Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
MT prepping for another tight affair with Marshall
10/3/2019 6:00:00 PM | Football
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A grueling four-game nonconference slate is over for Middle Tennessee, meaning the time is here to enter Conference USA action. That's not to say it gets much easier, though.
The Blue Raiders kick off their league schedule with a familiar foe that seems to always be a thorn in their side: Marshall.
"We know we're playing a very talented team, a very well-coached team," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "They're coming in off a tough one, and we're coming in off a tough one. We've got a tough challenge ahead of us, and we're looking forward to it."
Middle Tennessee (1-3) and Marshall (2-2) first met during the quarterfinals of the 1992 NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs. The Thundering Herd took a 35-21 victory, advancing to the semifinals and eventually winning their first of two national titles before moving to Division I-A (FBS) in 1997.
The two would meet for the second time in the first round of the Division I-AA postseason in 1994, another Herd win, but then didn't see each other again until 2013 when the Blue Raiders moved to Conference USA. Since, they've met every season.
Middle Tennessee finally got over the hump against its new league foe in 2013, winning 51-49 and setting up what has turned into one of the conference's most-heated matchups. In the six times they've met as league opponents, they've split 3-3, with all three MT wins coming by 10 points or less, including a three-overtime thriller in Murfreesboro in 2015.
This year's game has the same type of tight feel, with both teams coming off a tough nonconference schedule and looking to get a leg up at 1-0 in the conference.
"Yeah, this is where it really matters," Raiders redshirt senior safety Jovante Moffatt said. "Everything that we want to accomplish is still in front of us. We all know that this is a big week and a big game. We're going to be ready starting tomorrow at practice."
The last six contests have seen the same coaching battle. Stockstill, in his 14th season as the Blue Raiders' head coach, has squared off with legendary 10-year Marshall head man Doc Holliday every time, making for maybe the best coaching matchup C-USA has to offer.
"I have a ton of respect for Marshall's football program, Doc Holliday, his coaching staff and what they've done there since he's been there … his players and how they play the game, the toughness they play with, I have a lot of respect for those guys," Stockstill said.
The respect doesn't stop with the coaches, either. Middle Tennessee's players know how important this game is to get to where they want to be, especially considering the Herd were picked by the league's media members in the preseason to win the East Division this year.
The two teams have also combined to win division titles three times in the last six years, including West championships for Marshall in 2013 and 2014 and an East crown for MT last season (Marshall was second in the East in 2018).
"I was talking to some of the defensive backs, and I told them that the Marshall game is always big," Moffatt said. "I mean, you look at the games, they've always been close or one team just came in and got ahead of the other. I told them just be ready to bring your hats because this is going to be a big conference game for us and them on our side of the conference, and we both know what is at stake here."
Throw the records out the window come Saturday. If anything has been evident from this matchup the last six years, it's that both teams will come in swinging, and C-USA title implications are in the balance.
The game is bound to be a good one inside Floyd Stadium. Buy your tickets now at goblueraiders.com/tickets.
Saturday's contest is also MT's annual Hall of Fame Game. New Blue Raiders Sports Hall of Fame members will be inducted at a pregame ceremony outside the Rose and Emmett Kennon Sports Hall of Fame building.
The Blue Raiders kick off their league schedule with a familiar foe that seems to always be a thorn in their side: Marshall.
"We know we're playing a very talented team, a very well-coached team," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "They're coming in off a tough one, and we're coming in off a tough one. We've got a tough challenge ahead of us, and we're looking forward to it."
Middle Tennessee (1-3) and Marshall (2-2) first met during the quarterfinals of the 1992 NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs. The Thundering Herd took a 35-21 victory, advancing to the semifinals and eventually winning their first of two national titles before moving to Division I-A (FBS) in 1997.
The two would meet for the second time in the first round of the Division I-AA postseason in 1994, another Herd win, but then didn't see each other again until 2013 when the Blue Raiders moved to Conference USA. Since, they've met every season.
Middle Tennessee finally got over the hump against its new league foe in 2013, winning 51-49 and setting up what has turned into one of the conference's most-heated matchups. In the six times they've met as league opponents, they've split 3-3, with all three MT wins coming by 10 points or less, including a three-overtime thriller in Murfreesboro in 2015.
This year's game has the same type of tight feel, with both teams coming off a tough nonconference schedule and looking to get a leg up at 1-0 in the conference.
"Yeah, this is where it really matters," Raiders redshirt senior safety Jovante Moffatt said. "Everything that we want to accomplish is still in front of us. We all know that this is a big week and a big game. We're going to be ready starting tomorrow at practice."
The last six contests have seen the same coaching battle. Stockstill, in his 14th season as the Blue Raiders' head coach, has squared off with legendary 10-year Marshall head man Doc Holliday every time, making for maybe the best coaching matchup C-USA has to offer.
"I have a ton of respect for Marshall's football program, Doc Holliday, his coaching staff and what they've done there since he's been there … his players and how they play the game, the toughness they play with, I have a lot of respect for those guys," Stockstill said.
The respect doesn't stop with the coaches, either. Middle Tennessee's players know how important this game is to get to where they want to be, especially considering the Herd were picked by the league's media members in the preseason to win the East Division this year.
The two teams have also combined to win division titles three times in the last six years, including West championships for Marshall in 2013 and 2014 and an East crown for MT last season (Marshall was second in the East in 2018).
"I was talking to some of the defensive backs, and I told them that the Marshall game is always big," Moffatt said. "I mean, you look at the games, they've always been close or one team just came in and got ahead of the other. I told them just be ready to bring your hats because this is going to be a big conference game for us and them on our side of the conference, and we both know what is at stake here."
Throw the records out the window come Saturday. If anything has been evident from this matchup the last six years, it's that both teams will come in swinging, and C-USA title implications are in the balance.
The game is bound to be a good one inside Floyd Stadium. Buy your tickets now at goblueraiders.com/tickets.
Saturday's contest is also MT's annual Hall of Fame Game. New Blue Raiders Sports Hall of Fame members will be inducted at a pregame ceremony outside the Rose and Emmett Kennon Sports Hall of Fame building.
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