Raiders, Broncos battle in the Bahamas Thursday

Thursday, December 24

Nassau, Bahamas

11:00 AM

Middle Tennessee

Western Michigan University (ESPN)

12/23/2015 9:00:00 AM | Football

Kickoff set for 11:06 AM Central on ESPN

By: @MTAthletics

MURFREESBORO – After a couple of good on-site practices mixed with some fun and sun, Middle Tennessee is all business as it prepares for tomorrow's Popeyes Bahamas Bowl against Western Michigan.

Kickoff is set for 11:06 AM central time from Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium and will be shown nationally on ESPN.

Middle Tennessee and Western Michigan will be meeting on the gridiron for the first time in school history.

GAME INFORMATION
(FULL GAME NOTES)

(GAMEDAY CENTRAL)

Hashtag: #MTvsWMU, #BlueRaiders
Twitter: MT_FB
Instagram: @MTAthletics
Facebook: Blue Raider Athletics

Game Captains: LB T.T. Barber, S Kevin Byard, OL Darius Johnson, DL Pat McNeil

Date: Thursday, Dec. 24
Time: 11:06 AM
Teams: Middle Tennessee (7-5) vs Western Michigan (7-5)
Location: Nassau, Bahamas
Stadium: Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium (15,000)
Weather Forecast: 82 degrees, partly cloudy
TV: ESPN (Steve Levy, Mark May, Mack Brown, Kaylee Hartung)
Radio: WMOT-FM (89.5), WGNS (1450 AM/100.5 FM/101.9 FM), Game 2 (102.5/94.9/95.1)
Play-by-Play: Chip Walters
Analysis: Wes Counts
Gates Open: 10:00 a.m. EST

Live Audio/Live Streaming | Live Stats

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: First Meeting
At Middle Tennessee: 0-0
At Kalamazoo: 0-0
At Neutral Site: 0-0
Rick Stockstill vs WMU: 0-0
PJ Fleck vs MT: 0-0
Last MT Win: TBD
Last WMU Win: TBD

QUICK HITTERS

The Blue Raiders have been bowl eligible seven times in 10 years and the Bahamas Bowl will be the fifth bowl game in the FBS era.
Middle Tennessee has 20 players on its roster with a degree in hand for the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl.
This will be the first football game MT has ever played on the date of December 24.
In MT's seven wins it is averaging 529.7 yards of total offense and allowing just 324.1.
MT is averaging 44.3 points a game at home and 24.2 on the road.
TE Terry Pettis ranks 6th nationally in yards per catch at 21.2. That total would also rank 6th best for a single-season at MT.
WR Richie James has 45 receptions in his last five games combined.
WR Richie James is averaging 8.3 receptions a game this season as a freshman to rank 3rd nationally and ranks 1st among freshmen.
Cody Clark's consecutive made PAT streak of 144 ranks as the third longest nationally.
MT's 73 points scored in the conference opener against Charlotte went down as the second most scored in school history and came on the heels of a 70-point outing in game one.
MT had 42 points in the first quarter in win over Charlotte which was a school record for points in a quarter.
When Brent Stockstill started against JSU, he became just the second head coach's son in C-USA history to start at quarterback. In 1997-98, Tyson Helton started at Houston when his dad, Kim Helton, was the head coach.
In their last 32 conference games, MT has a mark of 23-9.
Kevin Byard is 2nd among NCAA's active players in interceptions per game at 0.40. He also ranks T1st in total interceptions with 19.
Over the last 42 games, the Blue Raider defense has come up with 53 interceptions. The team had 15 picks in 2013 by eight different players, 13 in 2014 and 16 so far in 2015 .
Kevin Byard has 377 career interception return yards to own the MT record and rank first on the NCAA active list. The NCAA all-time record is 501 by FSU's Terrell Buckley.
Consecutive Starts Leader: T.T. Barber at 40.
Under Rick Stockstill, the Blue Raiders have been involved in 18 games that were decided in the final minute of regulation or overtime. The team is 11-7 in those games and have won seven of the last eight.
Head Coach Rick Stockstill is third on the school's all-time wins list with 64 victories.
In 124 games under Rick Stockstill, the Blue Raiders are +23 in turnover margin.
Middle Tennessee has scored 30 or more points 51 times under Rick Stockstill. The most 30-point games in a season under Stockstill is nine (2009).

