MARTIN, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee at Martin challenged Murray State for three quarters Saturday afternoon at Hardy M. Graham Stadium in Martin. The one period the Skyhawks tried to play catch up proved costly as Murray State scored 21 unanswered points en route to a 42-3 Ohio Valley Conference football victory,

With the loss, the Skyhawks fall to 0-5 in the conference and 2-9 overall. Murray State, 6-4 overall and 3-1 in the OVC, positions itself to win the OVC championship if it can close out its season with a win over No. 3 Eastern Illinois. The Skyhawks will wrap up their 2002 campaign Thursday, Nov. 21 at Cookeville, Tenn., against Tennessee Tech. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.

Murray State jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 1-yard run by Billy Blanchard. The Racers added to that advantage with 5:36 in the second quarter when Deandre Green, a transfer from Auburn, scored the first of his two touchdowns. Green scored on a 21-yard pass from Stewart Childress.

The Skyhawks fought back but saw their first scoring threat stymied by an interception.

Murray State opened the third quarter with a 6-yard pass from Childress to Green. Trailing by 21, the Skyhawks relied on its passing attack. A fumble and an interception led to two more Murray State touchdowns in the third quarter. Finally with 2:27 to play in the third period, the Skyhawks sustained a successful drive that ended with a 19-yard field goal by Brent Harris with 14:23 to play in the game.

Skyhawk quarterback Brady Wahlberg completed 20-of-32 passes for 196 yards. He was sacked once and threw three interceptions. His favorite receiver was freshman Orentheus Taylor from Dyersburg who caught eight passes for 64 yards. Freshman Chad Nash hauled in two catches for 58 yards, with 50 of those coming on one pass.

The Skyhawks managed 52 yards of rushing against the league’s top rush defense. Six backs had rushing attempts in the contest for the Skyhawks. Wahlberg had nine of those carries for 13 yards. Junior Damien Harris, from Nashville, led the way with his one carry for 22 yards.

Murray State found success with the run against the Skyhawks. The Racers piled up 293 yards of rushing. Blanchard led the way with 22 carries for 162 yards.

Although Childress connected with Green for touchdowns , he was limited to 114 yards of passing. He completed 10 of-14 passes.