8 things to know about UND’s opponent Murray State – Grand Forks Herald

GRAND FORKS – Murray State will come to Grand Forks for the first time with a 1 p.m. kickoff Saturday at the Alerus Center to face the No. 9 Fighting Hawks, who are playing their fourth straight home game.

Here are eight things you should know about the racers.

Murray State quarterback Jayden Johannsen is familiar with UND and the Alerus Center.

The Sioux Falls native began his career at North Dakota State and was one of the top players in NCAA Division II last season at South Dakota Mines.

Johannsen scored his 100th career touchdown against Mississippi Valley State.

This season, Johannsen is 26 of 47 for 237 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. On the ground, he has 18 carries for 50 yards and a long run of 64 yards.

Johannsen threw for just 41 yards in a loss to Butler earlier this season. Murray State’s longest throw this year is 38 yards.

At Mines, Johannsen threw for more than 8,100 yards, rushed for more than 1,600 yards and scored 98 touchdowns.

Murray State’s top wide receiver comes from a basketball background.

Justice Hill, 6-foot-1, 170 pounds, is playing competitive football for the first time in six seasons following his college basketball career.

Hill was the 2018 Gatorade Player of the Year at Arkansas after rushing for 3,084 yards and 37 touchdowns.

In his two basketball seasons at Murray State, Hill scored 603 points, averaging 10.1 points per game. His 266 assists rank Murray fifth all-time for two-year players and 18th all-time.

His father, Fitz, was the football recruiting coordinator at Arkansas from 1998 to 2000 and the head coach at San Jose State from 2001 to 2004.

Murray State’s quarterbacks coach is Zeb Noland, who played part of his college career at North Dakota State.

Noland spent 2023 as the offensive coordinator for his father at Jefferson High School in Georgia.

Before completing his coaching education at Georgia, Noland worked as a graduate assistant at South Carolina, where he gained national attention in 2021 when he moved from a coaching role to starting quarterback due to injuries.

The Georgia native began his college career at Iowa State. He was the backup to Trey Lance during the Bison’s 2019 FCS National Championship season.

In a win over San Diego last week, the Fighting Hawks allowed a 53-yard field goal.

Murray State will be in a similar ballpark this week at the Alerus Center.

James London, a 6-foot sophomore from Miami, holds three of the 20 longest kicks in Murray State history, two of them over 50 yards.

Last season he hit a 53-yarder against North Dakota State. He scored from 51 yards against Butler and 54 yards against Mississippi Valley State this season.

UND had a rollercoaster ride at Murray State in 2023, winning 45-31.

The Fighting Hawks had their hands full with Racers quarterback DJ Williams and tight end Cole Rusk.

Williams threw for 228 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for 52 yards.

Rusk, an FCS All-American, had three grabs for 52 yards and two touchdowns against UND.

However, Williams transferred to Southern Illinois and Rusk to Illinois.

However, both players are currently injured.

Jody Wright is in his first season as head coach at Murray State and is in the process of overhauling the roster.

Murray State has 65 new players and 46 total transfers. Of the 46 transfers, 36 come from either the FBS or the FCS.

The Racers have a trio of FBS transfer linebackers.

Cincinnati’s James Camden leads Murray with 24 tackles and three pass breakups.

Georgia Tech’s Tyson Meiguez had 10 tackles and 23 total tackles in Missouri’s opener. He had a fumble recovery for a touchdown against Mississippi Valley State.

Florida Atlantic’s Justice Cross is fourth on the team with 16 tackles.

In Murray State’s 100 years of football history, the Racers have played indoors five times.

The first dome game was held in 2001 after 9/11, when Murray State’s game against North Alabama was canceled. The team ultimately played at the Metrodome in Minneapolis and lost to the Gophers 66-10.

The next indoor game took place in 2010 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta with a 48-24 victory over Georgia State.

In Murray State’s first season in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2023, the Racers lost 38-7 to South Dakota at the DakotaDome in Vermillion and 38-6 to North Dakota State at the Fargodome.

Former UND defensive lineman Jayson Coley, who started 11 games for the Fighting Hawks in 2022 and blocked four punts in his career with the Fighting Hawks, is a senior defensive back for Murray State.

Coley also played for the Racers last season, where he recorded 30 tackles and appeared in all 11 games.

Coley, an Illinois native, is listed as one of two options as a backup nickelback on Murray State’s two-deep depth chart for the UND game.