2018 Murray State Racers football team

2018 Murray State Racers football
2018 Murray State Racers football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	5–6 (5–3 OVC)
Head coach	Mitch Stewart (4th season);
Offensive coordinator	Nick Coleman (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Jake Johnson (1st season)
Home stadium	Roy Stewart Stadium; (Capacity: 16,800)
	Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 10 Jacksonville State $^	7	–	1	8	–	3
No. 15 Southeast Missouri State ^	6	–	2	8	–	3
Eastern Kentucky	5	–	2	7	–	4
Murray State	5	–	3	5	–	6
Tennessee State	3	–	4	4	–	5
Eastern Illinois	3	–	5	3	–	8
Austin Peay	3	–	5	5	–	6
UT Martin	2	–	6	2	–	9
Tennessee Tech	1	–	7	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2018 Murray State Racers football team represented Murray State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Mitch Stewart and played their home games at Roy Stewart Stadium. They were members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 5–6, 5–3 in OVC play to finish in fourth place.

Preseason

OVC media poll

On July 20, 2018, the media covering the OVC released their preseason poll with the Racers predicted to finish in seventh place.^[1] On July 23, the OVC released their coaches poll with the Racers predicted to finish in eighth place.^[2]

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Jacksonville State	134 (14)
2	Austin Peay	114 (1)
3	UT Martin	96
4	Tennessee State	91
5	Eastern Illinois	83
6	Eastern Kentucky	64
7	Murray State	39
8	Southeast Missouri State	35
9	Tennessee Tech	19

Coaches poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Jacksonville State	126 (14)
2	Austin Peay	112 (4)
3	UT Martin	95
4	Eastern Illinois	73
5	Eastern Kentucky	69
6	Tennessee State	64
7	Southeast Missouri State	62
8	Murray State	24
9	Tennessee Tech	23

Preseason All-OVC team

The Colonels had two players selected to the preseason all-OVC team.^[3]

Defense

Kenney Wooten – DL

Specialists

Gabriel Vicente – K

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	6:00 p.m.	Southern Illinois*	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	ESPN+	L 10–49	6,350
September 8	6:00 p.m.	at No. 17 Central Arkansas*	Estes Stadium Conway, AR	ESPN+	L 13–26	6,121
September 15	11:00 a.m.	at Kentucky*	Kroger Field Lexington, KY	SECN	L 10–48	48,217
September 29	6:00 p.m.	UT Martin	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	ESPN+	W 45–38	11,137
October 6	6:00 p.m.	at Eastern Illinois	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	ESPN+	W 48–41	3,063
October 13	1:00 p.m.	Tennessee State	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	ESPN+	W 45–21	3,318
October 20	2:00 p.m.	at Eastern Kentucky	Roy Kidd Stadium Richmond, KY	ESPN+	W 34–6	10,440
October 27	3:00 p.m.	No. 12 Jacksonville State	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	ESPN+	L 15–42	8,053
November 3	1:30 p.m.	at Tennessee Tech	Tucker Stadium Cookeville, TN	ESPN+	L 24–27	8,788
November 10	1:00 p.m.	No. 21 Southeast Missouri State	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	ESPN+	W 40–38	2,087
November 17	4:00 p.m.	at Austin Peay	Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN	ESPN+	L 23–48	7,113
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Source: Schedule

Game summaries

Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Salukis	7	21	14	7	49
Racers	3	7	0	0	10

At Central Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Racers	3	10	0	0	13
No. 17 Bears	7	13	0	6	26

At Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Racers	0	3	0	7	10
Wildcats	7	10	17	14	48

UT Martin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Skyhawks	3	7	14	14	38
Racers	14	17	7	7	45

At Eastern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Racers	10	14	14	10	48
Panthers	7	10	17	7	41

Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	14	0	0	7	21
Racers	3	21	14	7	45

At Eastern Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Racers	0	10	14	10	34
Colonels	3	0	3	0	6

Jacksonville State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Gamecocks	14	7	7	14	42
Racers	6	3	6	0	15

At Tennessee Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Racers	7	0	10	7	24
Golden Eagles	14	3	7	3	27

Southeast Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Redhawks	17	14	0	7	38
Racers	0	7	17	16	40

At Austin Peay

	1	2	3	4	Total
Racers	10	7	0	6	23
Governors	14	7	7	20	48

Players drafted into the NFL

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
3	98	Quincy Williams	LB	Jacksonville Jaguars

References

This college football 2010s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Media Pollsters Tab Jacksonville State as 2018 OVC Football Preseason Favorites".

[2] "Jacksonville State Picked as 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Football Favorites".

[3] "SEMO's Terry, JSU's Bridges Named OVC Preseason Football Players of the Year".

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Murray State Racers football
Venues	Roy Stewart Stadium (1973–present)
Bowls & rivalries	1949 Tangerine Bowl Western Kentucky: Battle for the Red Belt
Culture & lore	Racer One Dunker "Fight Song" "The Old Gray Mare" Racer Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024