Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Raiders ready to go after emotional win
9/26/2016 3:44:00 PM | Football
3-1 for first time since 2013
MURFREESBORO - Emotions may be high for Middle Tennessee heading into Week 5's matchup with North Texas.
The Blue Raiders (3-1, 1-0) are coming off an exciting Conference USA-opening contest against Louisiana Tech in which they trailed by 20 points early in the third quarter but came storming back to take a 38-34 victory.
"That was a heck of a win and I'm really proud of their effort and how they competed in that game," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "We beat a really good LA Tech team."
Perhaps the only more exciting C-USA game this past Saturday was North Texas' 42-35 double-overtime win at Rice. The Mean Green (2-2, 1-0) trailed 17-0 in that contest but came from behind to end a 14-game road losing streak that dated back to the 2013 season.
Going into Saturday's matchup with North Texas, Middle Tennessee has more confidence in knowing it can dig itself out of an early hole against good football teams.
"I've always said that character and attitude and competitiveness is a lot more important to me than talent," Stockstill said. "There are going to be times when you're faced with adversity throughout a year, throughout a game, and you have to have strong character and great leadership with your players to overcome that adversity."
The Mean Green and first-year head coach Seth Littrell are adjusting this year to a change of defensive philosophies from one based on more four-man fronts to a three-man defensive line.
Their change to a new defensive scheme has not yielded great results this season. North Texas ranks fifth in the conference in passing defense but is 11th out of 13 teams in rush defense. Overall, it ranks seventh in C-USA in total defense.
"We're probably going to see a lot of man coverage because we're down in numbers at receiver," redshirt sophomore quarterback Brent Stockstill said. "They're going to try to bring a lot of pressure and disguise a lot of different things to force you into making bad decisions.
"We'll have a good plan like we always do going in, and as long as we execute it's about us and I think we'll be ok."
Redshirt senior running back I'Tavius Mathers and the Blue Raider rushing attack should be chomping at the bit to get at a Mean Green defense giving up 234.8 yards per game on the ground this season.
Mathers has had two career games in back-to-back weeks. After torching Bowling Green for 157 rushing and 103 receiving yards with four total touchdowns, he lit up Louisiana Tech for a career-high 163 rushing yards on 21 attempts and hauled in 74 receiving yards. He scored MT's first four touchdowns of the game, and at that time he had scored seven straight TDs for the Blue Raiders.
Even with back-to-back career games and a poor rushing defense looming, Rick Stockstill said they won't try to force the ball to Mathers on Saturday, but rather let the game come to him.
"We'll go in with a plan; we're not going to force anything, we're going to do what we do and adjust that plan accordingly throughout the game with what we're having success with or what we're not having success with," Coach Stockstill said.
Middle Tennessee's defense is anxious to build off a strong second-half performance against LA Tech. The Bulldogs scored on their first possession of the third quarter to push their lead to 27-7, but over the rest of the game they scored just one more TD while the MT offense grabbed a chance at the comeback.
The Blue Raider defense is hoping to bring the same intensity it has shown in the second half of its last two games to the entirety of the contest Saturday. Over the last two weeks they have given up 41 points combined in the first half, compared to just 14 in the second half.
"I think we just need to come out and focus more in the first half," junior linebacker DJ Sanders said. "At first we are a little too excited, and we have to just calm down some and play our game."
If MT can get its first win at North Texas' newly built Apogee Stadium (0-2 since it was built in 2011), the Blue Raiders will move to 2-0 in Conference USA and improve on their best start to a season since 2013.
The game is set to kick off at 6 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on CampusInsiders.com and on Twitter.
The Blue Raiders (3-1, 1-0) are coming off an exciting Conference USA-opening contest against Louisiana Tech in which they trailed by 20 points early in the third quarter but came storming back to take a 38-34 victory.
"That was a heck of a win and I'm really proud of their effort and how they competed in that game," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "We beat a really good LA Tech team."
Perhaps the only more exciting C-USA game this past Saturday was North Texas' 42-35 double-overtime win at Rice. The Mean Green (2-2, 1-0) trailed 17-0 in that contest but came from behind to end a 14-game road losing streak that dated back to the 2013 season.
Going into Saturday's matchup with North Texas, Middle Tennessee has more confidence in knowing it can dig itself out of an early hole against good football teams.
"I've always said that character and attitude and competitiveness is a lot more important to me than talent," Stockstill said. "There are going to be times when you're faced with adversity throughout a year, throughout a game, and you have to have strong character and great leadership with your players to overcome that adversity."
The Mean Green and first-year head coach Seth Littrell are adjusting this year to a change of defensive philosophies from one based on more four-man fronts to a three-man defensive line.
Their change to a new defensive scheme has not yielded great results this season. North Texas ranks fifth in the conference in passing defense but is 11th out of 13 teams in rush defense. Overall, it ranks seventh in C-USA in total defense.
"We're probably going to see a lot of man coverage because we're down in numbers at receiver," redshirt sophomore quarterback Brent Stockstill said. "They're going to try to bring a lot of pressure and disguise a lot of different things to force you into making bad decisions.
"We'll have a good plan like we always do going in, and as long as we execute it's about us and I think we'll be ok."
Redshirt senior running back I'Tavius Mathers and the Blue Raider rushing attack should be chomping at the bit to get at a Mean Green defense giving up 234.8 yards per game on the ground this season.
Mathers has had two career games in back-to-back weeks. After torching Bowling Green for 157 rushing and 103 receiving yards with four total touchdowns, he lit up Louisiana Tech for a career-high 163 rushing yards on 21 attempts and hauled in 74 receiving yards. He scored MT's first four touchdowns of the game, and at that time he had scored seven straight TDs for the Blue Raiders.
Even with back-to-back career games and a poor rushing defense looming, Rick Stockstill said they won't try to force the ball to Mathers on Saturday, but rather let the game come to him.
"We'll go in with a plan; we're not going to force anything, we're going to do what we do and adjust that plan accordingly throughout the game with what we're having success with or what we're not having success with," Coach Stockstill said.
Middle Tennessee's defense is anxious to build off a strong second-half performance against LA Tech. The Bulldogs scored on their first possession of the third quarter to push their lead to 27-7, but over the rest of the game they scored just one more TD while the MT offense grabbed a chance at the comeback.
The Blue Raider defense is hoping to bring the same intensity it has shown in the second half of its last two games to the entirety of the contest Saturday. Over the last two weeks they have given up 41 points combined in the first half, compared to just 14 in the second half.
"I think we just need to come out and focus more in the first half," junior linebacker DJ Sanders said. "At first we are a little too excited, and we have to just calm down some and play our game."
If MT can get its first win at North Texas' newly built Apogee Stadium (0-2 since it was built in 2011), the Blue Raiders will move to 2-0 in Conference USA and improve on their best start to a season since 2013.
The game is set to kick off at 6 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on CampusInsiders.com and on Twitter.
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