Raiders, Jackets battle tonight at Floyd Stadium

Saturday, September 10

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

6:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

Georgia Tech (ESPN3)

9/10/2011 6:00:00 AM | Football

By: Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - What a difference a week can make. Prior to last week's gut-wrenching 27-24 loss at Purdue, very few folks outside the Blue Raider locker room felt they could play Purdue tough for 60 minutes. But Middle Tennessee's players expected to win, and that is what nearly happened. Despite losing, Coach Rick Stockstill's team played much better than the odds-makers predicted, and won the hearts of Blue Raider fans everywhere. Now at home instead of on the road, Middle Tennessee will host ACC power Georgia Tech on Saturday evening at 6 PM, and to a man, the MT players again expect to win. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN3.com, and broadcast over the Blue Raider network with Chip Walters doing the Play-by-play and former Blue Raider and NFL quarterback Kelly Holcomb serving as color analyst. Live statistics and web audio are available on GoBlueRaiders.com. "Georgia Tech will provide another strong challenge this week. Their offense in itself is a challenge because of the type of system they run. We saw this offense last year, and that will benefit us to some degree, but they are better than they were last year," said Head Coach Rick Stockstill. "Their quarterback is a better passer, their receivers are better, they have more speed in the backfield, and their O-line, while not as big as Purdue's, is more athletic." Stockstill noted that the Yellow Jacket defense is also not as big as Purdue's, but more athletic. "They are long, they're lean, and they will bring more pressure than Purdue. Their corners and safeties are good against both the run and the pass. "It will be a great challenge for us, but at the same time it will be a great opportunity for us, and one that we are looking forward to." In last year's game in Atlanta, Stockstill felt like Middle Tennessee did a good job at times, but had six turnovers in the game, four in the second half. A 21-14 Tech halftime lead ballooned to 42-14 at game's end. Young and inexperienced though they may be, the Blue Raiders are faster, quicker and more athletic than the team that played Tech last fall. Sophomore quarterback Logan Kilgore connected on 27 of 45 passes, good for 330 yards and touchdowns of 26 and 21 yards to Malcolm Beyah and Sancho McDonald, respectively. Beyah and McDonald caught nine passes for 150 yards between them, while Tavares Jefferson was the leading receiver with seven catches for 61 yards. Junior Benny Cunningham, starting his first game at runningback, rushed 14 times for 65 yards, caught four passes for 40 yards, and forced a fumble on a punt to Purdue. For a defense that had to replace nine starters from 2010, the Blue Raiders surprised a lot of people that felt the Boilermakers would run all over them, holding their own most of the game against the bigger, more physical, more experienced Purdue offense. In his first career start, senior safety Eric Russell had 13 tackles, including 11 solo stops, intercepted a pass and had a sack. The interception and sack ended Purdue drives that had crossed into Middle Tennessee territory. For his stellar effort, Russell was named the Sun Belt Conference's Defensive Player of the Week. Senior placekicker Alan Gendreau and senior punter Nathaniel Toulson will undoubtedly factor in the outcome. Gendreau is a two-time All-Sun Belt Conference kicker, and needs only 43 more points to become the Sun Belt's all-time leading scorer by kicking. He has hit 39 of 51 field goals, and all but three of his 98 extra point attempts. Toulson averaged 40.4 yards/punt last week, and had two downed inside the Purdue 10-yard line. Cutting down on turnovers will be critical against Georgia Tech. Among the nation's lowest ranked teams last year in turnover margin, Middle Tennessee forced a fumble and intercepted a pass against Purdue, and committed only one turnover of their own. Indications from pre-game ticket sales are that this could be the largest crowd in the history of Floyd Stadium, and just might be the first sell-out since the Blue Raiders made the jump to I-A in 1998. Adding to the interest will be the 100th anniversary of the founding of the university, with several special events around the campus. At halftime of today's game, a huge cake, perhaps the largest one ever made in Tennessee, will be presented. MT President Sidney McPhee and his wife Liz will be on hand to receive the cake at mid-field, and after the Band of Blue plays "Happy Birthday", the creator of the cake, Jay Qualls, of Maples Cakes, will cut the first two slices for the McPhees. Flagship stations on the Blue Raider Network are WNSR 560 AM in Nashville, and WGNS 1450 AM and WMOT 89.5 FM in Murfreesboro. The game will also be carried on 102.5 The Game.