Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Saturday, October 18
Murfreesboro, TN
2:30 PM
Middle Tennessee
5-3 , 4-1
34
vs
22
UAB
4-3 , 2-2
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAB | 6 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 22 |
| Middle Tennessee | 14 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 34 |
Team Stats
UAB
MT
Total Yards
405
370
Pass Yards
185
141
Rushing Yards
220
229
Penalty Yards
90
70
1st Downs
25
13
3rd Downs
7
3
4th Downs
1
1
TOP
34:25
25:35
1st Quarter
UAB 0, MT 7
MT - BRYSON, J. 1 yd run (CLARK, Cody kick), 3 plays, 35 yards, TOP 1:03
UAB 3, MT 7
UAB - LONG, Ty 25 yd field goal 12 plays, 57 yards, TOP 5:21
UAB 6, MT 7
UAB - LONG, Ty 42 yd field goal 6 plays, 13 yards, TOP 2:32
UAB 6, MT 14
MT - PERKINS, Chris 65 yd pass from GRAMMER, Austin (CLARK, Cody kick) 2 plays, 80 yards, TOP 0:46
2nd Quarter
UAB 9, MT 14
UAB - LONG, Ty 32 yd field goal 11 plays, 50 yards, TOP 3:51
UAB 15, MT 14
UAB - HOWARD, Jordan 1 yd run (CLEMENTS, Cody passfailed), 13 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:59
UAB 15, MT 21
MT - BRYSON, J. 2 yd run (CLARK, Cody kick), 6 plays, 59 yards, TOP 2:15
3rd Quarter
UAB 22, MT 21
UAB - STAPLES, Jamari 43 yd pass from CLEMENTS, Cody (LONG, Ty kick) 7 plays, 74 yards, TOP 2:46
4th Quarter
UAB 22, MT 27
MT - WHATLEY, Reggie 67 yd run (GRAMMER, Austin passfailed), 2 plays, 70 yards, TOP 0:31
UAB 22, MT 34
MT - HENRY, Marcus 30 yd pass from GRAMMER, Austin (CLARK, Cody kick) 7 plays, 47 yards, TOP 3:31
Game Leaders
CMP
6
TD
2
YDS
141
INT
0
Players Mentioned
OL
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DE
/ Football
RB
/ Football
S
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DT
/ Football
OL
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
S
/ Football
RB
/ FootballRaiders come from behind for win
10/18/2014 6:31:00 PM | Football
Score 13 unanswered points to beat UAB 34-22
MURFREESBORO – Middle Tennessee scored 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to secure a riveting come-from-behind 34-22 Homecoming win against UAB in front of 18,717 at Floyd Stadium Saturday.
The win enabled the Blue Raiders (5-3, 4-1) to improve to 4-0 at home this season and move to within one win of becoming bowl eligible for the sixth time in nine seasons under Head Coach Rick Stockstill.
UAB (4-3, 2-2) had won three of its last four coming into the game and pushed the Blue Raiders to the limit before they came off the deck with two huge fourth-quarter scores.
Middle Tennessee's much-maligned defense came up huge against the Blazers. The Blue Raider defense gave up some yards as UAB managed 405 in total offense; however, they had to settle for three field goals as Middle Tennessee's stop squad came up huge on critical third-down plays.
The defense also helped spark the comeback with two key fourth-quarter interceptions. The first came when Xavier Walker tipped a pass that was caught by T.T. Barber to stall a drive. Trailing 22-21, Kevin Byard came up with his 14th career interception midway through the fourth quarter. Byard's pick set up Middle Tennessee's go-ahead touchdown.
The Blue Raider defense also harassed quarterback Cody Clements throughout the game as the unit came up with six sacks. Barber and Walker led Middle Tennessee with eight tackles each. Trey Wafford and Kevin Byard added seven stops each.
Middle Tennessee's offense was not in sync most of the game but when it counted the group was true to the task. Quarterback Austin Grammer was 6-of-19 passing for 141 yards and two touchdowns. The Blue Raiders, who piled up 470 yards total offense, had 229 on the ground.
Reggie Whatley led the way with 100 yards on seven carries, including the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. Jeremiah Bryson finished with a career-high 64 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns. Shane Tucker finished with 56 yards on 12 carries.
Fans were on the edge of their seat as UAB tried to play Homecoming spoiler.
The Blazers had taken a 22-21 lead when quarterback Cody Clements fired a 43-yard strike to Jamari Staples. Ty Long's extra point provided the one-point advantage with 1:31 remaining in the third quarter.
