Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Saturday, November 1
Murfreesboro, TN
2:30 PM
Middle Tennessee
5-4 , 4-1
7
vs
27
BYU
5-4
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
BYU
7
0
14
6
27
Middle Tennessee
0
7
0
0
7
Team Stats
BYU
MT
Total Yards
444
228
Pass Yards
316
119
Rushing Yards
128
109
Penalty Yards
70
12
1st Downs
25
17
3rd Downs
8
6
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
31:07
28:53
1st Quarter
BYU 7, MT 0
BYU - PEARSON,Colby 37 yd pass from STEWART,Christ (SAMSON,Trevor kick) 8 plays, 69 yards, TOP 2:24
2nd Quarter
BYU 7, MT 7
MT - CLARKE, Devin 22 yd pass from GRAMMER, Austin (CLARK, Cody kick) 6 plays, 60 yards, TOP 2:16
3rd Quarter
BYU 14, MT 7
BYU - LESLIE,Jordan 19 yd pass from STEWART,Christ (SAMSON,Trevor kick) 10 plays, 69 yards, TOP 3:20
BYU 21, MT 7
BYU - LASIKE,Paul 2 yd run (SAMSON,Trevor kick), 9 plays, 65 yards, TOP 2:27
4th Quarter
BYU 27, MT 7
BYU - STEWART,Christ 1 yd run (SAMSON,Trevor kickfailed), 7 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:50
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
16
TD
1
YDS
119
INT
2
Players Mentioned
OL
/ Football
DE
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
S
/ Football
PK
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
OL
/ Football
DE
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DT
/ Football
RB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
S
/ Football
RB
/ FootballBlue Raiders suffer first home loss
11/1/2014 6:22:00 PM | Football
Fall 27-7 to BYU
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee's offense was smothered by BYU's defense in a 27-7 setback at Floyd Stadium Saturday.
The loss was the first of the season in five games at Floyd Stadium for the Blue Raiders (5-4) while the Cougars (5-4) ended their four-game losing streak.
BYU limited the Blue Raiders to 228 yards total offense. Middle Tennessee managed just 119 yards through the air and 109 on the ground. Quarterback Austin Grammer completed 16-of-32 passes for 119 yards and one touchdown. He threw two interceptions.
Shane Tucker led the ground attack with 49 yards on 10 carries, while Jordan Parker added 32 yards on seven carries and Reggie Whatley finished with 24 yards on six rushes.
Cavellis Luckett led Middle Tennessee's defense with nine tackles, including eight solo stops, one tackle for loss, one sack, two pass break-ups and one quarterback hurry. Kevin Byard and Xavier Walker added seven tackles each.
The game was tied 7-7 at intermission but BYU took a 14-7 lead on its first possession of the third quarter when quarterback Christian Stewart connected with Jordan Leslie for a 19-yard touchdown on a third-and-6 play with 9:24 remaining in the frame. The Cougars marched 69 yards in 10 plays to score the go-ahead touchdown.
The Cougars pushed their advantage to 21-7 late in the third quarter when Paul Lasike scored on a two-yard run with 20 seconds remaining in the stanza.
Given the manner in which BYU's defense had played the two-touchdown lead seemed a great deal for Middle Tennessee to overcome in the final quarter.
BYU made it even more difficult when it tacked on a final score on Stewart's one-yard run with 4:37 remaining to push the lead to 27-7.
Middle Tennessee had a tough time getting its offense going from the outset. Middle Tennessee drove to the BYU 8 and faced first and goal on its first possession but Cody Clark misfired on a 29-yard field goal attempt to end the possession. It was just Clark's third miss in his last 20 attempts and marked just the fourth time the Blue Raiders failed to score in the red zone out of 35 trips this season.
Grammer threw a rare interception on Middle Tennessee's second offensive series. The interception was just the sixth of the year in 238 attempts and enabled BYU to take over in Blue Raider territory at the 41. Middle Tennessee's defense held on a big third-down play and stopped BYU one yard short of the first down.
Middle Tennessee's defense kept the team in the game during the first half. After surrendering a 37-yard touchdown pass from Christian Stewart to Colby Pearson the Blue Raiders came up with seven straight stops. One of the biggest was on a fourth-and-5 play late in the second quarter.
Leading 7-0, BYU went for the fourth-down conversion at the MT 35. Leighton Gasque came up with a sack on the fourth-down play and forced a fumble. It was Gasque's 22nd career sack and and moved him within one-half sack of Erik Walden for the all-time record in that category at MT.
Middle Tennessee took over on downs and finally found the end zone when Grammer connected with Devin Clarke for a 22-yard scoring pass with 4:04 remaining in the first half. The drive covered 60 yards in six plays and took just 2:16 and tied the game 7-7 following Cody Clark's extra point.
Middle Tennessee will have a bye week next Saturday before traveling to Miami to face Florida International, Nov. 15.
