MORE: Murray State game notes | 2015 stats

Illinois opens the 2016 football season on Saturday at Memorial Stadium vs. Murray State. Kickoff is set for 2:42pm CT. The game is televised on BTN. Saturday marks the first ever meeting between Illinois and Murray State.

The Racers went 3-8 in 2015 and finished 7th in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 2-6 record. Murray State ended the season with the second-ranked passing offense in the nation at 347.3 yards per game and the 12th best offense overall at 466.1 yards per game.

Senior quarterback KD Humphries led the FCS for the second consecutive season in completions at 30.0 per game, as well as total passing yards and passing yards per game at 3,778 and 343.5, respectively.

OrangeandBlueNews.com caught up with Murray State beat writer Jeff Arenz from the Murray Ledger & Times to get the lowdown on the Racers. Follow Jeff Arenz on Twitter @racerswriter.

Q: Mitch Stewart kicks off his second season as head coach. What does he bring to the program in terms of philosophy and schemes?

Jeff Arenz: Mitch Stewart was promoted to head coach of Murray State in December 2014 after being the Racers’ offensive coordinator the previous four seasons.

Stewart’s version of the spread offense (four- and five-receiver sets) turned quarterback Casey Brockman into a third team All-American by The Associated Press and The Sports Network in 2011. NFL wide receiver/return specialist Walter Powell, currently with the Buffalo Bills, is a former MSU wideout and a product of Stewart’s system.

Redshirt senior KD Humphries has flourished under Stewart since becoming the starter at quarterback in 2014. Stewart, who is the offensive play-caller, expects the Racers to compete at a fast-paced level. His passing offenses have continually finished near the top of the FCS the last five years, including 2015, when the MSU’s average of 347.3 yards through the air ranked second in the nation.

Q: Quarterback KD Humphries is quite a player. What does he bring to the field for the Racers?

JA: Humphries enters 2016 as one of the most decorated quarterbacks in the FCS. He has received numerous accolades, including being named a third-team Preseason All-American by STATS, and was invited to be an instructor at the prestigious Manning Passing Academy this summer.

In 2015, Humphries led the FCS in passing yards (3,778) and passing yards per game (343.5) while tossing 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He threw for 3,483 yards, 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 2014. Humphries has a career completion rate of 64.7 percent.

For all of the passing Humphries has done at Murray State, he returns as the Racers’ leader in rushing touchdowns with seven.

Stewart views Humphries as a humble, down-to-Earth person, who excels at leading by example.

The Racers had a high-scoring offense last year. Do they have the returning talent to make a repeat performance? Besides Humphries, who are the play-makers that fans should keep an eye on?

JA: Murray State’s offense has averaged 34.6 points per game since Stewart became offensive coordinator in 2011. The Racers scored 336 points in 2015, which is the fewest amount of points MSU has scored in a season the last five years (408 in 2011, 431 in 2012, 358 in 2013, 439 in 2014).

Scoring points is not a problem for Murray State, which averaged 33.0 points in losses to Northern Illinois, Western Michigan and Jacksonville State in 2015. The thing about the Racers is that sometimes they score points too fast, meaning their defense is on the field a lot and has given up a lot of points in recent years (36.3 points allowed since 2011). MSU’s time of possession averaged 27 minutes, 50 seconds, while its opponents had the ball for 33:32 last season.

Top running back Mark Dodson, a redshirt junior, will be making his debut for Murray State against Illinois. He sat out the 2015 season after transferring from Ole Miss through Memphis to the Racers. The NCAA ruled Dodson ineligible via transfer rules.

Dodson played in 24 games during two seasons at Ole Miss, where he rushed for a total of 261 yards and scored five touchdowns.

The Racers graduated Humphries’ top three receivers (Paul Rice, Jeremy Harness, Janawski Davis) from 2015, leaving senior Jesse Blackburn (48 receptions) as the top returning wideout. Rice, Harness and Davis combined to make 200 of Murray State’s 333 grabs last season. MSU has 47 new faces on its roster of 90 players, including 11 of its 15 wide receivers.

Junior Joe Irby and sophomore Chris White are the returning starters on an offensive line that allowed Humphries to be the second-most sacked quarterback in the OVC.

Murray State kicker Connor Mitchell has been more accurate in training camp after the Racers made 9 of 14 field goals in 2015. Dodson, Sanford and Wade are all new to the return game after nationally recognized returner Pokey Harris graduated.

Obviously, Murray St wants to improve on a defense that was ranked last in the OVC last year. What have you seen from them in the pre-season? Who are the key players?

JA: Murray State’s defense has made a huge statement in this year’s training camp. The Racers have intercepted 14 passes and forced three fumbles in three scrimmages against MSU’s fast-paced, high octane offense. Humphries has had a hand in throwing some of those interceptions. Defensive coordinator Chris Boone, who held the same position at Jacksonville State from 2011 to 2012, expects his players to get three turnovers per practice, and they have certainly responded.

MSU’s secondary has the most returning experience with starters D’Montre Wade (junior) and Marquez Sanford (sophomore) back at cornerback and senior Toby Omli returns at safety. Senior linebacker Jonathan Jackson is back after making 213 tackles the last two seasons. Junior Bishop Woods returns at defensive end, where he made 43 tackles, five tackles for loss and 1 1/2 sacks in 2015.

Stewart credits the improvement of his 4-2-5 defense to the defensive line being faster and putting more pressure on the quarterback.

Q: How do you expect the game against Illinois to play out?

JA: Illinois would be smart to control the clock and keep the Murray State defense on its heels. A shootout favors the Racers and keeps them in the game.

It will be very interesting to see Humphries and the MSU offense play against a Lovie Smith-coached defense.

JEFF ARENZ BIO: I took over as sports editor and Murray State Racers beat writer at The Murray Ledger & Times in July 2015. I have 18 years of sports journalism experience with several different small town newspapers, mostly covering high school and college sports. Although I will remain objective in my writing, I am a native of Streator, Ill., and have been an Illinois fan since the early 1980s.