Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Steele projects MT to another bowl
7/24/2018 7:00:00 AM | Football
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – College football season is inching closer, and national writers and outlets across the country are busy coming out with projections about the upcoming season.
One of those national writers, Phil Steele, an ESPN Insider and author of the yearly "Phil Steele's College Football Preview" magazine, has a favorable forecast for Middle Tennessee. He projects the Blue Raiders to get back to a bowl game and possibly improve on their 7-6 record in 2017.
"I think Middle Tennessee can top last year's seven-win total," he said. "I'm pretty bullish, as long as Brent Stockstill can stay healthy."
If the Blue Raiders are going to get to eight or more wins, they'll have to skirt around what projects as a very tough schedule that includes seven road games and only five at home.
Three of those road games will come against Southeastern Conference opponents Vanderbilt, Georgia and Kentucky, and they'll also have to face Conference USA title contenders Florida Atlantic, Marshall (road game), FIU (road game), Old Dominion (road game) and UAB.
The schedule may look daunting, but if injuries can stay minimal and some things go their way, Steele thinks the Raiders could prove some naysayers wrong.
Most notably, MT's Week 5 matchup with prohibitive conference favorite and defending league champ FAU could be the biggest game on the schedule. It'll be the conference opener for both teams, and while FAU will be playing its fifth straight week and third game on the road, the Blue Raiders will be coming off a bye.
"Florida Atlantic, I love that situation for Middle," Steele said. "Middle Tennessee is off a bye, Florida Atlantic is off of playing UCF in a huge game on a Friday night and playing on their fifth straight week and having to travel. That's a game I put in the toss-up category, and it might be one of the keys to whether or not Middle Tennessee can win the C-USA East."
FAU is just the start of a tough slate of C-USA games for MT. The Blue Raiders will follow with a road matchup against Marshall, the other team in the East Division Steele has placed above Middle Tennessee.
The boys in blue will also go on the road to play FIU and Old Dominion, two teams Steele is high on out of the East Division, before finishing the regular season with a game against UAB out of the West. All could factor into the C-USA title race, making the conference balanced and dangerous.
"It's not only the top three teams [FAU, Marshall and MT], but I also think Old Dominion will get back to playing like they did in 2016 … and I think Butch Davis is doing a good job at FIU," Steele said. "On the flip side, when you look at the other division, it's really a toss-up. I think that's a three-team race over there, as well, so there are plenty of teams capable of taking home the C-USA title this year. I think it'll be a lot of fun to watch."
If MT is going to finish better in league play, it'll likely have to get a full season from its redshirt senior quarterback, the program's all-time passing leader.
The Blue Raiders have proven to be a better team with Brent Stockstill under center, averaging 33.5 points with him and just 27.6 in the nine games he missed the past two years combined due to injuries. Keeping him healthy might be the biggest key to this season.
"One of the keys will be keeping Brent Stockstill healthy," Steele said. "As we saw last year, Middle Tennessee is a completely different team when he's healthy than when he's not healthy. I think having him back is huge this year."
Stockstill can't do it all, though. His defense will have to prove the rise from 96th in the country in total defense in 2016 to 35th in 2017 wasn't a fluke.
Steele believes last year's defensive production will be the norm under second-year defensive coordinator Scott Shafer. The team went from giving up 35.7 points per game in 2016 to 24.7 in 2017, and Steele's projections have them finishing around the same in 2018 at 23.6.
"Defensively, this is one of the better units in C-USA," he said. "Nine starters are back on defense and six lettermen are lost, so it makes for a pretty good defense. You have to factor in the schedule … but I think if they match last year's stats, they'll have done a pretty good job."
When all is factored in, Steele is quite bullish on Middle Tennessee's chances to breach the 7-win plateau this season.
"The schedule is not easy," he said. "I think if they can take advantage of the situation against Florida Atlantic and pull the upset in Week 5, then maybe bag one of those SEC road games – both Vanderbilt and Kentucky fall in the winnable margin for me – then I think they can get up towards that eight- and nine-win level."
