Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Raiders excited for Friday bout with rival WKU
11/13/2017 4:00:00 PM | Football
67th meeting will kickoff at 7 PM
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee's rivalry week could be here at the perfect time.
The Blue Raiders (5-5, 3-3) will travel to WKU (5-5, 3-3) for a special Friday night edition of the 100 Miles of Hate rivalry on a high after back-to-back victories, while the Hilltoppers are riding a three-game losing skid.
It will be the 67th playing of the rivalry game, with MT owning a 34-31-1 overall advantage. WKU leads on its home field, 17-14.
"It's a great opportunity for us," Blue Raiders head coach Rick Stockstill said. "We're playing a really good football team in WKU. They've got some really special and dynamic players on both sides of the ball.
"We've got to have a great week of preparation, especially being on a short week coming off the Charlotte game. We've got to get going in a hurry, and we're looking forward to it."
More will be at stake than just bragging rights. The winner will also become bowl eligible, a goal Middle Tennessee is trying to reach for the ninth time in 12 years under Stockstill and sixth year in a row.
The high stakes alone will surely make the game a tight, hard-fought affair, but recent history also suggests fans should anticipate a close matchup. Five out of the last six games have ended within five points or less, three of those going into overtime.
The Blue Raiders have won three of those five contests, but have lost two in a row to the Toppers, including last season's disappointing 44-43 overtime defeat.
"This has been a really good rivalry since I've been here," Stockstill said. "Most of the games have been relatively close … our players understand the importance of this game for a lot of different reasons, so I have no doubt we'll be excited and be ready to play this game."
Before the season started, the matchup appeared to be one that would have conference championship ramifications. Now, that's not so much the case.
WKU and MT were picked to finish first and second, respectively, in the C-USA East Division in the preseason by media members. Injuries and inconsistent play have tampered those expectations, though.
Behind first-year coach Mike Sanford, the Hilltoppers have excelled in the passing game both offensively and defensively, but they haven't been able to run the ball or stop the run effectively. They rank ninth in rushing defense in C-USA (181.2 yards per game allowed), and their 69.4 yards rushing per contest ranks last in the NCAA FBS.
Even though it's had to become one dimensional offensively with a nonexistent rushing attack, senior quarterback Mike White has kept WKU afloat.
The Preseason C-USA Offensive Player of the Year is 12th nationally and first in C-USA in passing yards (2,986), and he also has 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 65.3 percent of his passes.
White hasn't been shy about spreading the ball around, either. Six Hilltoppers have caught at least 23 passes, led by Nacarius Fant's 46 for 472 yards.
"The receivers continue to get open, from what I've seen on film," junior MT safety Jovante Moffatt said. "We know we have to get pressure [on White]. They have different blocking schemes, so they're stopping a lot of pressure coming from different angles. So, we are just going to have to get to the quarterback and do what we can."
On the other side of the ball, the Hilltoppers have excelled against opposing teams' passing games. They give up just 186.8 yards per game through the air, and cornerback DeAndre Farris is second in the league with 13 passes defended.
Middle Tennessee will have to utilize junior running back Tavares Thomas, who took complete control of the backfield on Saturday at Charlotte when starter Brad Anderson was lost with an injury. Thomas finished with 195 yards and two TDs on 29 carries.
"It's going to be important to be able to run the ball no matter who you play," Stockstill said. "I said it a few weeks ago, as it gets to November, when it starts getting colder, you've got to be able to control the ball, control the clock and being able to run the ball. We've been able to do that the last two weeks pretty efficiently."
The Blue Raiders may have a momentum edge going into the game because of their back-to-back wins, compared to three straight losses for the Hilltoppers.
But, it's still a rivalry game, so MT's players are expecting nothing less than a dogfight on Friday night. It could come down to which team stays composed late, when the score could be tight.
"Personally, I just feel like staying poised is a big thing … just staying poised and mentally being ready from an all-around standpoint," Moffatt said.
The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff on CBS Sports Network.
The Blue Raiders (5-5, 3-3) will travel to WKU (5-5, 3-3) for a special Friday night edition of the 100 Miles of Hate rivalry on a high after back-to-back victories, while the Hilltoppers are riding a three-game losing skid.
It will be the 67th playing of the rivalry game, with MT owning a 34-31-1 overall advantage. WKU leads on its home field, 17-14.
"It's a great opportunity for us," Blue Raiders head coach Rick Stockstill said. "We're playing a really good football team in WKU. They've got some really special and dynamic players on both sides of the ball.
"We've got to have a great week of preparation, especially being on a short week coming off the Charlotte game. We've got to get going in a hurry, and we're looking forward to it."
More will be at stake than just bragging rights. The winner will also become bowl eligible, a goal Middle Tennessee is trying to reach for the ninth time in 12 years under Stockstill and sixth year in a row.
The high stakes alone will surely make the game a tight, hard-fought affair, but recent history also suggests fans should anticipate a close matchup. Five out of the last six games have ended within five points or less, three of those going into overtime.
The Blue Raiders have won three of those five contests, but have lost two in a row to the Toppers, including last season's disappointing 44-43 overtime defeat.
"This has been a really good rivalry since I've been here," Stockstill said. "Most of the games have been relatively close … our players understand the importance of this game for a lot of different reasons, so I have no doubt we'll be excited and be ready to play this game."
Before the season started, the matchup appeared to be one that would have conference championship ramifications. Now, that's not so much the case.
WKU and MT were picked to finish first and second, respectively, in the C-USA East Division in the preseason by media members. Injuries and inconsistent play have tampered those expectations, though.
Behind first-year coach Mike Sanford, the Hilltoppers have excelled in the passing game both offensively and defensively, but they haven't been able to run the ball or stop the run effectively. They rank ninth in rushing defense in C-USA (181.2 yards per game allowed), and their 69.4 yards rushing per contest ranks last in the NCAA FBS.
Even though it's had to become one dimensional offensively with a nonexistent rushing attack, senior quarterback Mike White has kept WKU afloat.
The Preseason C-USA Offensive Player of the Year is 12th nationally and first in C-USA in passing yards (2,986), and he also has 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 65.3 percent of his passes.
White hasn't been shy about spreading the ball around, either. Six Hilltoppers have caught at least 23 passes, led by Nacarius Fant's 46 for 472 yards.
"The receivers continue to get open, from what I've seen on film," junior MT safety Jovante Moffatt said. "We know we have to get pressure [on White]. They have different blocking schemes, so they're stopping a lot of pressure coming from different angles. So, we are just going to have to get to the quarterback and do what we can."
On the other side of the ball, the Hilltoppers have excelled against opposing teams' passing games. They give up just 186.8 yards per game through the air, and cornerback DeAndre Farris is second in the league with 13 passes defended.
Middle Tennessee will have to utilize junior running back Tavares Thomas, who took complete control of the backfield on Saturday at Charlotte when starter Brad Anderson was lost with an injury. Thomas finished with 195 yards and two TDs on 29 carries.
"It's going to be important to be able to run the ball no matter who you play," Stockstill said. "I said it a few weeks ago, as it gets to November, when it starts getting colder, you've got to be able to control the ball, control the clock and being able to run the ball. We've been able to do that the last two weeks pretty efficiently."
The Blue Raiders may have a momentum edge going into the game because of their back-to-back wins, compared to three straight losses for the Hilltoppers.
But, it's still a rivalry game, so MT's players are expecting nothing less than a dogfight on Friday night. It could come down to which team stays composed late, when the score could be tight.
"Personally, I just feel like staying poised is a big thing … just staying poised and mentally being ready from an all-around standpoint," Moffatt said.
The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff on CBS Sports Network.
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