Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
MT anxious to get back to winning ways on homecoming
10/2/2017 4:00:00 PM | Football
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Following a disappointing loss in its Conference USA opener to Florida Atlantic, Middle Tennessee will attempt to right the ship Saturday against FIU on homecoming.
The Blue Raiders (2-3, 0-1) own an 8-4 all-time mark over the current East Division-leading Panthers (3-1, 2-0), and are 5-1 all-time in the matchup in Murfreesboro. They're also 51-24-2 all-time on homecoming, winning 22 of the last 29.
"They're coming in here with a lot of momentum, a lot of confidence, I would assume," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "This is going to be a great challenge for us. We've got to put last week's game behind us and move forward and get ready for this one."
Middle Tennessee suffered a disappointing setback at Florida Atlantic in Week 5. It was the Raiders' first conference-opening loss in their five seasons in C-USA and snapped a nine-game winning streak over the Owls.
MT looked good at times in the 38-20 loss, often moving the ball offensively with success. The Blue Raiders set a new season high in passing yards (385) and outgained FAU 454-439 in total offense.
However, three interceptions tossed and 252 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns given up sealed their fate, and those two areas – ball security and rushing defense – will again be main priorities this week against FIU.
The Panthers have won their last three games each by a touchdown or less, most recently a 30-29 victory over winless Charlotte on Sept. 30 when the 49ers missed a 48-yard field goal with under a minute remaining that would've given them a two-point lead.
Behind senior, fourth-year starting quarterback Alex McGough, a multi-headed rushing attack and a defense that has held two opponents under 270 yards of total offense, FIU will give Middle Tennessee plenty to prepare for before Saturday.
The Blue Raiders will have to figure out a way to stop the run more like they did in the first four games of the season (104.75 yards allowed) than against FAU (252 yards and four TDs), especially with the Panthers' ability to trot out multiple running backs. Four players, including McGough, have rushed for more than 100 yards for FIU this season, led by senior Alex Gardner.
"You know, we've been pretty good against the run up until last week," Stockstill said. "We've got to get back to fundamentals. [FAU] broke some tackles, we missed some tackles. We've got to do a better job of maintaining gap integrity. We've got to do a better job of tackling in space.
"I have no doubt we can do better than that this week, but FIU's got a good running attack."
Gardner led the way with 95 of the Panthers' 229 rushing yards against Middle Tennessee in the 2016 matchup. McGough passed for 307 yards, three TDs and an interception, which was picked off by MT's D.J. Sanders and taken 48 yards for a TD to break a 35-35 tie with 1:22 left in the game.
The Blue Raiders hope fate doesn't reverse itself and bite them in the form of turnovers in this year's matchup, though so far through the 2017 season they've been bad in that department.
MT currently has the worst turnover differential in C-USA (-10) and has given the ball away eight times in the last three games alone. That will have to be righted against a Panther defense that's only forced three turnovers (two INTs) this season.
"You talk as an offensive coach about ball security, about when you carry the ball and touch the ball to not put it in harm's way," Stockstill said. "Offensively, we've just done a terrible, terrible job protecting the football."
Some of Middle Tennessee's turnover woes could be corrected by key pieces, most notably redshirt juniors Brent Stockstill and Richie James, getting healthy. However, both didn't play against FAU and very well could miss more time in the future.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback John Urzua will have to show improvements with Stockstill and James sidelined, most notably in holding onto the ball. Despite setting career highs in passing yards in two straight games against Bowling Green and FAU, he's thrown six INTs in three games this season.
"John just has to play better," Coach Stockstill said. "He did a lot of good things [against FAU], but the turnovers just killed us. Had he not turned the ball over as much as he did or has, we'd be saying he's playing pretty good. But, that's not all of the equation, so he's got to protect the ball better."
Luckily for Urzua and the rest of the Blue Raiders, even with the injuries and turnovers that have plagued this team so far, leadership is still aplenty and no one is panicking after an 0-1 conference start.
It's merely onto the next game, and that next game is homecoming.
"We've got great leadership on this team," Coach Stockstill said, "and even through the guys we've got hurt, the leadership they're providing and displaying has been fun for me to watch.
