Lewis Murray, Jr. (1982) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Lewis Murray, Jr.

Induction:
1982

They are the forgotten men of the football team. The men that are for the most part taken for granted. The men that get beat up and bruised, stepped on and trambled. But ask any running back or quarterback or defensive player about who are the most valuable players on a team and more likely than not they will say the offensive line.
   At Southern Miss there have been numerous players that have played in the line that fall into that category, players that toiled in obscurity that who made inmeasurable contributions to the success of the teams.
   Lewis Murray, Jr. was one of those types of players and although his career at the University of Southern Mississippi was short, in just a brief time was able to prove his worth and earn a spot in the Sports Hall of Fame.
   Murray began his college career at Pearl River (Miss.) Junior College and in fact was the captain of their 1949 team that captured the state title. He had played high school ball in Purvis, Mississippi and had attracted quite a bit of attention with his performance there.
   As a member of the Southern Miss team in 1950, Murray was able to play well enough to earn playing time on both offense and defense. Those who saw him play will tell you that one of his greatest assets was his speed and quickness which he used to overcome the fact that he was kind of a lanky guy who was 6-1 and 189 pounds.
   But it was that speed and quickness that caused problems for Southern opponents. On offense it was difficult for the defenders to get by him and make their way to the quarterback or running backs, while on defense he was able to use those skills to get around defenders and put the pressure on the other team’s offense,
   That 1950 team that Murray contributed to finished the year 5-5, but after getting off to a 1-3 start that included a 56-0 loss at Tennessee, they rebounded to win five of the last seven games.
   Offensively it was a team that was slow coming around and relied on its defense early in the season, but the offensive with Murray playing a key role in the line, scored 41 and 34 points, respectively in its final two games that year.
   Defensively for the most part it was a strong unit all season long. They would record a pair of shutouts, hold another opponent to just a touchdown and in total six opponents to 20 points or less.
   It is players like Murray that help to lay the foundation for the success of Southern Miss football today. He was one of the true pioneers of football and athletics and along with a group of outstanding players in the late forties and early fifties helped lift the football program among some of the best in the country