Looking ahead to MT and ODU

Saturday, October 27

Norfolk, VA

2:30 PM

Middle Tennessee

Old Dominion

10/26/2018 9:00:00 AM | Football

By: Josh Vardaman

NORFOLK, Va. – Middle Tennessee has put itself in contention for a division crown as the Conference USA race enters the second half. In order to remain a contender, the Blue Raiders will have to take care of business, starting on the road at Old Dominion Saturday.

A single game behind FIU for the C-USA East Division lead, there's no room for error for the Blue Raiders (4-3, 3-1), especially since the Panthers hold the tiebreaker between the teams.

The pressure is on MT to keep pace in the conference title race, and it continues with a road matchup against Old Dominion (2-6, 1-4) on Saturday.

"You can't look at their record and make any determination of how good they are, because this is a really good team," Raiders head coach Rick Stockstill said. "We've got to be ready to play.

"It's a great environment. They seat 20,000 people, and there will be 20,000 there. We've got to ignore all of the noise and focus on the game at hand."

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Series history
Middle Tennessee has had no issue against ODU in the teams' brief history against one another, owning a 2-0 record.

The Blue Raiders have reached 41 points in both previous matchups, winning 41-28 in Norfolk in 2014 and 41-10 at home last season.

Last meeting
Last year's 41-10 MT victory came in the final week of the regular season. Both teams entered the matchup needing a win to reach six wins and bowl eligibility.

The Blue Raiders were coming in off a heartbreaking overtime loss at rival WKU, and things didn't start too well against ODU, as they fell down 3-0 just over three minutes into the contest.

Middle Tennessee righted the ship and dominated from there, scoring 41 unanswered points, including 21 in the second quarter on three Brent Stockstill touchdown passes.

The lefty signal caller finished 21-of-30 passing with 266 yards, three TDs and two interceptions. Ty Lee caught eight passes for 70 yards, and Tavonn Salter, C.J. Windham and Jimmy Marshall all found the end zone through the air.

Terelle West led the way on the ground for Middle Tennessee, finishing with a career-high 170 yards on 26 attempts and two TDs.

Defensively, the Blue Raiders held the Monarchs to just 305 total yards, and only 120 of those came through the air.

High-flying Monarch offense
Middle Tennessee shouldn't expect to see the same stagnant ODU offense this season. The Monarchs are certainly flying high on that side of the ball through eight games.

Led by former walk-on Blake LaRussa at quarterback, ODU has the third-ranked passing attack in C-USA. LaRussa, a redshirt junior, is second in the league with 1,941 yards, and he has 12 TDs against four INTs.

What makes LaRussa so effective are his weapons on the outside. Redshirt senior Jonathan Duhart missed all but two games last year due to injury, but he's rebounded to lead C-USA in catches (52) and receiving yards (811) with six scores. Fellow redshirt senior Travis Fulgham has also had a career year, ranking fourth in C-USA in receiving yards (591) with five TDs.

Duhart and Fulgham make mismatches with their size, both standing 6-foot-3 and over 210 pounds. Middle Tennessee's defensive backfield will surely have its hands full.

"I have faith in our secondary that we'll control the deep ball and that our front seven can put pressure on the quarterback," MT redshirt senior linebacker Darius Harris said. "They have some good players on that side of the ball, some good receivers and a good quarterback … we have to go forward and give our best effort no matter who we're playing."

The Monarchs have also had good production out of the backfield despite some injuries.

Two running backs – Jeremy Cox and Kesean Strong – have rushed for more than 300 yards so far, and they've combined for 12 total touchdowns (10 rushing).

Cox missed the last two games with an ankle injury, but he's expected to return on Saturday to make a talented one-two punch in the backfield.

Offensive turnaround needed
If the game turns into a shootout, Middle Tennessee will need its offense to find footing after two questionable outings in a row.

The Blue Raiders have totaled only 236.5 yards per game over the last two, including 144 total yards against Charlotte last week in a 21-13 win.

The slow-moving offense could be attributed to injury, not to mention consistent short fields against Charlotte. MT averaged a starting field position near midfield against the 49ers.

Brent Stockstill was injured at the start of the second quarter two weeks ago against FIU and missed the rest of that contest, then didn't practice much with the first team leading up to the homecoming win. He's feeling healthy and ready to go ahead of Saturday.

"We weren't our best [against Charlotte], but the objective every week is to win and we did that," he said. "We've played good at times this year, but we want to be more consistent. Our defense has kept us in a lot of games, and it's been a complete team effort this season. We just need to find ways to get more explosive plays and stay on the field longer."

The Blue Raider offense may get a shot of confidence against ODU's defense, which has been one of the poorest in the nation this season.

The Monarchs rank 126^th out of 129 FBS teams in total defense (514.4 yards per game allowed) and 122^nd in scoring defense (38.5 points allowed per game).

ODU is also 123^rd in rushing defense, giving up more than 230 yards per game on the ground, so MT's struggling rushing game (33 yards against Charlotte) should also see plenty of openings.

One of C-USA's best pass rushers
Despite their inconsistencies on defense, the Monarchs feature one of the better pass rushers in college football, and he can disrupt opposing offenses by himself with his ability to get to the QB.

Redshirt senior end Oshane Ximines already holds ODU's career sacks record (29.5), ranking second among active FBS players, and he's been at his best this season.

The career 44-game starter currently ranks tied for fourth in the country in sacks (8.5) and tied for sixth in tackles for loss (13). His 8.5 sacks are already tied for the program's single-season record, which Ximines set last year.

"He's a very talented player," Rick Stockstill said. "He uses his hands very well. He's got a couple of good pass rush moves, but his big thing is just his explosiveness and speed coming off the edge. He's going to try to get up field, and we've got to do a good job of getting leverage and staying on him."

Last season against MT, Ximines got to Brent Stockstill for one sack and had two tackles for loss to go with six total tackles.

ODU riding high after thriller
Despite having just two wins this season, the Monarchs will go into Saturday with quite a bit of confidence and excitement.

ODU captured a thrilling 37-34 win at WKU last week in a game that college football fans will want to research the highlights.

After the Hilltoppers took a 34-27 lead with just over a minute and a half left, the Monarchs had to march 79 yards for a game-tying touchdown, which came with nine seconds remaining to tie things at 34.

They lined up for a pooch kick, which gave WKU the ball around its own 30-yard line, and after a 15-yard rush on their first play, the Hilltoppers called timeout with two seconds left.

WKU attempted a hook-and-ladder play to catch ODU off guard, but the receiver who was supposed to make the catch and lateral the ball dropped the pass.

The clock read zero, but the game was far from over.

A Monarch defender was called for roughing the passer, giving WKU a first down and an untimed play from the ODU 40.

The Hilltoppers attempted a 57-yard field goal, but it was missed. However, the Monarchs were called for 12 men on the field, giving WKU a second untimed play and field goal try, this time from 52 yards.

ODU decided to send kickoff returner Isaiah Harper onto the field to return the long field goal attempt, and when it came up short, Harper fielded it.

He returned it 83 yards, but was forced out of bounds before reaching the end zone. It would have ended the game, but another flag was on the field, this time on WKU for a facemask.

The Monarchs were granted another untimed down, this time from the WKU 9-yard line, and they capitalized with a game-winning 26-yard field goal.

The thrilling win will surely give ODU a boost going home on Saturday.

"A testament to them for not giving up," Rick Stockstill said of the game. "I'm sure they're sky high right now and have a ton of confidence."

Josh Vardaman is the staff writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Vardaman and also follow @MTAthletics for more on the Blue Raiders.