Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Blue Raiders expecting battle for C-USA title
11/26/2018 5:00:00 PM | Football
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The sequel to Middle Tennessee's regular-season concluding win over UAB may not look the same as the original when the teams meet in the Conference USA title game on Saturday.
While the Blue Raiders (8-4, 7-1) cruised to a 27-3 victory over the Blazers (9-3, 7-1) at Floyd Stadium to create the back-to-back matchup scenario, head coach Rick Stockstill is expecting the second game to play out much different.
"We'll make adjustments to what we did, and they'll make adjustments to what they did," he said. "We'll study what we did and had success with … and make the appropriate changes, just like they will.
"We know it'll be a fight."
A strong defensive effort was the key to victory for the blue and white in the regular-season finale.
The Raider stoppers had maybe their best showing of the season, holding UAB to 89 total yards and coming up with seven sacks. Quarterbacks A.J. Erdely and Tyler Johnston III connected on just 9 of 24 passes with an interception.
The Blazers also finished with negative-1 rushing yard while sophomore running back Spencer Brown was held out after getting just one carry.
Assuming Brown, who reportedly felt discomfort before the game from an injury suffered the week prior, returns to the backfield in the title bout, UAB's offense may have better fortune. The sophomore is already fourth in team history in rushing yards and is third in C-USA this year with 993 yards and 15 touchdowns.
"The first thing we have to do defensively is stop the run, and we did a good job of that [Saturday]," Stockstill said. "It always starts on defense with stopping the run."
The title game will be unique in that the two teams will play against each other two weeks in a row in the same stadium.
Middle Tennessee should be plenty thankful to play host in back-to-back weeks, as it's won 29 of its last 36 home games and the last seven going back to the 2017 season.
"We're pretty good at home," Stockstill said. "Our guys take pride in playing at home. Hopefully we have a good crowd and our guys will play well again.
"There's not another college game to go see in-state … so there's no reason why we can't have a bunch of people in that stadium [on Saturday]."
It'll be the first time Middle Tennessee has ever played host to a conference championship game and the first time both the Blue Raiders and Blazers have played for a C-USA title.
Getting to the game is a feat in itself, and while Stockstill is proud of his players for that, he'll preach all week long how there's still unfinished business left.
"It's a tremendous accomplishment for our team, and I'm really happy for our players and especially our seniors," he said. "They're a good team, and we have to get ready to go again."
The title game is scheduled for a 12:30 p.m. CT kickoff inside Floyd Stadium.
Tickets for Saturday's game are available at goblueraiders.com/tickets or at the Blue Raider Ticket Office, located at Gate 1A of Floyd Stadium, between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Tickets will also be available on the Murphy Center concourse during the Nov. 29 Lady Raider women's basketball game.
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.
While the Blue Raiders (8-4, 7-1) cruised to a 27-3 victory over the Blazers (9-3, 7-1) at Floyd Stadium to create the back-to-back matchup scenario, head coach Rick Stockstill is expecting the second game to play out much different.
"We'll make adjustments to what we did, and they'll make adjustments to what they did," he said. "We'll study what we did and had success with … and make the appropriate changes, just like they will.
"We know it'll be a fight."
A strong defensive effort was the key to victory for the blue and white in the regular-season finale.
The Raider stoppers had maybe their best showing of the season, holding UAB to 89 total yards and coming up with seven sacks. Quarterbacks A.J. Erdely and Tyler Johnston III connected on just 9 of 24 passes with an interception.
The Blazers also finished with negative-1 rushing yard while sophomore running back Spencer Brown was held out after getting just one carry.
Assuming Brown, who reportedly felt discomfort before the game from an injury suffered the week prior, returns to the backfield in the title bout, UAB's offense may have better fortune. The sophomore is already fourth in team history in rushing yards and is third in C-USA this year with 993 yards and 15 touchdowns.
"The first thing we have to do defensively is stop the run, and we did a good job of that [Saturday]," Stockstill said. "It always starts on defense with stopping the run."
The title game will be unique in that the two teams will play against each other two weeks in a row in the same stadium.
Middle Tennessee should be plenty thankful to play host in back-to-back weeks, as it's won 29 of its last 36 home games and the last seven going back to the 2017 season.
"We're pretty good at home," Stockstill said. "Our guys take pride in playing at home. Hopefully we have a good crowd and our guys will play well again.
"There's not another college game to go see in-state … so there's no reason why we can't have a bunch of people in that stadium [on Saturday]."
It'll be the first time Middle Tennessee has ever played host to a conference championship game and the first time both the Blue Raiders and Blazers have played for a C-USA title.
Getting to the game is a feat in itself, and while Stockstill is proud of his players for that, he'll preach all week long how there's still unfinished business left.
"It's a tremendous accomplishment for our team, and I'm really happy for our players and especially our seniors," he said. "They're a good team, and we have to get ready to go again."
The title game is scheduled for a 12:30 p.m. CT kickoff inside Floyd Stadium.
Tickets for Saturday's game are available at goblueraiders.com/tickets or at the Blue Raider Ticket Office, located at Gate 1A of Floyd Stadium, between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Tickets will also be available on the Murphy Center concourse during the Nov. 29 Lady Raider women's basketball game.
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.
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