To see Steele's full college football preview, download his magazine at philsteele.com or find it at Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Booksamillion, Walgreens, CVS, Target and Publix.
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.
One of those national writers, Phil Steele, an ESPN Insider and author of the yearly "Phil Steele's College Football Preview" magazine, has a favorable forecast for Middle Tennessee. He projects the Blue Raiders to get back to a bowl game and possibly improve on their 7-6 record in 2017.
"I think Middle Tennessee can top last year's seven-win total," he said. "I'm pretty bullish, as long as Brent Stockstill can stay healthy."
If the Blue Raiders are going to get to eight or more wins, they'll have to skirt around what projects as a very tough schedule that includes seven road games and only five at home.
Three of those road games will come against Southeastern Conference opponents Vanderbilt, Georgia and Kentucky, and they'll also have to face Conference USA title contenders Florida Atlantic, Marshall (road game), FIU (road game), Old Dominion (road game) and UAB.
The schedule may look daunting, but if injuries can stay minimal and some things go their way, Steele thinks the Raiders could prove some naysayers wrong.
Most notably, MT's Week 5 matchup with prohibitive conference favorite and defending league champ FAU could be the biggest game on the schedule. It'll be the conference opener for both teams, and while FAU will be playing its fifth straight week and third game on the road, the Blue Raiders will be coming off a bye.
"Florida Atlantic, I love that situation for Middle," Steele said. "Middle Tennessee is off a bye, Florida Atlantic is off of playing UCF in a huge game on a Friday night and playing on their fifth straight week and having to travel. That's a game I put in the toss-up category, and it might be one of the keys to whether or not Middle Tennessee can win the C-USA East."
FAU is just the start of a tough slate of C-USA games for MT. The Blue Raiders will follow with a road matchup against Marshall, the other team in the East Division Steele has placed above Middle Tennessee.
The boys in blue will also go on the road to play FIU and Old Dominion, two teams Steele is high on out of the East Division, before finishing the regular season with a game against UAB out of the West. All could factor into the C-USA title race, making the conference balanced and dangerous.
"It's not only the top three teams [FAU, Marshall and MT], but I also think Old Dominion will get back to playing like they did in 2016 … and I think Butch Davis is doing a good job at FIU," Steele said. "On the flip side, when you look at the other division, it's really a toss-up. I think that's a three-team race over there, as well, so there are plenty of teams capable of taking home the C-USA title this year. I think it'll be a lot of fun to watch."
If MT is going to finish better in league play, it'll likely have to get a full season from its redshirt senior quarterback, the program's all-time passing leader.
The Blue Raiders have proven to be a better team with Brent Stockstill under center, averaging 33.5 points with him and just 27.6 in the nine games he missed the past two years combined due to injuries. Keeping him healthy might be the biggest key to this season.
"One of the keys will be keeping Brent Stockstill healthy," Steele said. "As we saw last year, Middle Tennessee is a completely different team when he's healthy than when he's not healthy. I think having him back is huge this year."
Stockstill can't do it all, though. His defense will have to prove the rise from 96th in the country in total defense in 2016 to 35th in 2017 wasn't a fluke.
Steele believes last year's defensive production will be the norm under second-year defensive coordinator Scott Shafer. The team went from giving up 35.7 points per game in 2016 to 24.7 in 2017, and Steele's projections have them finishing around the same in 2018 at 23.6.
"Defensively, this is one of the better units in C-USA," he said. "Nine starters are back on defense and six lettermen are lost, so it makes for a pretty good defense. You have to factor in the schedule … but I think if they match last year's stats, they'll have done a pretty good job."
When all is factored in, Steele is quite bullish on Middle Tennessee's chances to breach the 7-win plateau this season.
"The schedule is not easy," he said. "I think if they can take advantage of the situation against Florida Atlantic and pull the upset in Week 5, then maybe bag one of those SEC road games – both Vanderbilt and Kentucky fall in the winnable margin for me – then I think they can get up towards that eight- and nine-win level."
To see Steele's full college football preview, download his magazine at philsteele.com or find it at Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Booksamillion, Walgreens, CVS, Target and Publix.
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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