Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Saturday, October 24
Houston, TX
2:30 PM
Middle Tennessee
at
Rice University
Looking ahead to MT vs. Rice
10/23/2020 3:00:00 PM | Football
Season opener for Owls
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The unique 2020 Middle Tennessee football season will see another oddity Saturday.
The Blue Raiders (1-5, 1-3), who have already played six games this year, will take on Rice in Houston for the first time and will do so in the Owls' season opener.
"Obviously, this is a unique situation to be this late in the season and this is the first game that Rice has played," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "There are so many unknowns right now."
Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
Where can you watch or listen?
TV: ESPN3
Radio: The Game 102.5/97.5 FM, WGNS 100.5 FM/1450 AM/101.9 FM
Search 'Middle Tennessee' on the TuneIn app; go to CUSA.TV/RaiderVision for the audio stream
Coaches tale of the tape
Rick Stockstill
Record, in conference (C-USA, Sun Belt): 92-91 (15th year), 69-44
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, third all-time at MT in wins
Mike Bloomgren
Record, at Rice (C-USA): 5-20, same (4-12)
Bowl appearances as head coach, record: 0
Accolades: Coached 12 NFL Draft selections and 11 All-America selections as offensive coordinator at Stanford prior to taking over at Rice in 2017
Series history
Despite being Conference USA foes since 2013, Middle Tennessee and Rice had never met on the gridiron until last year in Murfreesboro. Rice won 31-28.
Last meeting
Rice went into the 2019 matchup winless at 0-9 and 0-5 in C-USA play. But, the Owls had played several teams close, particularly in conference, and their defense kept them in ball games all season long.
Middle Tennessee struggled on both sides of the ball to open the game, losing a fumble on the first play and falling in a 17-0 hole.
The Blue Raiders would go on to trail 31-14 at halftime, but they came out of the locker room a brand-new team.
They held Rice scoreless in the second half and scored touchdowns in the third and fourth quarter to pull as close as 31-28, but ran out of time.
Quarterback Asher O'Hara hit Jimmy Marshall for a score with 3:22 left to give MT a chance, but the Owls bled the clock before a punt gave the Blue Raiders a last unsuccessful shot at a miracle with 16 seconds remaining.
Season opener for Rice
Rice has had to postpone or cancel six games this season because of impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Owls originally delayed their season until Sept. 26, then decided to push to Oct. 24 after not having a substantial amount of practices to be ready for game day.
Playing this late in the season against a team making its debut creates unique challenges that Middle Tennessee will have to overcome Saturday.
"They have a heck of a lot better idea about us than we do about them, obviously," Stockstill said. "We'll study their 12 games from last year … and watch our game.
"They have a lot of new players on their team, and we have to be ready to make adjustments, because you don't know what you're going to get. They've been game planning for us for the last six, seven, eight weeks. … They've practiced a bunch for us."
On the flip side, the Blue Raiders are one of just six teams in the country that have played six games this season.
Who does Rice have back?
While MT doesn't have any game film of this season to go off of while game planning, it at least has plenty from last year for most of Rice's roster.
The Owls return 16 starters this season, including nine on defense and seven offense.
Their top eight tacklers from 2019 are back, including dynamic linebacker trio Blaze Alldredge, Antonio Montero and Treshawn Chamberlain. Alldredge, a senior, was an All-C-USA First Team selection last season, recording 102 tackles and four sacks to go with 21.5 tackles for loss, second most in the country.
Offensively, Rice's top three running backs from last season are gone, and graduate transfer quarterback Mike Collins is assuming the reins of the offense. He'll have a good receiving corps to throw to, led by senior Austin Trammell, but he'll be without all-conference wideout Bradley Rozner, who opted out of the season.
Keeping it rolling
Even though they couldn't get a win against North Texas last week, Middle Tennessee's offense kept showing signs of improvement. It'll have to continue that against what could be one of C-USA's defenses, should Rice live up to expectations.
It was a two-headed monster for the Blue Raiders against the Mean Green. Redshirt junior running back Chaton Mobley had his best game of the season with 14 rushes for 156 yards and two touchdowns (one receiving), and redshirt junior quarterback Asher O'Hara finished with 164 yards passing and three TDs and 79 rushing yards.
Keeping that strong running game going with Mobley could go a long way toward having success against Rice's defense. The Owls weren't necessarily great at getting to the quarterback or forcing turnovers last season, recording only 15 sacks and 11 turnovers, but still only gave up a respectable 25.9 points per game.
"We have to focus on ourselves and get better as a unit," O'Hara said. "We've played six games now, and we have to take that experience and use it to our advantage."
Last season, O'Hara threw for 338 yards and two touchdowns against Rice, and he paced the backfield with 79 rushing yards and two more scores. Wideouts Ty Lee and Jimmy Marshall both went over 100 yards receiving.
Getting out of the gates
A good showing in the first quarter could be a key to Saturday's game for Middle Tennessee.
As mentioned, Rice returns a lot of starters, but it still has a new quarterback and running back and its leading receiver opted out. If the Blue Raiders can get out to an early lead, similarly to what the Owls did to them last year, it could be tough for the home team to recover in its first game of the season.
"We'll just try to adjust to the elements," senior linebacker DQ Thomas said. "If we can just stop the big plays and stop the run, it'll be a lot better outcome."
Middle Tennessee hasn't been great at scoring in the first quarter for most of the year, but it did score 21 in the first 15 minutes last week against North Texas.
