Raiders clash with Rainbows in Hawaii Bowl

Saturday, December 24

Honolulu, HI

7:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

Hawaii (ESPN)

12/23/2016 8:00:00 AM | Football

Game shown nationally on ESPN

By: @MTAthletics

MURFREESBORO – After five days in the island, Middle Tennessee will meet the hometown Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in the Hawaii Bowl Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7 PM CT and the game will be shown nationally on ESPN.

This marks just the second meeting between the two schools as the Blue Raiders and Rainbows met in 1993. Hawaii won that game in Honolulu, 35-14.

BROADCAST INFORMATION: ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN3

GAME INFORMATION
(FULL GAME NOTES)

(GAMEDAY CENTRAL)

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

Game Captains: LB DJ Sanders, QB Brent Stockstill, RB I'Tavius Mathers, DT Raynard Felton.

Date: Saturday, Dec. 24
Time: 7:05 p.m. (central)
Teams: Middle Tennessee (8-4; 5-3) vs Hawaii (6-7; 4-4)
Location: Honolulu, HI
Stadium: Aloha Stadium (50,000)
Weather Forecast: Partly Cloudy 80°
TV: ESPN
Radio: WMOT-FM (89.5), WGNS (1450 AM/100.5 FM/101.9 FM), Game 2 (102.5/94.9/95.1) … Also available on ESPN Radio.
Play-by-Play: Chip Walters
Analysis: Wes Counts

Live Streaming | Live Stats | Live Audio

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Hawaii leads 1-0
At Middle Tennessee: 0-0
At Honolulu: Hawaii leads 1-0
At Neutral Site: 0-0
Rick Stockstill vs Hawaii: 0-0
Nick Rolovich vs MT: 0-0
Last MT Win: NA
Last Hawaii Win: 1993 (35-14 in Honolulu)

QUICK HITTERS

The 2016 season is the 102nd for Blue Raider football and the 18th at the FBS level.
Middle Tennessee has now won at least eight games in a season three times in the last five years.
A victory over Hawaii would give the Blue Raiders a 9-win season for the 13th time in school history but just the second in the FBS era (since 1999). The Raiders' last 9-win season was in 2009 when they won 10 games.
WR Richie James needs 12 more receptions to break his own single-season school record of 108 set in 2015.
WR Ty Lee's 53 receptions entered the bowl season as the 5th most nationally by a freshman.
RB I'Tavius Mathers owns the single-season school record in rushing yards, all-purpose yards, and receptions by a running back.
Ty Lee's 53 receptions ranks 5th nationally among freshmen.
PK Canon Rooker has hit 13 of his last 14 field goals and ranks 22nd nationally in field goals made percentage (.842).
I'Tavius Mathers has rushed for 100 or more yards in eight of his last 10 games.
In MT's last 14 wins it has averaged 588.5 yards of total offense and allowed just 399.9.
Middle Tennessee is 20-5 in its last 25 home games.
The Blue Raiders have been bowl eligible eight times in 11 years and partcipated in six bowls (counts 2016) during the FBS era.
Middle Tennessee has 17 players competing in the bowl game with a degree in hand. (Dennis Andrews, Chris Brown, Deontay Evans, Raynard Felton, Demetrius Frazier, Chris Hale, I'Tavius Mathers, Terry Pettis, Hunter Rogers, Maurquice Shakir, Josh Chester, Jeremy Cutrer, William Eads, Myles Harges, Shaquille Huff, Brent Stockstill (Undergraduate) and Kamani Thomas).
MT is averaging 47.6 points a game at home and 34.7 on the road in 2016.
In their last 40 conference games, the Blue Raiders have a mark of 28-12.
Over the last 55 games, the Blue Raider defense has come up with 65 interceptions. The team had 15 picks in 2013 by eight different players, 13 in 2014 and 17 in 2015.
Consecutive Starts Leaders: Shaquille Huff (37), Daniel Stephens (30) and Steven Rhodes (28).
Under Rick Stockstill, the Blue Raiders have been involved in 20 games that were decided in the final minute of regulation or overtime. The team is 12-8 in those games and have won eight of the last 10.
Head Coach Rick Stockstill is third on the school's all-time wins list with 72 victories.
In 137 games under Rick Stockstill, the Blue Raiders are +24 in turnover margin.
Middle Tennessee has scored 30 or more points 61 times under Rick Stockstill. The most 30-point games in a season under Stockstill is nine (2009) and the Raiders have matched that with 9 through 12 games in 2016.
RB I'Tavius Mathers has been invited to play in the 2017 NFLPA Bowl on January 21 in Los Angeles, CA.

