CLINTON, S.C. – Stacking up at least 35 first-half points for the third consecutive week and gaining their first shutout in a conference game since the program was still Division II, the #25 Presbyterian College football team carved up Morehead State in Saturday's PFL opener by a final count of 41-0.

Senior Zach Switzer was unstoppable as the Blue Hose extended the nation's longest winning streak to nine games, scoring three total touchdowns (all in the first 30 minutes) while rushing for a career-high 158 yards.

PC's defense was perhaps even more impressive as head coach Steve Englehart's gang won their fifth straight home game, keeping MSU at zero passing yards for the entire first quarter while collecting three interceptions, a fumble recovery, and not allowing the Eagles to convert any of their five fourth-down attempts.

The Blue Hose stuffed Morehead four times at the goal line to cement the shutout, winning their last two games by a combined score of 117-3.

Continuing the program's best start to a season in 66 years, Presbyterian will enter their BYE week next Saturday before returning to PFL territory on October 11 in a visit to Butler.


 
FINAL SCORE: #25 Presbyterian, 41 – Morehead State, 0
RECORDS: #25 Presbyterian (5-0, 1-0) – Morehead State (2-3, 0-1)
LOCATION: Bailey Memorial Stadium (Clinton, S.C.)






 

 
NEVER BEEN DONE IN D-I

 
- Turning over Morehead seven times if counting the failed fourth-down conversions, PC accomplished their first shutout in a league game since they were a member of the South Atlantic Conference in 2006.

- On that November day at Bailey Memorial 19 years ago, the Blue Hose blanked Newberry by a final tally of 10-0.

- Saturday was the first time that one Pioneer League member shut out another since the 2024 championship-winners, Drake, did so to Marist in November.


 
FIRST HALF FIREWORKS

 
- In PC's three-game homestand versus Erskine, Bluefield, and the Eagles, each of those games were virtually over by the time that both teams had trotted to the locker room for halftime.

- Coach Englehart's club has wrangled in 127 points in only the first two quarters of those games, going for five first-half touchdowns against Morehead to put it away early.

- Only in the opening half, Switzer compiled a whopping 150 yards on just five carries, averaging 30 yards a touch. His two rushing TD's were from distances of 66 and 79 yards, the latter of which is now PC's longest play of the year.

- Quarterback Collin Hurst was workmanlike again after posting a personal-best 83-percent accuracy rating in last week's beatdown over Bluefield, completing 10-of-12 throws for 122 yards and two scores solely in half number one. For the second game in a row, he sat out the 4^th frame due to the lopsided margin.


 
FRANCIS = NEW RECORD-HOLDER

 
- Entering the day needing just one more interception to become PC's new D-I-era record-holder in that category, senior Caleb Francis seized that goal on the very first snap.

- His diving pick positioned Presbyterian nicely to draw first blood, although he wasn't finished tormenting the Eagles. Francis intercepted another wobbler in the end zone to punctuate the aforementioned goal-line stand in the 4^th, giving him nine INT's over a storied career.

- The Jacksonville native has surpassed Ed Britt (2012-15) and Big South Conference Hall of Famer Justin Bethel (2008-11) for the title of most interceptions since Presby turned D-I 18 years ago, already with four picks in his final season.


 
THIRD-DOWN TENACITY

 
- The Blue Hose came into the PFL opener sporting the nation's fifth-best defense in third-down situations, only letting opponents convert 25 percent of the time.

- Those elite numbers turned up again as PC stymied the Eagles early and often, sending MSU to a rough 6-of-16 ratio when needing to move the chains on third-down (37 percent).


 
SPREADING THE WEALTH

 
- The only FCS team (out of a list of 129) to have eight different receivers catch a touchdown pass going into the Morehead State meeting, PC bumped up that number to nine at the 11:37 stamp of the first period.

- Ironically, the one glaring absence of those eight individuals was senior Dominic Kibby, who is already Presbyterian's all-time leader in both career yardage and touchdowns.

- He got the monkey off his back less than four minutes in, hauling his 16^th career TD from 10 yards out after Presby forced a Morehead fumble on the game's second series.


 
HOW IT HAPPENED – FIRST HALF

 
- Francis foreshadowed how the afternoon would go for the visitors, intercepting the first pass and leaving it to Switzer to finish a five-play opening drive that needed only 40 yards to reach the end zone.

- Morehead State coughed up the ball twice in its first three plays, as Michael Torres caused and recovered a fumble in the next sequence to again give PC a shortened field.

- Hurst completed a 21-yarder to Nathan Levicki on the first snap after the takeaway and then the Kibby touchdown right after that.

- With just over two minutes left in the first quarter, Presbyterian saw the first of their five stops on fourth-down, preserving the two-score lead at the end of one.

- It took only 33 seconds for PC to add to its bulging lead in the next stanza, with sophomore Justin Montgomery scampering free on a 14-yard touchdown (his third game in a row with a score).

- Carter Szydlowski and Boyce Bankhead made MSU pay for another fourth-down gamble at the Blue Hose 29, sacking QB Carter Cravens for a loss of 10.

- Just over two minutes later (after the Eagles got the ball back but went three-and-out), Switzer sprinted to paydirt for the second time on a 66-yard footrace.

- That put PC ahead 28-0, but they weren't finished with their first-half onslaught. One more time, it was Switzer up the middle for a 79-yard jolt, the longest rushing play by PC since he himself recorded an 81-yard gain against Drake last year.

- Just when it seemed that Morehead would end the first half on a minor positive – advancing to the 11-yard line while trailing by 35 points – Cravens made another costly mistake as he was flushed out of the pocket and tossed his second INT to Will Ferrell in the corner of the end zone with two seconds on the clock.


 
HOW IT HAPPENED – SECOND HALF

 
- Although an 11-play series did not end with any points for PC to begin the third (missing a 36-yard field goal after a Levicki score was nullified by a flag), their next drive ended in another touchdown to boost the advantage to 41-0.

- Hurst scrambled on a 12-yard keeper to give the Blue Hose their last TD of the game and their 29^th of the campaign. That is the second rushing touchdown of the season for Hurst to complement his 15 passing scores.

- Early in the 4^th, with the result already imminent, things went from bad to worse for the Eagles even though they earned themselves a 1^st-and-Goal at the one-yard line.

- They elected to run between the tackles for three consecutive snaps, getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage each time. That's when Francis sealed his second pick of the contest, which eliminated any hope of avoiding the shutout from MSU's perspective.


COACH ENGLEHART'S COMMENTS




 
UP NEXT

 
- Still perfect with five games gone and taking a great first step to start PFL play, the Blue Hose will enjoy a week of rest next Saturday and travel to Butler on October 11.

- The Bulldogs survived a tough test from Marist in Indianapolis, winning 31-28 thanks to a 48-yard touchdown strike with 1:47 left in regulation.

- Butler was a nationally-ranked program when they last met PC in the '24 finale, falling to the Blue Hose 30-27 thanks to 190 yards on the ground by then-senior Quante Jennings.