Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Saturday, August 31
Ann Arbor, MI
6:30 PM
Middle Tennessee
at
University of Michigan
Looking ahead to MT and UM
8/30/2019 5:00:00 PM | Football
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — There's no easing into the 2019 schedule for Middle Tennessee.
The Blue Raiders will travel to No. 7 Michigan for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff on Saturday to do battle with the widely regarded national title contender for the first time.
"We've got a huge challenge ahead of us playing Michigan, the No. 7 team in the country right now in all the preseason rankings," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "I'm really proud of our team and how they approached camp … and I like the focus our team has. We're looking forward to getting started here."
Where can you watch or listen?
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: 102.5/97.5 FM, 100.5 FM, 101.9 FM, 93.9 FM, 1450 AM
Search 'Middle Tennessee' on the TuneIn app.
Coaches tale of the tape
Rick Stockstill
Record, in conference (C-USA, Sun Belt): 87-78 (14th year), 65-36
Bowl appearances, record: 8 (2018 New Orleans Bowl), 2-6
Accolades: 6-time coach of the year, 2018 C-USA COY, sixth-longest tenured coach in the country, 3rd all-time at MT in wins
Jim Harbaugh
Record (FBS), at UM: 67-35 (9th year), 38-14 (5th year)
Bowl appearances, record: 6 (2018 Peach Bowl), 2-4
Accolades: 2011 AP NFL Coach of the Year, 2010 Woody Hayes Coach of the Year, coached 11 UM All-Americans, coached in Super Bowl XLVII and two NFC Championship games
MT vs. the Big Ten
Middle Tennessee has a 2-10 record against current members of the Big Ten Conference, though five of those games came against Nebraska and Maryland before they joined the league in 2011 and 2014, respectively.
The Blue Raiders' two wins both came against Maryland in a home-and-home series in 2008-09. The last time they played a Big Ten opponent was in 2017 when they travelled to Minnesota and fell 34-3.
Here are MT's records against current Big Ten members:
Illinois: 0-3
Maryland: 2-2
Minnesota: 0-3
Nebraska: 0-1
Purdue: 0-1
New-look offenses
Michigan was one of the slowest offensive teams in the country in 2018, averaging only two plays per minute.
Speeding things up has been a goal of new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, who most recently was the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Alabama.
With eight returning starters, including their quarterback, receiving corps and four linemen, the Wolverines might be in line for a drastic change in tempo. Senior quarterback Shea Patterson will look to wideouts Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones to produce chunk plays, along with a talented tight end group led by Sean McKeon.
"[Gattis has] an experienced quarterback, an experienced offensive line and receivers that can run, and I'm sure he'll implement what Coach Harbaugh wants and believes in," Stockstill said. "We'll study a little what Alabama did, but we'll mostly focus on the players they've got returning at Michigan."
Middle Tennessee will counter with a new-look offense of its own, not because of a coaching change, but roster turnover.
All-time great quarterback Brent Stockstill is now in the coaching ranks at FAU, and a handful of offensive line starters also exhausted their eligibility last season.
Plenty of skilled position players return, including wideout Ty Lee, running backs Chaton Mobley and Terelle West, and a horde of receivers. Who'll throw the ball to them and block might not be revealed until Saturday.
"We haven't made any final decisions yet," Rick Stockstill said Monday. "We don't have to decide who's going to start at left guard or right guard or quarterback or middle linebacker … until Saturday. Like I said, I like our team and where we're at."
Two strong defenses
The strength of both teams in 2019 might be on the defensive side.
Michigan has been a perennial top-20 defense nationally since coordinator Don Brown arrived in 2016, and while the Wolverines lost a lot of talent to the NFL Draft, plenty returns to make the unit strong again.
After finishing second in the country in pass defense (and total defense) a season ago, UM looks to have another stingy group led by cornerback Lavert Hill, a preseason All-American.
"They do a lot of man coverage," Stockstill said. "They'll challenge our receivers, they'll press us and they'll play a lot of man."
The Blue Raiders also return a lot of talent on the defensive side of the ball, led by one of Conference USA's best safety tandems in Jovante Moffatt and Reed Blankenship.
In 2018, MT took another step forward in defensive coordinator Scott Shafer's second season, leading the league in turnovers gained. It's hoping to keep the improvement going, and that could mean getting to the quarterback with more consistency. The Raiders had 36 sacks in 2018, finishing 40th in the country with 2.5 per game.
"It comes down to doing our job fundamentally and being in good position mentally," Stockstill said. "If we do that, we'll have a chance to compete. If we get away from our fundamentals and don't execute, then their athleticism and size will take advantage of any mistakes we make."
Record chasers start senior seasons
Two Blue Raiders start their senior seasons with career program records in sight.
Wide receiver Ty Lee, the NCAA's active leader in receptions, is on pace to break almost every career receiving mark. He's 32 receptions, 725 yards and three touchdowns away from owning all of those records, and if he catches at least one pass in the next four games, he'll break Kendall Newson's record for most-consecutive games with a catch.
On the defensive side, linebacker Khalil Brooks enters his senior year 8.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss away from breaking the school's records.
No backing down to The Big House crowd
Michigan Stadium is known as "The Big House" for a reason: it's really big.
The Wolverines will pack the stadium with upwards of 100,000 people on Saturday with a capacity of 107,601 (though, the largest crowd in stadium history was 115,109 against Notre Dame in 2013, an NCAA single-season record).
While the crowd will be large and hostile, Stockstill said his guys won't be in awe.
"We play three of these games every year," he said. "We've been in front of 70, 80, 90, 100,000 before. It'll be a new experience for this team … but we're not going to walk in there in awe of them.
