Raiders, Herd clash on Saturday

Saturday, October 11

Huntington, WV

11:00 AM

Middle Tennessee

Marshall

Photo by: Kaitlyn Hungerford/MT Athletic Communications

10/10/2014 6:00:00 AM | Football

Both try to remain undefeated in C-USA play

By: @MTAthletics

MURFREESBORO - In the Game of the Week, and perhaps the Game of the Year, in Conference USA, Middle Tennessee's Blue Raiders will travel to Huntington, West Virginia, on Saturday to battle undefeated Marshall University's Thundering Herd. Kickoff is set for 11 AM (Central Time).

The game will be televised live on SportSouth (DirecTV 649, Comcast 1676, Dish 437 and U-Verse 1729) with Mark Followill describing the action, Brian Baldinger providing color commentary and Lesley McCaslin working on the sidelines. It will also be broadcast live over the Blue Raider Network with Chip Walters painting a verbal picture of the action, and former Blue Raider linebacker Dennis Burke providing color commentary. BRN affiliates include 97.5-FM, 100.5-FM, 101.9-FM, 89.5-FM and 1450-AM.

Here is a list of the networks where Saturday's game can be viewed. FOX SPORTS ARIZONA, FOX SPORTS DETROIT, FOX SPORTS MIDWEST, FOX SPORTS NORTH, FOX SPORTS OHIO (Non Kentucky), FOX SPORTS OKLAHOMA, FOX SPORTS SOUTHWEST, FOX SPORTS WISCONSIN, PRIME TICKET, SPORTSOUTH, SUN SPORTS, MASN 2, MSG PLUS, ROOT SPORTS, and ROOT SPORTS (Rocky Mountain Region).

Thus far, Marshall has not really been tested this season, scoring 47.6 ppg, while giving up only 15.8 ppg. Both are tops in C-USA. The Blue Raiders are 3^rd in scoring (38.8ppg), but 7^th in the league in scoring defense (30.7ppg).

Coach Rick Stockstill acknowledged that this is a game that Blue Raider fans have had penciled on their calendars for some time, but noted that as far as the team and coaches are concerned, it is simply the next game on the schedule.

"Marshall is a very good football team, a well-coached team. Coach (Doc) Holiday and his staff do a real good job. Their offense gets a lot of credit, which they deserve, but in my opinion, it starts with their defense.

"Their defense is very good. They are fast and they are athletic. They lead the conference in just about every statistical category, and they have some good players on that side of the ball.

"Marshall's quarterback, Rakeem Cato, is up for a lot of awards. He is an excellent quarterback. Playing against him last year, we know how good he is.

"And they are very sound in the kicking game, having blocked two punts already this year."

Stockstill then addressed his own team. "I am really proud of where we are at this point in the season. I don't think we have played our best game yet, and we are in first place in the conference. I believe we will have a great week of practice, and then play our best game of the season on Saturday."

Stockstill pointed out that this is not a season-defining moment for either team.

"The winner of this game will be in first place, but they will not pass out the championship trophy on Saturday afternoon. Half of the season still remains. There are eight conference games, and this will be our fourth one. This is not a season-defining game."

What is more likely, if it's anything like last year's game, will be the game of the year. The 2013 battle between the two schools came down to the last play of the game, with Blue Raider senior quarterback Logan Kilgore finding senior wide receiver Tavarres Jefferson in the end zone for a nine-yard scoring pass as time expired to give MT a hard-fought 51-49 win. The game featured 100 points, 58 first downs and over 1,000 yards of total offense.

Many Blue Raider fans believe it is the best football game they have ever seen at Horace Jones Field.
Marshall will not have to face either Kilgore or Jefferson on Saturday as both have graduated, so the key for the Blue Raider offense will be sophomore QB Austin Grammer, who has improved each week.

Grammer was 21-26 passing for 332 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Southern Miss. He has completed 46 of his last 56 passes, has thrown for over 200 yards in all six games this season, and ranks third nationally in completion percentage.

While that is an impressive start for the Alabama native, Grammer also brings a degree of mobility to the offense that makes it even harder to defend. In the Blue Raiders' 50-47 overtime win over Western Kentucky, Grammer raced 59 yards for a touchdown.

Running backs Reggie Whatley and Shane Tucker lead the Blue Raider infantry attack, with 403 and 343 yards rushing, respectively. Ed Batties (26 receptions/257 yards) and Marcus Henry (24/324) are the leading receivers.

Defensively, the bell cow for the Blue Raiders is junior strong safety Kevin Byard. Byard does it all for the Blue Raiders. He has 13 career interceptions which he has returned for 327 yards and four TDs. His 327 return yards rank first on the NCAA's list of active players.

Against Old Dominion this year, he also returned a short punt 76 yards for another touchdown.
Defensive end Leighton Gasque has 20 career sacks, ranking him tied for second on the NCAA's active player list.

Saturday's game will be the third time the Blue Raiders have played at Marshall, but only the first in regular-season play. The other two times were NCAA 1-AA playoff games in 1992 and 1994. Marshall dominated both games, winning 35-21 in '92, and 49-14 in '94.