PFL CONTROL ON THE LINE THIS WEEKEND AS FOOTBALL TRAVELS TO MARIST


By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations

GAME NOTES(PDF) (PDF) | ESPN3 | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS

MOREHEAD, Ky. —
 Morehead State Football is now in the thick of the Pioneer League race and finds itself at the top of the standings at 3-0. But, this week’s opponent is also right there at the peak. League unbeatens the Eagles and the Marist Red Foxes will square off in upstate New York Saturday at Noon ET for control of the conference.

MSU enters at 4-2, with three consecutive wins, while Marist is 3-2 – also with three straight PFL victories.

The game will air live on ESPN3 and can be heard on the Eagle Sports Radio Network with WIVY-96.3 FM serving as flagship station. Chuck Mraz and Jason Blanton provide the radio call. Fans can also hear it on MSUEagles.com, WGOH-110.9 FM/1370 AM and WMST-106.9 FM/1150 AM.

THE SERIES
 Record vs. Marist: 2-4First Meeting: 2009 (Marist won 24-14 in Morehead)Last Meeting: 2018 (Marist won 48-21 in Morehead)Streak: MAR 3 gamesRecord in Morehead: 0-3Record in Poughkeepsie: 2-1
GAME NOTES
 • Morehead State will bid for its first 4-0 start to PFL play since the league dropped divisions in 2006. The Eagles started 4-0 in 2002 and were 3-0 last in 2013 (head coach Rob Tenyer‘s first season). The 1966 season was the only other time another MSU team started league play 4-0 (OVC).

• Morehead State ranks 13th in the FCS in scoring (36.8/game). Morehead State has also scored 30+ points in five consecutive games for the first time since accomplishing that offensive feat in 2002. MSU has NEVER scored 30+ in six consecutive games since records began in 1927.

• Defensive end Vaughn Taylor, Jr., ranks FIRST among ALL FCS players in tackles for loss (15.0) and tackles for loss per game (2.4). Taylor, Jr., also has six sacks to rank tied for FIRST in the PFL. Taylor is the Morehead State career record holder with 52 tackles for loss.

• Graduate student QB Mark Pappasmoved up to sixth place in career passing yards (5,649) in program history last week, passing former greats Phil Simms and David Dinkins.

• Senior WR BJ Byrd ranks in the top five among ALL FCS players in touchdowns (3rd, 8), yards per game (3rd, 108.5), receptions per game (3rd, 8.2) and total yards (5th, 651). His yards per game, if it holds up, would break the current single-season program record of 101.6 held by Chris Berry in 1997.

• Senior WR BJ Byrd has four games with 100+ receiving yards this fall, including a career-high 191 against Dayton, which ranked as the second highest single-game yardage total in program history. He has played in 13 career MSU games after transferring from Jacksonville and has 1,116 yards and 16 touchdowns to go along with five multi-touchdown efforts. In his 13 games, he has caught at least one touchdown in 11 of them.

• Graduate student Andrew Foster ranks SECOND among all FCS punters in average, booming punts at a 47.8-yard clip. He is well on his way to becoming the first Eagle punter in program history to average 40+ yards in four consecutive seasons. 

• Foster has successfully concerted 40 consecutive PATs kicks since missing one at Presbyterian in the spring season. During the 2018 and 2019 seasons, he set the MSU record for PATs in a row at 43, needing just three more this year to tie his own mark. He has 109 career PATs made and 23 field goals for 178 career points.

• Last weekend, running backs Earl Stoudemire (career high 148 yards) and Issiah Aguero (107) became the first two backs since Logan Holbrook and Roberto London in 2017 to both achieve 100-yard rushing totals in the same game.

• Morehead State’s defense ranks FOURTH in the nation in tackles for loss (50, 8.3 per game). The Eagles had their highest sack total in the Rob Tenyer era with six at Presbyterian. 

• Morehead State’s 323 rushing yards last week versus Butler was the most for the program in a single game since Sept. 8, 2018. It also marked the first game since Oct. 12, 2019 (at Jacksonville) that MSU had more rushing yards than passing yards.