MURRAY, KY – There will be many firsts for the Murray State Racers on Thursday night when they open the season against Missouri.
It will be the first game of the Jody Wright era after Wright took over the program in January. It will also be the first time the more than 60 new players added to the roster since the spring will wear a Murray State uniform.
“We have a lot of new players,” Wright said. “When I got to coach these young men, they really accepted what we asked of them. When you have 65 new players, it will be interesting to see how they all get on and play together. Training has been good, but it’s all relative as we’ve only played each other. The excitement is there and we’ve had some really good and clean training sessions. But when you’re playing against probably one of the teams in the whole country, the first game is definitely a challenge, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Wright released the Racers’ first official roster of the season and says it will be very flexible going forward.
From that ranking, graduate Jayden Johannsen will be the Racers’ starting quarterback. Johannsen spent four years at South Dakota Mines and threw for over 8,000 yards before transferring to Murray State.
“Every fall camp with a new team, there’s a learning curve,” Johannsen said. “There’s a lot of new guys and new faces, especially considering how many new players we have. So it was just a matter of getting to know everyone and getting on the same page. I can’t stress enough how hard these guys have worked all summer long. I’m excited for us and the opportunity we have.”
Murray State and 11th-ranked Missouri will face off Thursday night at 7 p.m. in Columbia, Missouri.