Whatley came through with the longest run of his career early in the fourth quarter when he took the handoff and sprinted 67 yards to paydirt. The two-play, 70-yard scoring drive provided the Blue Raiders with a 27-22 lead with 11:00 remaining. The 2-point conversion attempt failed.
Barber stopped UAB's ensuing drive with an interception. Middle Tennessee didn't score off of the turnover but it did chew time off of the clock. Byard came away with his 14th career pick on the following UAB possession with less than six minutes remaining.
The Blue Raiders put the finishing touches on the victory when Grammer connected with Marcus Henry for a 30-yard touchdown pass with 2:08 remaining. Clark's point after pushed the lead to 34-22 and enabled the fans to begin celebrating.
UAB controlled the first half by playing keep away from the Middle Tennessee offense.
UAB successfully kept Middle Tennessee's high-octane offense off of the field with long sustained drives in the first half. The Blazers almost doubled Middle Tennessee in time of possession in the first half, possessing the ball for 19:24 of the first 30 minutes.
Middle Tennessee's defense surrendered 229 yards in the first half but the unit stepped up for key stops on third down plays that forced UAB to settle for three first-half field goals.
The Blue Raider offense managed 203 yards in the first half. Grammer completed just 3-of-9 passes but one was for a 65-yard touchdown to Chris Perkins. Of the 203 yards in the first half, 95 came on two passing plays.
Bryson provided the Blue Raiders with the early lead when he plunged in from the 1 after Grammer had connected with Devin Clarke for a 30-yard pass. Clark's point after provided the Blue Raiders with a 7-0 lead with 12:37 remaining in the first quarter.
UAB answered with consecutive field goals from Ty Long, who booted a 25-yarder and added a 42-yard effort to trim the deficit to 7-6 with 1:11 remaining in the first quarter but it didn't take the Blue Raiders long to answer.
Grammer hooked up with Perkins for a 65-yard touchdown pass on the next possession. Clark's point after was good and the Blue Raiders extended the lead to 14-6 with 25 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
UAB came back with another Long field goal early in the second quarter when he connected from 32 yards out to bring the Blazers to within 14-9 with 11:34 remaining in the first half. The Blazers took their first lead when Jordan Howard plowed in from the 1 with 6:05 remaining in the half. UAB's 2-point conversion attempt failed and the visitors owned a 15-14 lead.
Bryson's second touchdown of the game – a 2-yard run with 3:50 remaining in the half – enabled the Blue Raiders to regain the lead, 21-15, at intermission.
MT POSTGAME NOTES
CAPTAINS: Today's game captains were OL Darius Johnson, DE Shubert Bastien and LB Leighton Gasque.
BYE BYE: Middle Tennessee is one of just 14 FBS programs playing Week 8 without a bye on its schedule to date. Joining the Blue Raiders are Louisville, NC State, Purdue, FIU, Bowling Green, Ohio, UMass, Miami (OH), Central Michigan, Fresno State, Texas A&M, LSU, and New Mexico State. Middle Tennessee, Louisville, NC State, Purdue, FIU, Bowling Green, Texas A&M, and New Mexico State will all enjoy byes next week. Of the 14 teams listed, only seven have at least four wins (Louisville 5, Texas A&M 5, LSU 5, Bowling Green 5, MT 4, NC State 4, Central Michigan 4).
LONG DISTANCE: Austin Grammer's 65-yard touchdown pass to Chris Perkins was the longest of his career and bested his previous mark of 59 yards set against Southern Miss on Oct. 4. The 65-yard reception also went down as the longest for receiver Chris Perkins. Perkins' previous high was 31 yards set against FIU in 2013.
BRYSON STEPS UP: Jeremiah Bryson turned in his best game of the season against UAB. The junior rushed for a season-high 64 yards on just nine attempts for a 7.1 per carry average. The Smyrna product also added two scores on the ground to equal his personal-best. Bryson added a 34-yard run in the second quarter for his longest play of the year.
WHATLEY GETS 100: RB Reggie Whatley recorded his second 100-yard rushing game of the season when he collected 100 yards on seven carries against UAB. Whatley now has five for his career. The seniors 67-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was the longest of his career and was the longest for the Blue Raiders this season.
BYARD GETS BIG PICK: Kevin Byard did what he does best in gaining a turnover but none bigger than his fourth quarter leaping pick along the sidelines against UAB. The interception was his fifth of the season and the 14th of his career. Byard is now ranked second all-time at MT in interceptions and trails only leader James Griffin (17). Byard's five picks this season matches his career-best and ties for 8th all-time.
