BOX SCORE

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Morehead State football defense intercepted a school-record six passes, while sophomore quarterback Bryce Patterson threw six touchdowns in his first career start as the Eagles upended Pioneer League front-runner Davidson 47-17 in the Eagles' final home game of 2023 Saturday.

Patterson, playing in place of year-long starter Carter Cravens who was out with injury, completed just 10 passes but six went to the end zone. That was just one short of Chris Swartz's school record seven thrown in 1990 versus Murray State. Patterson finished 10-of-16 for 240 yards. Three of his scores (the Eagles' final three TDs) went to receiver Ryan Upp, who had five catches for 140 yards. On the ground, running back James Louis posted the Eagles' first 100-yard game of 2023 with 107 yards on 12 carries and a TD.

Meanwhile the defense limited FCS football's top scoring (and rushing) team to just the 17 points and 263 yards on the ground. Defensive back Kaleb Lyons tied a program record with three pick-offs while Jihad McCall collected a pair of INTs. Linebacker Keenan Wolf made a diving stab to pick off the sixth Davidson QB miscue. 

"I am so proud of our team. We executed  at a level that as a coach you are proud. Our goal was to hold them to less than 275 yards rushing (Davidson was leading the nation with  380 per game). We had tremendous stops today and the turnovers allowed us extra possessions," said head coach Rob Tenyer. "After last week's Homecoming letdown, it was not easy to rewire and get ready for this week, but I am just so proud of our players and staff.

"It was really tough to lose Carter Cravens, but we felt good about our plan. Bryce just made plays today. He made some outstanding plays. I am happy for him and happy for us. The offensive line had their best week of practice,and it was a really physical effort today. We had two or three tremendous undercut interceptions, just incredible. We just beat a really, really good team. Davidson hasn't lost a lot of conference games in the last three years."

Besides the six pick-offs, the defense was highlighted by four double-digit tacklers. Cooper Krezek had 15 total tackles and 2.5 for losses. Andre Nolan-White totaled 13, while Jahleel Holmes had 12. Holmes now has 102 stops in 2023. Wolf also reached double figures with 11. In addition to his three INTs, Lyons had a sack.

After spotting Davidson a 3-0 lead, MSU rattled off the next 26 points. Patterson connected for TD passes with Harrison Cohen, Kyle Daly and Trevon Kleint all in the second quarter, and Louis had a 40-yard TD run. The Wildcats scored late in the half and the Eagles took a 26-10 lead into halftime.

Davidson crept to within 26-17 with eight minutes to go in the third period, but Patterson then found Upp on consecutive 25-yard scores to push MSU's lead to 40-17 after three periods. On the first possession of the fourth, Upp took a shovel pass from Patterson and raced 51 yards to paydirt.

Davidson drove into MSU territory twice after that, but McCall put a stop to those efforts with interceptions on two straight Wildcat offensive drives.

The visitors did out-gain MSU 378-358, but the Eagles stopped Davidson on four fourth-down attempts.

Morehead State wraps up the 2023 season at Presbyterian at 1 p.m. ET Saturday.