The Blue Raiders (1-5, 1-3), who have already played six games this year, will take on Rice in Houston for the first time and will do so in the Owls' season opener.
"Obviously, this is a unique situation to be this late in the season and this is the first game that Rice has played," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "There are so many unknowns right now."
Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
Where can you watch or listen?
TV: ESPN3
Radio: The Game 102.5/97.5 FM, WGNS 100.5 FM/1450 AM/101.9 FM
Search 'Middle Tennessee' on the TuneIn app; go to CUSA.TV/RaiderVision for the audio stream
Coaches tale of the tape
Rick Stockstill
Record, in conference (C-USA, Sun Belt): 92-91 (15th year), 69-44
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, third all-time at MT in wins
Mike Bloomgren
Record, at Rice (C-USA): 5-20, same (4-12)
Bowl appearances as head coach, record: 0
Accolades: Coached 12 NFL Draft selections and 11 All-America selections as offensive coordinator at Stanford prior to taking over at Rice in 2017
Series history
Despite being Conference USA foes since 2013, Middle Tennessee and Rice had never met on the gridiron until last year in Murfreesboro. Rice won 31-28.
Last meeting
Rice went into the 2019 matchup winless at 0-9 and 0-5 in C-USA play. But, the Owls had played several teams close, particularly in conference, and their defense kept them in ball games all season long.
Middle Tennessee struggled on both sides of the ball to open the game, losing a fumble on the first play and falling in a 17-0 hole.
The Blue Raiders would go on to trail 31-14 at halftime, but they came out of the locker room a brand-new team.
They held Rice scoreless in the second half and scored touchdowns in the third and fourth quarter to pull as close as 31-28, but ran out of time.
Quarterback Asher O'Hara hit Jimmy Marshall for a score with 3:22 left to give MT a chance, but the Owls bled the clock before a punt gave the Blue Raiders a last unsuccessful shot at a miracle with 16 seconds remaining.
Season opener for Rice
Rice has had to postpone or cancel six games this season because of impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Owls originally delayed their season until Sept. 26, then decided to push to Oct. 24 after not having a substantial amount of practices to be ready for game day.
Playing this late in the season against a team making its debut creates unique challenges that Middle Tennessee will have to overcome Saturday.
"They have a heck of a lot better idea about us than we do about them, obviously," Stockstill said. "We'll study their 12 games from last year … and watch our game.
"They have a lot of new players on their team, and we have to be ready to make adjustments, because you don't know what you're going to get. They've been game planning for us for the last six, seven, eight weeks. … They've practiced a bunch for us."
On the flip side, the Blue Raiders are one of just six teams in the country that have played six games this season.
Who does Rice have back?
While MT doesn't have any game film of this season to go off of while game planning, it at least has plenty from last year for most of Rice's roster.
The Owls return 16 starters this season, including nine on defense and seven offense.
Their top eight tacklers from 2019 are back, including dynamic linebacker trio Blaze Alldredge, Antonio Montero and Treshawn Chamberlain. Alldredge, a senior, was an All-C-USA First Team selection last season, recording 102 tackles and four sacks to go with 21.5 tackles for loss, second most in the country.
Offensively, Rice's top three running backs from last season are gone, and graduate transfer quarterback Mike Collins is assuming the reins of the offense. He'll have a good receiving corps to throw to, led by senior Austin Trammell, but he'll be without all-conference wideout Bradley Rozner, who opted out of the season.
Keeping it rolling
Even though they couldn't get a win against North Texas last week, Middle Tennessee's offense kept showing signs of improvement. It'll have to continue that against what could be one of C-USA's defenses, should Rice live up to expectations.
It was a two-headed monster for the Blue Raiders against the Mean Green. Redshirt junior running back Chaton Mobley had his best game of the season with 14 rushes for 156 yards and two touchdowns (one receiving), and redshirt junior quarterback Asher O'Hara finished with 164 yards passing and three TDs and 79 rushing yards.
Keeping that strong running game going with Mobley could go a long way toward having success against Rice's defense. The Owls weren't necessarily great at getting to the quarterback or forcing turnovers last season, recording only 15 sacks and 11 turnovers, but still only gave up a respectable 25.9 points per game.
"We have to focus on ourselves and get better as a unit," O'Hara said. "We've played six games now, and we have to take that experience and use it to our advantage."
Last season, O'Hara threw for 338 yards and two touchdowns against Rice, and he paced the backfield with 79 rushing yards and two more scores. Wideouts Ty Lee and Jimmy Marshall both went over 100 yards receiving.
Getting out of the gates
A good showing in the first quarter could be a key to Saturday's game for Middle Tennessee.
As mentioned, Rice returns a lot of starters, but it still has a new quarterback and running back and its leading receiver opted out. If the Blue Raiders can get out to an early lead, similarly to what the Owls did to them last year, it could be tough for the home team to recover in its first game of the season.
"We'll just try to adjust to the elements," senior linebacker DQ Thomas said. "If we can just stop the big plays and stop the run, it'll be a lot better outcome."
Middle Tennessee hasn't been great at scoring in the first quarter for most of the year, but it did score 21 in the first 15 minutes last week against North Texas.
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
Raider Report Week 3 - MTSU vs. University of Nevada
Friday, September 12
Derek Mason LIVE: Presented by The Boulevard Bar & Grille Week 3 (Video)
Monday, September 08
MTSU Football Weekly Press Conference 9/8/25
Monday, September 08
MTSU Football Postgame Press Conference @ Wisconsin on 09-06-25
Saturday, September 06