MT POSTGAME NOTESCAPTAINS: Today's game captains were RB Jeremiah Bryson, DT Jimal McBride and PK Cody Clark.
22 FOR QUE: Senior Leighton Gasque came up with a big sack on fourth down in the second quarter for this team leading sixth of the season. Gasque, who entered the game tied for second nationally among active players in sacks, now has 22.0 for his career. That total is just one half sack shy of the school record held by Erik Walden (22.5).
EARLY RARITIES: Middle Tennessee endured three rare offensive miscues in the game's first 10 minutes. The Blue Raiders entered the game 31-of-34 in the red zone but failed to score on their first possession after reaching the 8 where it was first-and-goal. PK Cody Clark had hit 17 of his last 19 field goals but misfired on a 29-yarder to finish the series. QB Austin Grammar threw a rare interception on MT's second offensive series. The interception was Grammar's sixth in 238 passing attempts this season.
STRONG DEFENSE: After allowing a touchdown drive on BYU's first possession, Middle Tennessee's defense came up with six straight stops the remainder of the first half including three 3-and-outs. BYU's average field position was the 33 in the first half. MT's defense limited BYU to 179 total yards and 2-of-9 on third-down conversions in the first half.
STREAKS NO MORE: Middle Tennessee entered the BYU game having won seven straight games at home while also owning seven straight wins in the month of November. Both of those streaks came to an end with the loss to the Cougars. The Blue Raiders' last November loss was on Nov. 26, 2011 at home against FIU, while the last home loss was a 24-17 setback to East Carolina last season.
QUICK HITTERS: BYU's 81-yard punt in the fourth quarter was the longest against MT in its FBS era (1999) and the longest since North Texas' Jason Ball hit a 79 yarder in 2001 … MT's failure in the red zone on its first drive of the game marked just the second time at home this season the Raiders have not scored points from the red zone (Southern Miss was other) … Shubert Bastien, Christian Henry and Leighton Gasque played in their team leading 46th career game today… Isaiah Anderson, Kevin Byard and Darius Johnson all made their 34th straight start to lead the Raiders … Today was first time this season MT has been shutout in the first quarter at home … The Blue Raiders have now been shutout in the third quarter for four straight games.
MT Head Coach Coach Rick Stockstill
On loss to BYU
"It was frustrating today. I feel that we are better than how we played today. They swallowed us up at times. We had several opportunities to get the quarterback on the ground and several times we just couldn't get to him. He's a good athlete and converted some good plays today. We couldn't block consistently in the passing games and sometimes we ran the ball well and sometimes we didn't. Very inconsistent offensively."
On third quarter momentum shift
"The first drive of the game and it looks like we have a chance to get some points and miss a chip shot. We were so inconsistent in the first half so the second half was a mirror image of the first half. We had a hard time blocking consistently in the rushing and passing games. When you can't do that it makes for a long day and that's what it was today."
On injury update
"T.T. (Barber) and Jahmal Jones got hurt a little bit. We'll have a better idea next week."
On going into the bye week and preparing for FIU
"We'll look back at this film and we'll be more upset tomorrow than we are today. I know we're a better football team than how we played today. We got to get cranked back up and bounce back from this. FIU is good on defense so that's what we've got to focus on and correct our mistakes from today because I'm disappointed in how we played."
On the wind
"It didn't affect us. When you attempt a 29 yard field goal, you should make that. The biggest play was when they punted and the wind helped. It wasn't a factor in the passing game. It may have affected them in their kickoffs. It was blowing good, but nothing really came of it except that one punt they had."
On stopping the run
"That's what they've done. Ever since Taysom Hill got hurt that's what they've done. Our defense did a good job stopping the run and we proved to them early that they wouldn't be able to run the ball and that's why they threw the ball so much."
QB Austin Grammer
On coming off bye week
"We did a lot that week off to rest and recuperate. There were plays to be made and we didn't make them and they did. I thought our defense played really well and our offense sputtered at times and that's something we have to get better at."
On BYU's defensive front
"Not only are they big and strong up front, they did a great job of disguising who is coming and from where. And length is a really big factor in that too. When they can deflect passes it makes it hard on the offense."
On first drive of the game
"It was a good opening drive and we moved the ball really well, but we missed a deep ball that could've been a touchdown and then Cody (Clark) just pushed a field goal a little bit."
On wind playing a factor
"It never really crossed my mind, but I know there were two balls that it kind of affected. I know I threw that deep ball to (Ed'Marques Batties) and the wind pushed it out of bounds. It just held up there."
Leighton Gasque
On BYU's offensive line and trading the sack for a win
"I would trade all my sacks for a win, but they were really talented and made some plays."
On BYU's offensive scheme
"They're solid up front. Our defensive line played against the run today. Everybody fired downhill to stop the run, but rushing the quarterback is also important."
On moving on to FIU
"All that matters is winning the conference and FIU is first on the list. That's what it's all about the next few weeks."
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MTSU Football Weekly Press Conference 9/22/25
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