Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
3-2 , 2-0
Old Dominion
3-2 , 1-1
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middle Tennessee | 0 | 24 | 7 | 10 | 41 |
| Old Dominion | 0 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 28 |
Team Stats
MT 3, ODU 0
MT - CLARK, Cody 23 yd field goal 13 plays, 66 yards, TOP 5:39
MT 10, ODU 0
MT - BYARD, Kevin 76 yd punt return (CLARK, Cody kick)
MT 17, ODU 0
MT - TUCKER, Shane 27 yd pass from GRAMMER, Austin (CLARK, Cody kick) 2 plays, 27 yards, TOP 0:12
MT 24, ODU 0
MT - GRAMMER, Austin 7 yd run (CLARK, Cody kick), 8 plays, 53 yards, TOP 3:23
MT 24, ODU 7
ODU - VAUGHAN, A. 27 yd pass from HEINICKE, T. (SEGERS, Ricky kick) 9 plays, 74 yards, TOP 4:18
MT 24, ODU 14
ODU - VAUGHAN, A. 20 yd pass from HEINICKE, T. (SEGERS, Ricky kick) 7 plays, 94 yards, TOP 1:36
MT 31, ODU 14
MT - GRAMMER, Austin 10 yd run (CLARK, Cody kick), 7 plays, 63 yards, TOP 1:58
MT 31, ODU 21
ODU - VAUGHAN, A. 4 yd pass from HEINICKE, T. (SEGERS, Ricky kick) 11 plays, 80 yards, TOP 3:42
MT 38, ODU 21
MT - HENRY, Marcus 53 yd pass from GRAMMER, Austin (CLARK, Cody kick) 5 plays, 61 yards, TOP 2:12
MT 38, ODU 28
ODU - LITTLE, Marques 4 yd pass from HEINICKE, T. (SEGERS, Ricky kick) 7 plays, 74 yards, TOP 1:52
MT 41, ODU 28
MT - CLARK, Cody 29 yd field goal 7 plays, 37 yards, TOP 3:31
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Raiders shine in national spotlight
9/26/2014 11:00:00 PM | Football
MT improves to 2-0 in C-USA
The Blue Raiders piled up 539 yards and had two players establish career highs, their defense registered six sacks, two interceptions and a fumble recovery, and Middle Tennessee also scored a special teams touchdown when Kevin Byard went 76 yards to hit paydirt.
Middle Tennessee (3-2, 2-0) maintained its lead atop the C-USA standings, while ODU (3-2, 1-1) suffered its first league loss.
Austin Grammer enjoyed a career night. He completed 25-of-30 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns. His 83.3 completion percentage was fifth all-time. Grammer also rushed for 67 yards and two touchdowns. His 25 completions were a career high.
Tailback Jordan Parker was a beast. He rushed for a career-high 158 yards on 31 carries to lead a ground attack that churned out 280 yards behind a determined offensive line that turned in a strong performance both in pass protection and run blocking.
Not only did Byard return a punt for a touchdown, but he also forced a fumble and hauled in an interception.
Middle Tennessee jumped out to a 24-0 lead but ODU wouldn't go quietly.
ODU had pulled to within 24-14 midway through the third quarter when Grammer came up with one of his biggest drives of the early season.
Grammer marched the Blue Raiders 63 yards in seven plays and capped the impressive drive with a 10-yard touchdown run – his second rushing touchdown of the game. Grammer was 3-for-4 on the drive with Terry Pettis hauling in two passes for 36 yards. The biggest came on a third-and-6 play from the ODU 28. Grammer eluded tacklers and somehow got the pass off to Pettis who made an acrobatic grab. Grammer ran in from the 10 one play later as the Blue Raiders quickly answered the ODU scoring drive.
The drive was even bigger when ODU came right back on the following drive and answered with a score to once again pull to within 10, 31-21, going into the fourth quarter.
Just as before Middle Tennessee combined stingy defense with a striking offense to pull away.
ODU had possession down 31-21 but Blue Raider defenders Shubert Bastien and Leighton Gasque came up with back-to-back sacks to force a punt. The two sacks on the drive gave Middle Tennessee six in the game at that point.
Middle Tennessee came right back on Grammer's hot hand. Grammer connected with Marcus Henry for a 53-yard scoring strike to extend the Blue Raider lead to 38-21 with 10:48 remaining. It was Grammer's 25th completion.
After ODU scored to pull to within 38-28, Middle Tennessee answered once again when Cody Clark connected on a 29-yard field goal. Clark's second successful kick of the game pushed the lead to 41-28 with 5:18 remaining.
Byard sealed the win with his 12th career interception with less than four minutes remaining. He is sixth on the all-time list for interceptions.
The high-scoring affair started as a defensive struggle as the teams battled to a scoreless tie after the first quarter.
