Raiders ready for first road test

Saturday, September 6

Minneapolis, MN

2:30 PM

Middle Tennessee

Minnesota

Photo by: Kaitlyn Hungerford/MT Athletic Communications

9/5/2014 6:00:00 AM | Football

Gophers present huge challenge

MURFREESBORO - In the time frame of less than a week, everything has changed for the football program at Middle Tennessee.

The Blue Raiders have gone from an off-the-board favorite over Savannah State at home to an underdog status that has reached more than two touchdowns as they face Big Ten power Minnesota Saturday on the road.

Game time is 2:30 PM, and it will be telecast live on the Big Ten Network alternate channel. Here is where fans can see the game on Saturday: DirecTV: 610-1, Dish Network: 405, AT&T U-Verse: 1694 or 694, and Comcast: BTN2Go (online only).

The game will also be broadcast live on the Blue Raider Network, with veteran Chip Walters handling play-by-play and former MT linebacker Dennis Burke providing color commentary. Radio affiliates are 89.5 FM, 102.5 FM, 97.5 FM, 100.5 FM, 101.9 FM and 1450 AM.

Middle Tennessee and Minnesota have played once before, in 2010 when the Golden Gophers visited Murfreesboro and escaped with a 24-17 win after trailing the Blue Raiders through most of the first half.

In 2011, Middle Tennessee faced another Big Ten team, Purdue, on the road, and took the Boilermakers down to the last play of the game before Purdue blocked a Blue Raider field goal attempt to escape with a 27-24 win.

Middle Tennessee Head Coach Rick Stockstill addressed his team's visit to Minnesota, and the big challenge ahead of them.

"It's tough to win on the road, especially going into a new place that you have never been to before," said Stockstill. "You don't know what to expect, what it's going to look like, what it's going to sound like. We do know that it is going to be a loud environment, so we have to be able to handle the noise.

"Minnesota is an excellent football team. They are coming off back-to-back bowl games, and they won eight games last year."

Stockstill also noted Minnesota's size would present problems for his team.

"They are really, really big, as you might expect. They have a defensive end that was second in sacks last year in the Big Ten.

"This is a big challenge for us, but we are looking forward to it. Hopefully, we can correct the mistakes we made against Savannah State, and play a little bit better than we did this past week.

"We are getting better as a team, and as a program, and we are not going to be in awe of going up there to play Minnesota. I just hope we play better than we did Saturday (vs. SSU). If we do that, then we have a chance to win this game."

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Austin Grammer will get the second start of his career against the Golden Gophers. He started and played most of the game against SSU last Saturday, but the torrential second half downpour and lop-sided half-time score limited the Middle Tennessee offense in the final two quarters.

Stockstill, however, was still pleased with most of what he saw from the young quarterback.

"I thought Austin did a nice job. He did a good job protecting the ball. I also thought our receivers, our offensive line and our backs had a lot to do with his performance. I think his longest passing play was a flare pass to Jordan Parker, Marcus Henry and Devin Clark made nice catches on deep balls, and Marcus made a nice run on a crossing pattern after he caught the ball.

"Our offensive line did a good job of protecting him, so he wasn't ever really challenged in the pocket. He was hurried a couple of times, but he escaped and avoided sacks."

On the defensive side of the ball, several newcomers made good impressions. Virtually the entire front four, ends Steven Rhodes and Shubert Bastien, and tackles Shaquille Huff and Jimal McBride, made rare starts. McBride subbed for senior Patrick McNeil, who was hospitalized with a severe asthma attack, to make his second career start. McNeil, a 6-1, 311-pounder who anchors the defensive line, is expected to be fully recovered and ready to play by Saturday. Huff also made his second career start and Rhodes picked up his first.

Junior T.T. Barber, an All-Conference USA performer, anchors a veteran linebacking corp that includes Trey Wafford and Christian Henry. The secondary is led by junior Kevin Byard, who has returned 10 interceptions for 326 yards and four touchdowns during his career.

Punting chores have been earned by Zachary Lopez, who replaced record-setting punter Josh Davis this season. Cody Clark will handle placekicking and kickoffs, while Ed'Marques Batties will be the primary return specialist for both punts and kickoffs.

Minnesota, as Stockstill pointed out, will be much bigger than the Blue Raiders, who will have to rely on speed and execution to offset the Gophers size advantage. The Gophers, on the other hand, are worried about MT's speed and quickness in the open field after the Blue Raiders have isolated bigger defenders on smaller, quicker runners and receivers.

Minnesota Head Coach Jerry Kill knows what the solution is … tackling well in the open field. But that is sometimes easier said than done, especially against Blue Raider playmakers like Reggie Whatley, Batties, Clark and Henry.

Kill is also concerned about the Middle Tennessee rushing attack, with Whatley, Shane Tucker, Jeremiah Bryson and Jordan Parker.

But Kill has built a defense that is big and fast, thrives on sacks, and was ranked 25^th in the nation last year in scoring defense. However, the injury bug has struck the Gophers at the point of their greatest strength, the defensive line. One tackle is done for the season, while two others are listed as "doubtful". Kill has said that as many as three freshmen could see action in the defensive line on Saturday.