the past three games. The Eagles' 8 sacks against Presbyterian marked the most in a game in MSU's Pioneer League era (2001-present). Devon Connors ranks third in the PFL with 4 sacks.

• Morehead State's offense has been nearly as balanced as can be. Of the Eagles' 372 total plays run from scrimmage, MSU is rushing the ball 51 percent of the time and throwing it 49 percent of the time. Last season, MSU passed 61 percent and rushed 39 percent of plays.

• With its 7-4 scorecard last fall, Morehead State secured its first back-to-back above .500 seasons since 2002 and 2003. The seven victories marked most since a 7-4 finish in 2015. The Eagles finished in a tie for second place in the Pioneer League with newcomer St. Thomas - the second consecutive second place finish.

•  Eight Eagles were tabbed Preseason All-PFL by Phil Steele. Those included First-Teamers Cam Marriott, Devon Connors, Cooper Krezek and Brady McKnight. Second-Team picks were offensive linemen Jaxsen Spears and Jacob Ungruhe. Third-Teamers were Sese Aumavae and Khiyree Keith.

• Cam Marriott, Wade Acey, Matt Guilfoil and Khiyree Keith were chosen to the All-Commonwealth Team by the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame.