Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Bowl game still the goal for Blue Raiders post-bye
11/1/2017 5:00:00 PM | Football
Raiders battle UTEP Saturday
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The bye week for Middle Tennessee couldn't have been more welcomed.
It's been an up-and-down season for the Blue Raiders, and after eight straight weeks of games it's clear the team has been beaten and battered both physically and mentally.
With a whole week to rest and relax, head coach Rick Stockstill was hoping his guys would come back ready to hit the ground running. Their goals, though some longshots, are still attainable with four games left in the regular season and a 3-5 record, but they'll have to be firing on all cylinders to reach them.
"It's been a long year from training camp through eight games of the season," Stockstill said. "I think we came back [after the bye week] not only physically fresh, but mentally fresher than when we left."
Mathematically, the Blue Raiders aren't eliminated from the Conference USA East Division race with a 1-3 record. However, a lot would have to happen to give MT the title.
Getting to six wins and becoming bowl eligible for the ninth time in 12 seasons under Stockstill is more of a possibility. Middle Tennessee has four games left, two at home, against teams with a combined 8-24 record.
"A lot of our goals are still attainable," Stockstill said. "This team has done a good job of blocking out the outside noise, and there is no noise on the inside and that shows the resiliency and the toughness of this team."
The Blue Raiders got an opportunity with the bye to do more than just rest their bodies and recover from some minor ailments. They also got a chance to scale things back mentally for a week to help their minds recover from the rigors of eight straight weeks of game preparation and school.
That included lining up in just one formation offensively during both days of practice to work on fundamentals and game speed.
"We only practiced two times last week, so we got a lot of our juice back," sophomore wide receiver Ty Lee said. "We practiced on being fast and lining up as quick as we could in that one formation."
Offensively, Middle Tennessee is coming out of the bye needing a new quarterback after a concussion ended the career of redshirt sophomore quarterback John Urzua, who had been the starter since Week 2. Receiver Richie James has also been ruled done for the season after an injury against Marshall.
Redshirt junior QB Brent Stockstill appears to be on the mend following the bye week, and he could be in line to come back against UTEP on Nov. 4. If he isn't ready, redshirt freshman Kyle Banks will likely make his first start.
No matter which guy is under center, he'll have to rely on Lee (team-highs 43 catches and 531 receiving yards) and freshman running back Brad Anderson (team-highs 418 rushing and 739 all-purpose yards) to help boost the offense.
The Blue Raiders, which had hopes before the season of again being one of the best offensive teams in the country, haven't rounded into form with the ball due to injuries. They'll try to find their groove in the last four contests.
"We want to start a new season this week," Lee said. "Whatever we've done in the past is over and done with, and whatever is going to happen in the future will happen then. We just want to have juice and go out and play with our full potential this week."
Middle Tennessee's defense may not want to forget a lot of what it did prior to the bye week.
The Blue Raiders have been lauded all season for looking improved defensively, and it shows with their just 355.9 total yards allowed per game, which ranks fourth in C-USA.
They used the off week to work on fundamentals, mostly in tackling.
"Coming off the bye week, I feel like we're mentally ready – taking a couple of days off, I think, is actually going to help us going into this week," said junior safety Jovante Moffatt, the team leader with 51.5 tackles. "We just have to be good up front, and tackling, that's going to be big … we've had missed assignments here and there, and that's going to be the difference in each and every game that we play."
With restored energy and some bruises healed, Middle Tennessee is hoping its four games post-bye week will prove better than the eight before.
An favorable schedule and some men on the mend could help, but the Blue Raiders can't overlook any of their opponents. Each week will be critical if a bowl game is their goal.
"We can't overlook anybody; we're not good enough to overlook anybody," Coach Stockstill said. "You can look at records of anybody in any conference you play, anybody can beat anybody. This is a very even conference, and you've got to play really well every Saturday to have a chance to win no matter who you play."
Saturday's contest against UTEP will serve as Middle Tennessee's annual Salute to Veterans and Armed Forces game, co-sponsored by State Farm and Big O Tires of Murfreesboro.
It's been an up-and-down season for the Blue Raiders, and after eight straight weeks of games it's clear the team has been beaten and battered both physically and mentally.
With a whole week to rest and relax, head coach Rick Stockstill was hoping his guys would come back ready to hit the ground running. Their goals, though some longshots, are still attainable with four games left in the regular season and a 3-5 record, but they'll have to be firing on all cylinders to reach them.
"It's been a long year from training camp through eight games of the season," Stockstill said. "I think we came back [after the bye week] not only physically fresh, but mentally fresher than when we left."
Mathematically, the Blue Raiders aren't eliminated from the Conference USA East Division race with a 1-3 record. However, a lot would have to happen to give MT the title.
Getting to six wins and becoming bowl eligible for the ninth time in 12 seasons under Stockstill is more of a possibility. Middle Tennessee has four games left, two at home, against teams with a combined 8-24 record.
"A lot of our goals are still attainable," Stockstill said. "This team has done a good job of blocking out the outside noise, and there is no noise on the inside and that shows the resiliency and the toughness of this team."
The Blue Raiders got an opportunity with the bye to do more than just rest their bodies and recover from some minor ailments. They also got a chance to scale things back mentally for a week to help their minds recover from the rigors of eight straight weeks of game preparation and school.
That included lining up in just one formation offensively during both days of practice to work on fundamentals and game speed.
"We only practiced two times last week, so we got a lot of our juice back," sophomore wide receiver Ty Lee said. "We practiced on being fast and lining up as quick as we could in that one formation."
Offensively, Middle Tennessee is coming out of the bye needing a new quarterback after a concussion ended the career of redshirt sophomore quarterback John Urzua, who had been the starter since Week 2. Receiver Richie James has also been ruled done for the season after an injury against Marshall.
Redshirt junior QB Brent Stockstill appears to be on the mend following the bye week, and he could be in line to come back against UTEP on Nov. 4. If he isn't ready, redshirt freshman Kyle Banks will likely make his first start.
No matter which guy is under center, he'll have to rely on Lee (team-highs 43 catches and 531 receiving yards) and freshman running back Brad Anderson (team-highs 418 rushing and 739 all-purpose yards) to help boost the offense.
The Blue Raiders, which had hopes before the season of again being one of the best offensive teams in the country, haven't rounded into form with the ball due to injuries. They'll try to find their groove in the last four contests.
"We want to start a new season this week," Lee said. "Whatever we've done in the past is over and done with, and whatever is going to happen in the future will happen then. We just want to have juice and go out and play with our full potential this week."
Middle Tennessee's defense may not want to forget a lot of what it did prior to the bye week.
The Blue Raiders have been lauded all season for looking improved defensively, and it shows with their just 355.9 total yards allowed per game, which ranks fourth in C-USA.
They used the off week to work on fundamentals, mostly in tackling.
"Coming off the bye week, I feel like we're mentally ready – taking a couple of days off, I think, is actually going to help us going into this week," said junior safety Jovante Moffatt, the team leader with 51.5 tackles. "We just have to be good up front, and tackling, that's going to be big … we've had missed assignments here and there, and that's going to be the difference in each and every game that we play."
With restored energy and some bruises healed, Middle Tennessee is hoping its four games post-bye week will prove better than the eight before.
An favorable schedule and some men on the mend could help, but the Blue Raiders can't overlook any of their opponents. Each week will be critical if a bowl game is their goal.
"We can't overlook anybody; we're not good enough to overlook anybody," Coach Stockstill said. "You can look at records of anybody in any conference you play, anybody can beat anybody. This is a very even conference, and you've got to play really well every Saturday to have a chance to win no matter who you play."
Saturday's contest against UTEP will serve as Middle Tennessee's annual Salute to Veterans and Armed Forces game, co-sponsored by State Farm and Big O Tires of Murfreesboro.
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