"Once the game starts, the field is 100 yards long and 53 1/3 yards wide."
The Blue Raiders will travel to No. 7 Michigan for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff on Saturday to do battle with the widely regarded national title contender for the first time.
"We've got a huge challenge ahead of us playing Michigan, the No. 7 team in the country right now in all the preseason rankings," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "I'm really proud of our team and how they approached camp … and I like the focus our team has. We're looking forward to getting started here."
Where can you watch or listen?
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: 102.5/97.5 FM, 100.5 FM, 101.9 FM, 93.9 FM, 1450 AM
Search 'Middle Tennessee' on the TuneIn app.
Coaches tale of the tape
Rick Stockstill
Record, in conference (C-USA, Sun Belt): 87-78 (14th year), 65-36
Bowl appearances, record: 8 (2018 New Orleans Bowl), 2-6
Accolades: 6-time coach of the year, 2018 C-USA COY, sixth-longest tenured coach in the country, 3rd all-time at MT in wins
Jim Harbaugh
Record (FBS), at UM: 67-35 (9th year), 38-14 (5th year)
Bowl appearances, record: 6 (2018 Peach Bowl), 2-4
Accolades: 2011 AP NFL Coach of the Year, 2010 Woody Hayes Coach of the Year, coached 11 UM All-Americans, coached in Super Bowl XLVII and two NFC Championship games
MT vs. the Big Ten
Middle Tennessee has a 2-10 record against current members of the Big Ten Conference, though five of those games came against Nebraska and Maryland before they joined the league in 2011 and 2014, respectively.
The Blue Raiders' two wins both came against Maryland in a home-and-home series in 2008-09. The last time they played a Big Ten opponent was in 2017 when they travelled to Minnesota and fell 34-3.
Here are MT's records against current Big Ten members:
Illinois: 0-3
Maryland: 2-2
Minnesota: 0-3
Nebraska: 0-1
Purdue: 0-1
New-look offenses
Michigan was one of the slowest offensive teams in the country in 2018, averaging only two plays per minute.
Speeding things up has been a goal of new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, who most recently was the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Alabama.
With eight returning starters, including their quarterback, receiving corps and four linemen, the Wolverines might be in line for a drastic change in tempo. Senior quarterback Shea Patterson will look to wideouts Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones to produce chunk plays, along with a talented tight end group led by Sean McKeon.
"[Gattis has] an experienced quarterback, an experienced offensive line and receivers that can run, and I'm sure he'll implement what Coach Harbaugh wants and believes in," Stockstill said. "We'll study a little what Alabama did, but we'll mostly focus on the players they've got returning at Michigan."
Middle Tennessee will counter with a new-look offense of its own, not because of a coaching change, but roster turnover.
All-time great quarterback Brent Stockstill is now in the coaching ranks at FAU, and a handful of offensive line starters also exhausted their eligibility last season.
Plenty of skilled position players return, including wideout Ty Lee, running backs Chaton Mobley and Terelle West, and a horde of receivers. Who'll throw the ball to them and block might not be revealed until Saturday.
"We haven't made any final decisions yet," Rick Stockstill said Monday. "We don't have to decide who's going to start at left guard or right guard or quarterback or middle linebacker … until Saturday. Like I said, I like our team and where we're at."
Two strong defenses
The strength of both teams in 2019 might be on the defensive side.
Michigan has been a perennial top-20 defense nationally since coordinator Don Brown arrived in 2016, and while the Wolverines lost a lot of talent to the NFL Draft, plenty returns to make the unit strong again.
After finishing second in the country in pass defense (and total defense) a season ago, UM looks to have another stingy group led by cornerback Lavert Hill, a preseason All-American.
"They do a lot of man coverage," Stockstill said. "They'll challenge our receivers, they'll press us and they'll play a lot of man."
The Blue Raiders also return a lot of talent on the defensive side of the ball, led by one of Conference USA's best safety tandems in Jovante Moffatt and Reed Blankenship.
In 2018, MT took another step forward in defensive coordinator Scott Shafer's second season, leading the league in turnovers gained. It's hoping to keep the improvement going, and that could mean getting to the quarterback with more consistency. The Raiders had 36 sacks in 2018, finishing 40th in the country with 2.5 per game.
"It comes down to doing our job fundamentally and being in good position mentally," Stockstill said. "If we do that, we'll have a chance to compete. If we get away from our fundamentals and don't execute, then their athleticism and size will take advantage of any mistakes we make."
Record chasers start senior seasons
Two Blue Raiders start their senior seasons with career program records in sight.
Wide receiver Ty Lee, the NCAA's active leader in receptions, is on pace to break almost every career receiving mark. He's 32 receptions, 725 yards and three touchdowns away from owning all of those records, and if he catches at least one pass in the next four games, he'll break Kendall Newson's record for most-consecutive games with a catch.
On the defensive side, linebacker Khalil Brooks enters his senior year 8.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss away from breaking the school's records.
No backing down to The Big House crowd
Michigan Stadium is known as "The Big House" for a reason: it's really big.
The Wolverines will pack the stadium with upwards of 100,000 people on Saturday with a capacity of 107,601 (though, the largest crowd in stadium history was 115,109 against Notre Dame in 2013, an NCAA single-season record).
While the crowd will be large and hostile, Stockstill said his guys won't be in awe.
"We play three of these games every year," he said. "We've been in front of 70, 80, 90, 100,000 before. It'll be a new experience for this team … but we're not going to walk in there in awe of them.
"Once the game starts, the field is 100 yards long and 53 1/3 yards wide."
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