The Demon Deacons head to Charleston, South

(STATS) -- Murray State might not finish with a winning record this season, but theres a good chance the culture has changed for the better within a program thats been aching for some sustained success.After knocking off ranked opponents in back-to-back weeks, the Racers (3-5, 3-2 Ohio Valley Conference) will try to win three in a row for the first time since November 2011 when they visit struggling Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.The biggest thing we have to face, the challenge that this football team has, especially as young as we are, is dealing with that success two weeks in a row, second-year coach Mitch Stewart said.Murray State hasnt posted a winning record since going 7-4 during that 2011 season, but has matched its win total from each of the past two seasons after beating an Eastern Illinois team that was ranked 15th in the STATS FCS Top 25 40-38 on Oct. 22 and then-No. 25 Tennessee State 38-31 last weekend.It gave us a little confidence, especially a young team like mine, said Stewart, whose depth chart lists just three seniors but six true or redshirt freshmen as starters.It kind of validated some things that we had been preaching to the kids about the way we have practice and the way we do things, he added.Instead of saying to the team, Hey man, Im telling you its gonna happen, its gonna happen. You go into the locker room and you say that it happened. Obviously (beating EIU) gave them a great deal of confidence moving forward and to do it again last week gives them even more confidence.Though Murray boasts one of the most generous defenses in the FCS allowing 33.9 points per contest, its averaged 38.5 while winning three of the last four. Senior receiver Jesse Blackburn has caught 25 passes in those four games and totaled 279 receiving yards in the last two.He just loves playing ball, Stewart said of Blackburn, who is second on the team with 38 catches and 631 yards. I really think thats the ultimate compliment you can give somebody.Stewart also doesnt mind that Blackburn brings some personality to the program.Hes crazy, Stewart said. Hes liable to show up one day in the locker room with a mohawk, and it would be colored green. Been there, done that, and it was not for Halloween, that was just on a regular Wednesday.I dont know exactly what he does when he leaves this building but knock on wood he stays out of trouble and when he gets here hes a football-playing dude and he loves playing the game. Hes been a great asset for us.Despite still dealing with some shoulder soreness, senior quarterback KD Humphries earned OVC offensive player of the week honors after he threw for 398 yards and five touchdowns without an interception against Tennessee State. Humphries enters this weeks action ranked in the top 10 in the FCS in average completions (28.3), average passing yards (323.1), average total offense (323.3) and passing yards (2,262).He threw for 715 yards with three TDs and an INT in his last two games against Eastern Kentucky (2-6, 1-4), which has won 13 of 15 in the series.The Colonels, however, have dropped three in a row and been outscored 57-10 in the last two weeks. Marquis Flowers Jersey . 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Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forests guards did what theyre supposed to do -- make shots, take care of the ball and pass it to teammates who can score. The result: Another lopsided win to open the season.Keyshawn Woods scored 22 points with five of Wake Forests 13 3-pointers in a 94-74 win over Bucknell on Sunday.John Collins added 19 points and Mitchell Wilbekin had 13 to help the Demon Deacons (2-0) sweep a short, season-opening homestand, with this win coming less than 48 hours after a 21-point rout of Radford.Dinos Mitoglou finished with 11 points and Austin Arians had 10 for Wake Forest, which shot 50 percent both from the field and behind the arc, while matching a high for 3-pointers under third-year coach Danny Manning. The Demon Deacons also made 13 in a loss at Virginia Tech last January .Youre not going to shoot 50 percent from the 3-point line on a regular basis, Manning said. Were going to have to make shots throughout the course of the year to have success.Another stat may have thrilled him even more: Wake Forests four guards -- Bryant Crawford, Brandon Childress, Woods and Wilbekin -- combined for 16 assists and no turnovers. Eight of those assists belonged to Crawford.Ill take that every game, Manning said.Zach Thomas scored 16 points and Kimbal Mackenzie finished with 15 for the Bison (1-1), who shot 45 percent and clawed back into the game by turning 15 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points.Manning has said this is the best outside shooting team hes had in Winston-Salem, and it was hard to argue against that while the Demon Deacons made seven of their first nine 3-pointers to put Bucknell in an early hole.After the Bison pulled within single digits for the final time early in the second half, Wake Forest hit three more 3s in the span of four possessions -- including a four-point play by Arians -- to build a comfortable lead it wouldnt give back.ddddddddddddEvery time we made a mistake, and sometimes when we didnt, they made it, Bucknell coach Nathan Davis said.BIG PICTUREBucknell: Though they still havent beaten a team in the Atlantic Coast Conference at the time since 1961, the Bison showed signs that they will be a factor in the Patriot League race with a knack for getting to loose balls and turning them into buckets. But fouls were a problem for the Bison, who had two players pick up their fourth fouls in the first half. Davis said his team showed a lot of character in clawing back from 16 points down and had a chance to make it interesting.Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons took care of business this weekend with those two easy wins to get them prepared for even bigger challenges at the Charleston Classic -- where well surely learn more about what this teams ceiling ultimately is. Defending national champion Villanova likely awaits in a later round.STAT SHEETWake Forest was 23 of 29 from the free-throw line while Bucknell was just 5 of 9.TIP-INSBucknell fell to 11-52 against current ACC members with nine of those wins coming against Pittsburgh -- all before the Panthers