With the score tied at 21, the ISU defense held the Racers to fourth-and-four from their own 18-yard line with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter. Murray's James Gaither was called on to punt, but junior LaDrelle Bryant blocked the punt into the waiting arms of freshman Markus Naves in the end zone to give the Sycamores a 28-21 advantage.

Murray seemed poised on their last drive of the game to be able to move in and tie the contest when quarterback Ryne Salyer completed a pass to Daniel Rumley at the ISU 21-yard line, but redshirt freshman Chris Schmidt forced a fumble and fellow redshirt freshman Derrick Williams pounced on the ball giving the Sycamores possession.

On a third-and-four from the ISU 24, senior Jake Shields capped a solid outing with a five yard run for the first down, allowing the Sycamores to kneel on the ball and run the clock out.

Following senior Quincy Wallace's 22 yard punt return on Murray's opening possession; the Sycamores marched down the field opening the scoring as senior Sidney Montfort rushed in from eight yards to give ISU an early 7-0 advantage. The play capped an eight-play, 41 yard drive for the score.

The Racers' first special teams mistake of the day occurred in the waning minutes of the first quarter when freshman Brandon Anwieler's punt was muffed by Nick Turner where sophomore Brandon Hooks made it down the field from his long snapping position to recover the fumble. Montfort made the mistake hurt as he rushed in from the one for his second touchdown of the day, capping a five-play, 24 yard drive with 13:18 showing in the second quarter.

Murray had the answer as they came right back with a nine-play, 65 yard march of their own that was capped by a Chad Cook rush for seven yards with 8:57 left before the break to inch the Racers back to within a score at 14-7.

For the second straight week, the Sycamores fell victim to an opponent's fumble recovery for a touchdown to tie the score as Jimmy St. Louis recovered a fumble by Turner in the end zone to even the tally at 14.

Montfort plunged in for his career-best third touchdown of the day from a yard out with 2:14 remaining before the break which capped a six-play, 74 yard drive. Murray answered back as Ron Lane scampered 66 yards with 1:47 showing on the clock to even the score at 21.

Indiana State would record 230 yards of total offense in the first half, but netted only 48 after the half. The got all the points they would need from the special teams on the Sycamores' first blocked punt for a touchdown since the 1999 season.

"This was a tale of two halves," ISU head coach Tim McGuire said. "We came out and got the breaks, made things happen by taking advantage of their mistakes. They came right back and we knew we would be in a dog fight. We dug down and showed what we were made of in the second half. Both teams made some great defensive adjustments at the half and we made the big play on special teams that was the difference in the game."

Montfort coupled his three scores with 70 yards rushing to lead the ground attack. Ben Schmidt continued his impressive play in his first collegiate start going 12 of 19 passing for 156 yards. Sophomore Sam Logan caught a team-high six passes for 58 yards while Naves has two catches for 61 yards and the recovery of the blocked punt for the go-ahead score.

On defense, Doc Gooden paced ISU with 13 total tackles, while senior Tom Brillhart and junior Kyle Mitchell each had a tackle for loss and a half. Mitchell, Adam Vogel and Brillhart all recorded a sack in the win.

Indiana State is now 4-0 all-time against Murray at Memorial Stadium, 5-2 in the overall series following three straight wins over the Racers.

The Sycamores look for their first winning streak of more than three games since winning five in a row in 1996, next Saturday against Tennessee-Martin. The final of three consecutive contests versus the Ohio Valley Conference kicks off at 1 p.m. (CDT).