GAME NOTES (PDF) | SCHEDULE PAGE (LIVE STATS, LIVE VIDEO, AUDIO) | TICKETS
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State football will send off its senior class and look for its fourth straight victory Saturday when MSU hosts Butler at Phil Simms Stadium at 1 p.m. ET in the home finale for 2025.
Morehead State leads the all-time series with Butler, 18-11, but the Bulldogs have bullied their way to three straight wins in the series, and by an average margin of 48.3-11.0. Prior to that, the Eagle shad won four straight. MSU holds a 10-4 all-time mark against Butler in Phil Simms Stadium (formerly Jayne Stadium).
The game can be heard on the Eagle Sports Radio Network with WIVY-96.3 FM serving as flagship station. Chuck Mraz, Jason Blanton and Tom Lewis provide the radio call. Fans can also hear it on MSUEagles.com, WGOH-100.9 FM/1370 AM and WMST-106.9 FM/1150 AM. The game will stream live on ESPN+ with MSU golf alum Jared Stacy and Eagle football alum Mark Ledford teaming up as the voices this game.
Under new head coach Kevin Lynch, the Bulldogs are 5-4 this season and 3-2 in the PFL.
THE SERIES
Record vs. Butler: 18-11
First Meeting: 9/14/63 MSU won 31-14 at Ashland, Ky.
Last Meeting: 10/5/24 BUT won 40-6 at BUT
Streak: BUT, W3
Eagles' Record in Morehead: 10-4
Eagles' Record in Davidson, N.C.: 7-7
Neutral Record: 1-0
GAME NOTES
• Morehead State has won three straight games under head coach
Jason Woodman for the second consecutive year. Prior to Woodman taking over in 2024, MSU had only put together one three-game winning streak from 2015 through 2023.
• The Eagles' three-game winning streak has featured victories all by a total margin of 10 points (and all one-possession margins). Morehead State is now 7-2 under head coach
Jason Woodman in games decided by 8 points or less, or one score.
• A win over Butler would guarantee the Eagles back-to-back .500 or better seasons. The last time the program saw back-to-back .500 or better campaigns was 2007 and 2008.
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Ryan Upp eclipsed the 2,000 yard mark in receiving yards for his career with 109 versus Marist. He is currently now third in program history with 2,280 career yards. He needs only 275 more yards to catch Donte Sawyer (2,555 from 2009-12) in second place in program history.
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Ryan Upp leads all active PFL players and ranks eighth nationally with 17 career receiving touchdowns. Upp ranks 11th among active FCS players in career receiving yards with 2,280.
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Ryan Upp leads the PFL in ALL the 4 major receiving categories - receptions (62), yards (863), receptions per game (6.2) and average yards per game (86.3).
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Ryan Upp now has 161 career catches, placing him third place all-time in MSU history. With two games left, it would potentially be a stretch to get to second place, where Donte Sawyer has 199. He most recently passed current MSU ESPN+ broadcaster Mark Ledford, who hauled in 152 in his three years.
• Quarterback
Carter Cravens has become the ninth QB in program history to reach 5,000 career passing yards. With 5,405 yards and 33 touchdowns, he needs only 140 yards to catch star alum Phil Simms (5,545 from 1974-78) in eighth place.
• Running back
Isaac Stopke has quietly put together back-to-back 100-yard games. He had 118 at Valparaiso and 115 versus Davidson. He is the first Eagle runner with 2 straight 100+-yard efforts since
James Louis in 2022.
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Thomas Schwartz V nailed a career-long 48-yard field goal last weekend vs. Davidson and has made five of his last six - with four of those being from 40+ yards. He is 5-of-7 on the season.
• Freshman kicker
Jordan Price is a perfect 25-of-25 on PAT kicks in his first college season. The last Eagle kicker to be perfect on PAT attempts all season was Nathan Hazlett (24-of-24) in 2022. The 25 made is the most since Andrew Foster nailed 40 in 2021.
• The Eagles' offensive line starters -
Jacob Ziegler,
Adrian Lopez,
Gabe Kays,
Drue Duncan and
Kelton Sparks - have started all seven games together as the same unit.
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Mateo Reyes leads the team with 71 tackles, and amazingly has almost split his solo and assisted tackles right down the median. He has 36 assists and 25 solo stops.
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Luke Popovich leads the team with 7.5 tackles for loss. As a unit, the Eagles have recorded 49 tackles for loss this season while allowing 50 tackles behind their own lines of scrimmage.
• After allowing 38.6 points per game in the first six contests, the Eagles' defense has buckled down to allow just 19.7 in the last three games.