BOWL HISTORY
The Popeye's Bahamas Bowl marks the ninth bowl Middle Tennessee has participated in during its football history but the fifth in the FBS era. The Blue Raiders faced Central Michigan in the 2006 Motor City Bowl (lost 31-14), then defeated Southern Miss (42-32) in the 2009 New Orleans Bowl to cap a 10-3 season. MT went on to the 2011 GoDaddy.com Bowl where they fell to Miami, OH (35-21) before falling to Navy in the 2013 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (24-6). Prior to the FBS era, the Blue Raiders competed in the 1956 Refrigerator Bowl, the 1960 and 1961 Tangerine Bowl, and the 1964 Grantland Rice Bowl.

PERMANENT CAPTAINS
The highest honor in the Blue Raider football program is to be voted a Permanent Team Captain at the conclusion of the regular season. This year's captains, as announced on Dec. 4, is linebacker T.T. Barber, safety Kevin Byard, offensive tackle Darius Johnson, and defensive tackle Pat McNeil.

JAMES AN ALL-AMERICAN
Receiver Richie James earned First Team USA Today Freshman All-America honors after posting a school record 100 receptions for 1,220 yards in 2015. James becomes the fourth freshman all-american in school history and the third under Rick Stockstill.

POST-SEASON AWARDS
MT had 13 players honored by Conference USA for post-season awards. The Raiders had four first team All-C-USA winners (T.T. Barber, Kevin Byard, Jaylen Hunter and Richie James), two second team members (Ed Batties & Jeremy Cutrer), five on the honorable mention team (William Eads, Cavellis Luckett, Pat McNeil, Maurquice Shakir, Brent Stockstill) and four on the All-Freshman squad (Chandler Brewer, Darius Harris, Richie James, Brent Stockstill). Quarterback Brent Stockstill was also voted the league's Freshman of the Year.

STRONG SENIORS
The 2015 Senior Class enters the bowl game with 29 victories the past four years, which goes down as the most ever by a class in MT's FBS era (since 1999). It's also the most since the 1995 class won 30 games. The class has also been bowl eligible all four years.

GOOD IN NOVEMBER
Under Rick Stockstill, the Blue Raiders have enjoyed success down the final stretch of the season in November. Over its last 30 games in the month of November, the Blue Raiders are 21-9 and have won 12 of its last 15. Overall under Stockstill MT carries a 24-13 mark in November.

TOTAL OFFENSE RECORD FALLS
Middle Tennessee enters the bowl game with a new school record 5,504 yards of total offense. It goes down as just the sixth time in school history, Middle Tennessee has surpassed the 5,000-yard mark in total offense for a season (four of those under Stockstill) and the third year in a row.

DEFENSE STEPPING UP
The Blue Raider defense has been key in the team's success this season and is having its best year under Tyrone Nix. The unit enters the bowl game allowing 388.3 yards a game which is its best since giving up 386.9 in 2010. They are also giving up 25.1 points per game which goes down as the team's best mark since 2009 (23.7).

STOCKSTILL SETS C-USA FRESHMAN PASSING MARK
With 322 passing yards against North Texas, quarterback Brent Stockstill set a new Conference USA freshman record. Stockstill, who now has 3,678 yards on the season, broke the previous mark of 3,128 yards set by former Southern Miss and current Cleveland Browns QB Austin Davis in 2008.

JAMES ADDS TO RECEPTIONS MARK
Wide receiver Richie James set a new single-season receptions record when he hauled in nine passes at FAU to give him 82 on the season. James broke the previous mark of 76 set by Kerry Wright in 2004 and enters the bowl game with 100 total catches. His 100 grabs ranks 8th all-time for a single-season in C-USA history and he needs 14 more to tie the all-time mark.

1,000-YARD MAN
With 198 receiving yards (3rd most in school history) at FAU, WR Richie James became just the second player in MT history to record 1,000 receiving yards in a season. James now has 1,220 yards this year after posting 85 against UTSA and is now chasing the single-season mark of 1,280 established by Kerry Wright in 2003. James currently ranks third nationally in receptions and 11th in receiving yards.

TOP DUO IN SCHOOL HISTORY
The receiving tandem of Ed Batties and Richie James officially became the top duo for a single-season in school history following the win over Marshall. James and Batties have now combined for 177 receptions this season to break the previous mark of 134 set by Kerry Wright (74) and Chris Henry (60) in 2004. James now has 100 receptions on the season while Batties has added 77.