Raiders face Owls on Senior Day

Saturday, November 26

Murfreesboro, TN

4:30 PM

Middle Tennessee

Florida Atlantic University (beIN Sports)

Tickets

11/25/2016 8:00:00 AM | Football

Final home game for 2016

By: @MTAthletics

MURFREESBORO – Middle Tennessee goes for win number eight on Saturday against Florida Atlantic as the program honors its 22 seniors. Kickoff is set for 4:34 PM CT and the game will be shown on beIN Sports.

This will be the 14^th meeting between the two schools with the Blue Raiders owning a 10-3 advantage. MT has won eight straight over the Owls and Head Coach Rick Stockstill is 9-1 during his tenure against FAU.

The Blue Raiders will also honor the 2006 Motor City Bowl team as members who come back will serve as Honorary Captains.

TV INFORMATION: beIN Sports
620 on DirecTV
392 on Dish
596 on Verizon/FIOS/Frontier
662/1662 (HD) on AT&T UVerse
Channel Finder: http://getbein.beinsports.com/us/

GAME INFORMATION
(FULL GAME NOTES)

(GAMEDAY CENTRAL)

Hashtag: #BeatFAU, #BlueRaiders
Twitter: MT_FB
Instagram: @MTAthletics
Facebook: Blue Raider Athletics

Game Captains: WR Terry Pettis, LB Chris Melton and WR Demetrius Frazier.

Date: Saturday, Nov. 26
Time: 4:34 p.m. (central)
Teams: Middle Tennessee (7-4; 4-3) vs Florida Atlantic (3-8; 2-5)
Location: Murfreesboro, TN
Stadium: Floyd Stadium (30,788)
Raider Walk: 2:15 PM
Gates Open: 3 PM
Senior Day Presentation: 4:09 PM
Weather Forecast: Sunny/ 56°
TV: beIN Sports
Radio: WMOT-FM (89.5), WGNS (1450 AM/100.5 FM/101.9 FM), Game 2 (102.5/94.9/95.1)
Play-by-Play: Chip Walters
Analysis: Wes Counts

Live Streaming | Live Stats | Live Audio

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: MT leads 10-3
At Middle Tennessee: MT leads 5-2
At FAU: MT leads 5-1
At Neutral Site: 0-0
Rick Stockstill vs FAU: 9-1
Charlie Patridge vs MT: 0-2
Last MT Win: 2015 (24-17 in Boca Raton)
Last FAU Win: 2007 (27-14 in Boca Raton)

QUICK HITTERS

A win over FAU will give MT eight regular season wins for the third time in the last five years.
Senior Class: Bowl eligible 5 times, will play in 3 bowls, chance for three 8-win seasons, 18-9 home record and signature wins over Ga. Tech and Missouri.
Ty Lee's 51 receptions shares the national lead among freshmen with SMU's James Proche.
MT ranks tied for 2nd nationally with five road wins this season. Western Michigan leads the nation with six followed by MT, Alabama, Clemson, FSU, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin with five each.
WR Richie James needs 4 more receiving yards to break his own single-season school record of 1,346 set in 2015.
RB I'Tavius Mathers needs 149 yards to break the single-season rushing mark at MT. Vince Hall had 1,439 yards in 1984.
MT had 8 turnovers in its first eight games combined and now it has 10 in its last three contests.
The 2016 season is the 102nd for Blue Raider football and the 18th at the FBS level.
PK Canon Rooker has hit 13 of his last 14 field goals and ranks 22nd nationally in field goals made per game.
I'Tavius Mathers has rushed for 100 or more yards in seven of his last nine games.
In MT's last 13 wins it has averaged 575.6 yards of total offense and allowed just 385.4.
Middle Tennessee is 19-5 in its last 24 home games.
The Blue Raiders have been bowl eligible eight times in 11 years and partcipated in five bowls during the FBS era.
Middle Tennessee has 10 players competing this season with a degree in hand. The Blue Raiders also have seven more who will earn degrees this December (Josh Chester, Jeremy Cutrer, William Eads, Myles Harges, Shaquille Huff, Brent Stockstill (Undergraduate) and Kamani Thomas).
MT is averaging 40.2 points a game at home and 34.7 on the road in 2016.
In their last 39 conference games, the Blue Raiders have a mark of 27-12.
Over the last 54 games, the Blue Raider defense has come up with 61 interceptions. The team had 15 picks in 2013 by eight different players, 13 in 2014 and 17 in 2015.
Consecutive Starts Leaders: Shaquille Huff (36), Daniel Stephens (29) and Steven Rhodes (27).
Under Rick Stockstill, the Blue Raiders have been involved in 20 games that were decided in the final minute of regulation or overtime. The team is 12-8 in those games and have won eight of the last 10.
Head Coach Rick Stockstill is third on the school's all-time wins list with 71 victories.
In 136 games under Rick Stockstill, the Blue Raiders are +20 in turnover margin.
Middle Tennessee has scored 30 or more points 60 times under Rick Stockstill. The most 30-point games in a season under Stockstill is nine (2009) and the Raiders have 8 through 11 games in 2016.