Both teams were guilty of turnovers in the red zone in the first quarter. The second quarter was a different story for Middle Tennessee.
The Blue Raiders scored 17 points in a span of 2:09 to bolt to a 17-0 lead with 11:21 remaining in the first half. Grammer added a 7-yard touchdown run later in the quarter as Middle Tennessee extended its cushion to 24-0. ODU scored before the half to pull to within 24-7 at intermission.
Middle Tennessee's defense forced three first-half turnovers. T.T. Barber hauled in his fifth career interception to stop an early drive. Shon Akins, making his first career start at corner, collected an interception at the ODU 27 to set up a Blue Raider score. Byard's forced fumble and Jared Singletary's recovery was a big turning point early.
The Blue Raiders dominated the first quarter but settled for a scoreless tie. They dominated time of possession and the line of scrimmage.
An impressive Middle Tennessee drive stalled at the ODU 6 when Cody Clark came on to boot a 23-yard field goal that provided the Blue Raiders a 3-0 lead with 13:30 remaining in the half.
After the Blue Raider defense forced a three-and-out, Byard continued to make his presence known with a spectacular special teams play when he took the punt and raced 76 yards for a touchdown. Clark's extra point pushed the lead to 10-0. Making Byard's return even more impressive was the fact it was the first of his career. It was the longest in MT's FBS era (since 1999) and the ninth longest in school history.
Akins collected an interception on the following ODU drive and the Blue Raiders converted it into points when Grammer connected with Shane Tucker for a 27-yard touchdown. The point after extended the lead to 17-0 with 11:21 remaining in the half.
Grammer added a 7-yard touchdown run midway through the quarter. ODU narrowed the margin to 24-7 with a scoring drive just before halftime.
MT POSTGAME NOTES
CAPTAINS: Today's game captains were OL Isaiah Anderson, LB T.T. Barber, and RB Reggie Whatley.
GRAMMER SHINES: Quarterback Austin Grammer enjoyed a career effort in a strong showing against ODU. Grammer completed a career high 25 passes on 30 attempts for 259 yards and two touchdowns. Grammar accounted for four touchdowns and 326 yards total offense. In addition to two passing scores, Grammer also ran for two and rushed for 67 yards. Grammer's 83.3 completion percentage is fifth all-time for a single game.
PARKER PAVES WAY: Tailback Jordan Parker helped pave the way for Middle Tennessee on the ground with a career-high 158 yards on 31 carries. Parker bested his previous best of 156 yards against WCU in 2013. Parker's 158 yards led a 280-yard ground attack. Parker now has nine career 100-yard rushing games which ties for the seventh most all-time at MT. Seven of Parker's nine 100-yard games have come against conference foes.
THE ENFORCER: Junior Kevin Byard forced a fumble in the first quarter to prevent an ODU touchdown. Byard also hauled in his 12th career interception in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. He is sixth on the career interception list. The two turnovers was Byard's 17th forced or gained turnover in 30 career games played.
RED ZONE STREAK ENDS: Middle Tennessee entered tonight's game a perfect 20-for-20 in the red zone but that streak ended in the first quarter. RB Jeremiah Bryson, fighting for extra yards on his first carry of the game, was stripped and fumbled.
NO. 19-20: Senior Leighton Gasque recorded his 19th and 20th career sacks in the win at ODU. Gasque, who ranks third all-time at MT, now needs one more to surpass Jamari Lattimore (20.5) for second place on the all-time list.
BYARD SCORES … ON PUNT RETURN: Junior Kevin Byard had his first career punt return against ODU and he returned it 76 yards for a touchdown. The 76 yarder was the longest punt return in MT's FBS era (since 1999) and was the ninth longest in school history. It was also the 12th special teams touchdown under Rick Stockstill and the third on a punt return (2 this year).
SCORING MACHINE: Sophomore Shane Tucker definitely has a nose for the end zone. With his 27-yard touchdown reception against ODU, Tucker has now scored 11 touchdowns in 10 career games played. He now has nine on the ground and two through the air.
BIG NIGHT FOR BASTIEN: Senior Shubert Bastien turned in a career performance against ODU. Bastien, who entered the contest with 4.5 career sacks, registered a career-best 2.5 sacks and that equals the fifth most for a game in school history.
QUICK HITTERS: T.T. Barber's interception on ODU's first drive was the fifth of his career and first of 2014 … David Adams made his first career start at left guard … CB Shon Akins made his first career start tonight at RC in place of the injured Khari Burke … James Roberson made his first start of the season at linebacker tonight … Shubert Bastien, Christian Henry and Leighton Gasque played in their team leading 42nd career game today… Isaiah Anderson, Kevin Byard and Darius Johnson all made their 30th straight start to lead the Raiders … WR Marcus Henry has now caught at least one pass in 18 straight games which leads the Raiders … FB Chase Pennycuff hauled in his first career reception in the second half.