7 STRAIGHT: Today's win was the Blue Raiders' seventh straight win at home and 11th in last 12 games. The last setback at home for MT was on Oct. 5, 2013 against East Carolina.
QUICK HITTERS: T.T. Barber's fourth quarter interception was the sixth of his career and second on the season … Shubert Bastien, Christian Henry and Leighton Gasque played in their team leading 45th career game today… Isaiah Anderson, Kevin Byard and Darius Johnson all made their 33rd straight start to lead the Raiders … LB Anfornee Stewart played in his first game of the season today … Shaquille Huff recorded his second sack of the season and the fourth of his career during the third quarter … LB T.T. Barber registered his first sack of the season to stop a fourth down attempt by UAB in the third quarter (4th of his career) … Today marked the third straight game MT has been shutout in the third quarter.
MT POSTGAME QUOTES:
Head Coach Rick Stockstill:
Opening statement
"I thought our whole team competed extremely well. We showed our team a lot of motivational stuff. I told them last night that it was going to come down to the team that competes the hardest and competes the longest. I thought both teams competed extremely hard. The physicality and effort we played with on both sides of the ball was great. I'm really proud of our team. It was a phenomenal effort. I'm really proud of how they competed tonight."
On defensive effort
"Our defense was really outstanding the whole game. They had great field position early and our defense did a great job of holding them to field goals."
More on defensive effort
"We were relentless. I'm proud of our team. It looked like they were getting easy yardage, but our goal was to keep the ball in front of us and make them earn everything they got. I can't say enough about our defense and our coaches tonight."
On turnover battle
"The football gods have a way of paying everybody back. We lost a fumble on a punt at Memphis and then the same thing happened to them on our first punt. It was another great team win."
On Whatley's performance
"I love Reggie Whatley. Everybody knows how I feel about him. We're banged up in the backfield and other positions on the field. I'm proud of our team, and the effort and toughness they're showing to overcome adversity with injuries. We really stunk it up offensively, but we hung in there to overcome our offensive difficulties."
On wind playing a factor
"The wind was really bad. I made the decision at halftime to go against the wind in the third quarter, so we would have the wind to our back if it came down to a field goal in the fourth. They got a score when they had the wind to their back."
On importance of the fourth quarter
"I challenge them all the time. Don't put four fingers in the air if it doesn't mean anything to you. There's something on every finger that represents something in the fourth quarter, from effort to toughness, competitiveness, relentlessness, or to never quit. That's what we did. We just looked them in the eye and came after them."
On upcoming bye week
"We'll go meet tomorrow. I told the team Tuesday that if we won the game, I'd give them the whole week off. We'll meet tomorrow to watch film and correct our mistakes. They'll have the whole week off to get healthy and get a bunch of rest. Our coaches will be on the road recruiting. We'll start breaking down BYU and get ready for them. Today we hit them in the mouth, played tough, and won the dadgum game."
Reggie Whatley
On finishing the game
"The whole week we talked about finishing games. We have to finish strong. That was the key word and we came in and did that. UAB is a good team, we were underdogs. That's one thing we're going to do. We'll finish the game, and that's what we did today."
On success on the ground
"I give all the credit to my offensive line and the coaches for believing in me. I love playing under pressure, and my teammates needed a big play so I came up with a big play."
On pressure entering fourth quarter
"We were a little behind on the scoreboard, but you couldn't tell because we were still motivated knew we were going to win this game. Coach motivated us by getting the week off, and that's all we needed."
Kevin Byard
On defensive effort
"I'm so proud of our defense. I feel like it was the best defensive performance of the year. It was just a great team win."
On first three defensive possessions
"It was frustrating as a defense, but at the same time it was huge for us to just give up field goals because that probably made the difference in the game."
On UAB's running back
"Jordan Howard is a great running back. He ran hard last year too, and I'm sure we'll see him in the NFL one day. Our safety Xavier Walker made a couple great tackles. We wrapped up and made some plays."
On the win and upcoming bye week
"We'll take the win any way it comes. This was bigger than big. We have some injuries so we're going to be taking the week off. We're going to try to make a run at this thing. It's going to be a great atmosphere and environment. They're going to come in here fired up, but you know we'll be fired up as well."
ALL IN: Spring Preview - Episode 3
Friday, April 03
ALL IN: Spring Preview - Episode 2
Thursday, March 19
ALL IN: Spring Preview - Episode 1
Monday, March 16
Introducing Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks Coach - Anthony Scelfo
Tuesday, January 13
