The Bulldogs earned a quality road win at Murray State on Saturday night by the final score of 19-17. Nick Howard rushed for two touchdowns and Ryan Short hit a go-ahead field goal with just nine seconds remaining from 22-yards out. The win moves Butler to 2-0 on the young season while Murray State drops to 0-2.
 
Short hit two 22-yard field goals in the win with the first coming midway through the first quarter to give Butler the first points of the game. BU limited Murray State to just 12 total yards in the first quarter to hang onto a 3-0 lead after 15 minutes.
 
Murray State scored the first touchdown of the contest in the second quarter off a five-yard run, but the story of the first half came on Butler's final possession. The 'Dawgs went deep and looked to score on a hail mary on the final play, but Ethan Loss was marked down at the one-yard line.
 
A flag appeared on the field after the big gain and Murray State was penalized for a roughing the passer call that kept the teams on the field. Howard made the Racers pay for the penalty as he crossed the goal line on the final play to give Butler a 10-7 lead at the half.
 
The first points of the second half belonged to the home team as the Racers traveled 67 yards in just over a minute to find the end zone on a four-yard rush. Butler got those points back in the fourth on Howard's second rushing TD of the game, but the BU extra point was missed making the game 16-14.
 
The game really started to tighten up after a 51-yard field goal from Murray State, giving the Racers a one-point edge with just 2:41 to play.  Butler kept their cool, continued to move the ball down the field and Short would come up with the game-winner to cap off a 10-play, 70 yard drive.
 
Butler's offense moved the ball all over the field and ended the night with 436 yards of total offense. The Bulldogs came up with 26 first downs while limiting Murray State to just nine. They ran 44 more plays than the home team and dominated time of possession 41:09 to 18:51.
 
Howard ended the game with 85 rushing yards to lead the team. He averaged 4.3 yards per rush and also passed for 90 yards. Reagan Andrew also had great numbers going 18-for-25 for 193 yards against the Racers.
 
William Enneking and Ethan Loss each had four receptions for the Bulldogs. Enneking had a clutch catch and run in the fourth quarter to get BU into field goal range. Luke Wooten had three catches for 38 yards and Derek Allen Jr. was in the box score with three grabs for 30.
 
Butler's defense got a lift from Will Mason and Nick Bafia. Each Bulldog had eight tackles and Mason had an interception. Adam Sturtz put together another well-rounded game as well for BU with six tackles and a sack.
 
Butler will return to action next weekend with night game against Hanover. The 6 PM kick will be a White Out for Bulldogs fans.