RAIDERS AT FLOYD STADIUM
Since Floyd Stadium opened in 1933, the Blue Raiders have compiled an overall mark of 286-118-13 (.700), including a record 31-game win streak from 1987-94.

Under Rick Stockstill, the Blue Raiders are 38-21 overall at Floyd Stadium and 25-14 in conference games (12-3 vs C-USA). MT has a 19-5 record at home in its last 24 games.
Since 2007, MT has had home games against Virginia, Maryland, Mississippi State, Minnesota, Georgia Tech, BYU and Vandy. MT will host Vandy in 2017, Duke in 2019 and Missouri in 2022.

REGULAR SEASON FINALES
The Blue Raiders have a mark of 49-43-6 in regular season finales and are 20-12 the past 32 years. Under Rick Stockstill, the Blue Raiders are 4-6 in the final regular season game with the wins coming in 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2015.

SENIOR FAREWELL
The Blue Raiders will have a total of 22 seniors dressing for the final time at Floyd Stadium on Saturday. This list includes Dennis Andrews, Nick Beasley, Richie Bisaccia, Chris Brown, Josh Chester, Jeremy Cutrer, Rod Ducksworth, William Eads, Deontay Evans, Raynard Felton, Demetrius Frazier, Chris Hale, Dontavious Heard, Shaquille Huff, I'Tavius Mathers, Jimal McBride, Terry Pettis, Steven Rhodes, Hunter Rogers, Maurquice Shakir, Daniel Stephens, and Azar Wilson.

EMBARKING ON HISTORY
I'Tavius Mathers has proven to be a threat on the ground but he is also a weapon in the passing game. Mathers, who has 1,291 rushing yards entering the FAU game, has reeled in 60 receptions which goes down as the most by a running back in MT history. In fact, with 10 more receptions over the next two games, Mathers can become just the second player in NCAA FBS history to have 70 receptions and rush for 1,000 or more yards in a single season. He would join former Oregon St. Beaver Jacquizz Rodgers who had 78 catches and 1,440 rushing yards in 2009.

OFFENSIVE RECORDS COULD FALL
Whether it occurs against FAU or in the bowl game, a number of offensive records are close to being set.

        Category                             2016 Total                         Record
        Total Offense                          5431                          5946 (2015)
        Total Yards/Game                493.7                         493.7 (2016)
        Points Scored                           404                            442 (2015)
        Passing Yards                          3542                          4052 (2015)
        Pass Attempts                         489                            509 (2011)
        Pass Completions                   308                            334 (2015)
        Touchdown Passes                 34                               34 (2016)
        First Downs                               266                            302 (2015)

TACKLING MACHINE
Due to the injury to starter Alex Dale, safety Darryl Randolph was inserted into the lineup the past four games and has responded nicely. During the four contests, Randolph has a total of 44 tackles, including a career-best 15-tackle peformance against Marshall. Prior to the FIU game he was 17th on the team in total stops and is now fifth.

JAMES MOVES TO 2ND ON CAREER LISTS
WR Richie James, who has played just 24 career games, moved into second place on MT's career list for receptions and receiving yards last week in the win over Charlotte. James enters the FAU contest with 201 receptions for 2,689 yards. The all-time leader in both categories is Kendall Newson who had 238 catches for 3,074 yards. James also owns 18 career touchdown grabs to tie for fourth all-time and just five shy of the record.

8 TIMES IN 11 YEARS
In 11 years under Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee has reached bowl eligibility eight times and seven times in the last eight years. The Blue Raiders have been bowl eligible under Rick Stockstill in 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. The eight bowl eligible years during the 11-year span is more than any FBS team in Tennessee and equals the most of any program in C-USA.

ROOKER HAVING STRONG FIRST YEAR
Junior Canon Rooker, who took over placekicking duties this year for the first time in his career, has enjoyed a steady campaign. Rooker ranks 22nd nationally in field goals made per game at 1.45, 28th in scoring, and is 22nd nationally in field goal made percentage at .842. He enters the FAU game having hit 13 of his last 14 three-pointers. For the year, Rooker has hit 16 field goals which ranks as the fourth most in school history and the all-time record is 18.