"I told them yesterday that we stubbed our toe Saturday, we didn't break our foot. We've still got seven games left, seven conference games left. There's a lot of games left to play and they're not crowning the conference champ tomorrow."
The Blue Raiders (2-3, 0-1) own an 8-4 all-time mark over the current East Division-leading Panthers (3-1, 2-0), and are 5-1 all-time in the matchup in Murfreesboro. They're also 51-24-2 all-time on homecoming, winning 22 of the last 29.
"They're coming in here with a lot of momentum, a lot of confidence, I would assume," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "This is going to be a great challenge for us. We've got to put last week's game behind us and move forward and get ready for this one."
Middle Tennessee suffered a disappointing setback at Florida Atlantic in Week 5. It was the Raiders' first conference-opening loss in their five seasons in C-USA and snapped a nine-game winning streak over the Owls.
MT looked good at times in the 38-20 loss, often moving the ball offensively with success. The Blue Raiders set a new season high in passing yards (385) and outgained FAU 454-439 in total offense.
However, three interceptions tossed and 252 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns given up sealed their fate, and those two areas – ball security and rushing defense – will again be main priorities this week against FIU.
The Panthers have won their last three games each by a touchdown or less, most recently a 30-29 victory over winless Charlotte on Sept. 30 when the 49ers missed a 48-yard field goal with under a minute remaining that would've given them a two-point lead.
Behind senior, fourth-year starting quarterback Alex McGough, a multi-headed rushing attack and a defense that has held two opponents under 270 yards of total offense, FIU will give Middle Tennessee plenty to prepare for before Saturday.
The Blue Raiders will have to figure out a way to stop the run more like they did in the first four games of the season (104.75 yards allowed) than against FAU (252 yards and four TDs), especially with the Panthers' ability to trot out multiple running backs. Four players, including McGough, have rushed for more than 100 yards for FIU this season, led by senior Alex Gardner.
"You know, we've been pretty good against the run up until last week," Stockstill said. "We've got to get back to fundamentals. [FAU] broke some tackles, we missed some tackles. We've got to do a better job of maintaining gap integrity. We've got to do a better job of tackling in space.
"I have no doubt we can do better than that this week, but FIU's got a good running attack."
Gardner led the way with 95 of the Panthers' 229 rushing yards against Middle Tennessee in the 2016 matchup. McGough passed for 307 yards, three TDs and an interception, which was picked off by MT's D.J. Sanders and taken 48 yards for a TD to break a 35-35 tie with 1:22 left in the game.
The Blue Raiders hope fate doesn't reverse itself and bite them in the form of turnovers in this year's matchup, though so far through the 2017 season they've been bad in that department.
MT currently has the worst turnover differential in C-USA (-10) and has given the ball away eight times in the last three games alone. That will have to be righted against a Panther defense that's only forced three turnovers (two INTs) this season.
"You talk as an offensive coach about ball security, about when you carry the ball and touch the ball to not put it in harm's way," Stockstill said. "Offensively, we've just done a terrible, terrible job protecting the football."
Some of Middle Tennessee's turnover woes could be corrected by key pieces, most notably redshirt juniors Brent Stockstill and Richie James, getting healthy. However, both didn't play against FAU and very well could miss more time in the future.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback John Urzua will have to show improvements with Stockstill and James sidelined, most notably in holding onto the ball. Despite setting career highs in passing yards in two straight games against Bowling Green and FAU, he's thrown six INTs in three games this season.
"John just has to play better," Coach Stockstill said. "He did a lot of good things [against FAU], but the turnovers just killed us. Had he not turned the ball over as much as he did or has, we'd be saying he's playing pretty good. But, that's not all of the equation, so he's got to protect the ball better."
Luckily for Urzua and the rest of the Blue Raiders, even with the injuries and turnovers that have plagued this team so far, leadership is still aplenty and no one is panicking after an 0-1 conference start.
It's merely onto the next game, and that next game is homecoming.
"We've got great leadership on this team," Coach Stockstill said, "and even through the guys we've got hurt, the leadership they're providing and displaying has been fun for me to watch.
"I told them yesterday that we stubbed our toe Saturday, we didn't break our foot. We've still got seven games left, seven conference games left. There's a lot of games left to play and they're not crowning the conference champ tomorrow."
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