BOWL HISTORY
The Hawaii Bowl marks the 10th bowl Middle Tennessee has participated in during its football history but sixth 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. MT went on to the 2011 GoDaddy.com Bowl where they fell to Miami (OH) (35-21) before falling to Navy in the 2013 Armed Forces Bowl (24-6). MT lost to Western Michigan in last year's Bahamas Bowl (45-31). Prior to the FBS era, the Raiders competed in the 1956 Refrigerator Bowl, the 1960 and 1961 Tangerine Bowl, and the 1964 Grantland Rice Bowl.

8 TIMES IN 11 YEARS
In 11 years under Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee has reached bowl eligibility eight times and seven times in the last eight years. The Blue Raiders have been bowl eligible under Rick Stockstill in 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. The eight bowl eligible years during the 11-year span is more than any FBS team in Tennessee and equals the most of any program in C-USA.

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. 1, are QB Brent Stockstill, RB I'Tavius Mathers, LB DJ Sanders, and DT Raynard Felton.

ROAD WARRIORS
Middle Tennessee will head to Honolulu for its eighth road game of the season and the Blue Raiders are tied for 3rd nationally with five road wins. Western Michigan leads the nation with seven, followed by Alabama, Clemson and Washington with six the MT joins FSU, San Diego State, Stanford and Wisconsin with five each. Counting the Hawaii Bowl, MT will have traveled 7,696.2 miles this season and if you go back to last year's Bahamas Bowl that total would climb to 8,614.2 miles in the last nine road games.

SIX MAKE ALL-CONFERENCE
Middle Tennessee placed six players on the first and second All-Conference USA teams. First team picks were I'Tavius Mathers, Richie James, Jeremy Cutrer, Canon Rooker and William Eads, while Daniel Stephens was the lone second team member. Ty Lee and Tyshun Render were on the All-Freshman team.

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
MT set a new single-game total offense record by recording 757 yards in the 77-56 win over FAU to end the regular season. The previous record of 685 yards was set against Idaho in 2001. The 77 points was also a new school record and broke the previous mark of 76 set in 1927 against North Alabama. The 77 points also tied the C-USA mark.

OFFENSIVE RECORDS FALL IN 2016
Despite still having the bowl game to play, the Middle Tennessee offense has set numerous single-season records in 2016. Following is a list of those records:

        Category                               2016 Total                 Previous Record
        Total Offense                            6188                            5946 (2015)
        Total Yards/Game                  515.7                           493.7 (2016)
        Total Yards/Play                        6.88                             6.78 (2001)
        Points Scored                             481                              442 (2015)
        Touchdown Passes                   35                                 34 (2016)
        Total Touchdowns                     62                                 58 (2015)
        Passing Yards/Game             317.0                           311.7 (2015)

Next to fall:
        Passing Yards                            3804                            4052 (2015)
        Pass Attempts                           505                              509 (2011)
        Pass Completions                     319                              334 (2015)
        First Downs                                 294                              302 (2015)
        All-Purpose Yards                    7033                            7403 (2015)

2 FOR 200
Middle Tennessee, on its way to a C-USA record 495-yard rushing effort, became the sixth team in Division I history to have two players rush for 200-plus yards in the same game when I'Tavius Mathers (213) and Richie James (207) accomplished the feat against FAU in the final regular season game. It was the second time Mathers has topped 200 yards this season.

JAMES MAKES HISTORY
With 207 yards rushing and 120 receiving, Richie James became only the sixth player in NCAA Division I history with 200-plus yards rushing and 100-plus receiving. James became the only receiver to join the elite list and is the only C-USA player to accomplish the feat.

EMBARKING ON HISTORY
I'Tavius Mathers has proven to be a threat on the ground but he is also a weapon in the passing game. Mathers, who has 1,504 rushing yards entering the bowl game, has reeled in 62 receptions which goes down as the most by a running back in MT history. In fact, with 8 more receptions, Mathers can become just the second player in NCAA FBS history to have 70 receptions and rush for 1,000 or more yards in a single season. He would join former Oregon St. Beaver Jacquizz Rodgers who had 78 catches and 1,440 rushing yards in 2009.