Due to a late hiring process and the loss of several key Murray State players from the previous season, the Racers were not expected to perform well under Johnson's first year as head coach.

In 1998, the Racers went 7–4 overall and 5–2 in Ohio Valley Conference play, including a win over the rival Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in the Battle for the Red Belt and a victory over the Southern Illinois Salukis.

[5] In November 2002, the Racers won a share of the Ohio Valley Conference championship with a 37–35 win over an Eastern Illinois University squad led by future NFL quarterback Tony Romo.

Murray State kicker Shane Andrus kicked the 52-yard game-winning field goal as time expired.

Murray State finished the season 7–4–0 and 5–1–0 in conference, and the Racers received the OVC's automatic bid to the Division I-AA playoffs.

McPherson had been removed from the Florida State team in November 2002 after being arrested and charged with stealing and forging a signature on a blank check.

McPherson began attending classes at Murray State and planned to play football for the Racers.

As the ongoing investigation began to bring additional charges against McPherson, Murray State informed him that he would not allow him to play until his legal problems were resolved.

Ron Lane, a junior running back, and Terrence Biggers, a former wide receiver, were charged with trafficking in a controlled substance within 1,000 yards of a school and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Following the incident, Athletic Director Allen Ward stated, "charges of this severity and magnitude demand stepped-up review of our football program."

[13] Murray State hoped for similar improvement under Griffin, but instead the football program reached a low point under his leadership as head coach of the Racers.

Griffin was faced with many challenges inherited from the previous Murray State coaching staff, including few returning players and APR penalties imposed by the NCAA.

While Griffin was able to make improvements to stabilize and rebuild the program and restore academic integrity, he was ultimately unable to stop the decline that had started under previous coach Joe Pannunzio.

Following four straight losing seasons and an overall record of 11–34–0, the lowest winning percentage in Murray State history (.244), Matt Griffin was fired on November 16, 2009.

Hatcher brought his spread offense, known as the 'Hatch Attack', to Murray State after a three-year run at Georgia Southern.

[16][17] With a victory over Tennessee State in the final game of the 2010 season, Chris Hatcher earned his 100th career win.

As a result of the success, head coach Chris Hatcher was rewarded with a two-year contract extension in January 2012.

Roy Stewart Stadium also received minor upgrades prior to the 2012 season, including new press box windows and a new public address system.

Miller led the Racers to a 35-34 OT win over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in the fifth game of the season.

[30] Prior to Murray State Stewart served once again under Chris Hatcher as the receivers coach at Georgia Southern.

The Racers got off to a rough start after facing two top ten FCS teams and the University of Kentucky but picked up in conference play.

The Racers showed promise against the University of Georgia and seemed to be ready for conference play but that turned out to be an illusion.

Prior to his hiring, Hood was the special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach at Kentucky.

Peay will leave the OVC in July 2022 for the ASUN Conference, which plans to start an FCS football league in the 2022 season.

Murray State enters the 2022 season with a 36–19 lead in the series, which began in 1953 and was most recently annually played since 2007, but Peay has won the last five meetings.

[41][42] Another OVC interstate rivalry is against UT Martin,[citation needed] whose campus is about 50 miles southwest of Murray State.

In 1941, prior to a SIAA championship game between the Racers and Hilltoppers, Murray State President James H. Richmond remarked, "We are always happy when we can defeat our chief rival and greatest friend."

In 1948 both schools joined to form the Ohio Valley Conference, where Murray won the first championship in football.

After the meeting, Edwards asked for the return of his belt, but Simmons responded that WKU would have to battle Murray State in football to get it back.