Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
2-5 , 2-3
Rice University
0-1 , 0-1
Blue Raiders win double-OT thriller at Rice
10/24/2020 7:19:00 PM | Football
O'Hara's rushing TD caps wild finish
The Blue Raiders kicked a field goal as the clock expired in regulation to force overtime, where a blocked field goal set up redshirt junior quarterback Asher O'Hara for a game-winning 14-yard rushing touchdown. The final was 40-34.
"That was a fantastic win," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "I'm just really proud of our team for how we hung in there and battled the whole time. … I can't tell you enough how much fight, grit, determination, competitiveness, toughness this team showed here tonight. To come back and win the way we did was pretty special."
Things looked dire for Middle Tennessee (2-5, 2-3) in the game's final minute, as Rice (0-1, 0-1) scored a miracle of a touchdown with 34 seconds left to take a 34-31 lead.
The Blue Raiders wouldn't go down that easily, though.
O'Hara orchestrated a five-play, 35-yard drive to set MT up with a chance at a game-tying field goal from 48 yards, and senior Crews Holt banged it home to send the game to overtime. It was a new career long for Holt.
"Everyone was perfect at the end there, and Crews hit it for us," O'Hara said. "We just knew we didn't have a choice other than to get that score."
Holt had a chance to extend his new career long to 50 yards on MT's opening drive of overtime, but he missed short right.
The Owls were then set up to win it twice with field goals, but the first from 44 yards bounced off both uprights and the crossbar and missed, and the second from 40 yards was blocked by redshirt freshman Jalen Jackson.
"He fumbled the snap a little bit the second time, and I just went up and blocked it," Jackson said. "That was my first time blocking a kick. That was a pretty cool experience."
O'Hara and the offense came out knowing they only had to get a field goal for the win, but they got more than that.
After a few running plays, O'Hara ran a quarterback keeper to the left side and found a hole, jumping into the end zone to win the game with a 14-yard score.
"It was just our day," O'Hara said. "I was out in space and DJ England-Chisolm was blocking for me … and I got in the end zone, and it was just surreal, my favorite football moment ever."
It could've been easy for the Blue Raider defense to hang their heads after giving up the last-minute drive in regulation, but, as they had done all day, they battled.
They forced three turnovers in the game and held Rice out of the end zone on a critical two-point conversion attempt in the second half.
Junior safety Gregory Grate Jr. led the way for the MT defense with 14 tackles, a new career high. He also picked off a pass in the first half, his third straight game coming up with a turnover.
Fellow safety Reed Blankenship added 13 tackles, and junior linebacker Johnathan Butler, who scored a TD on a fumble recovery, also had double-digit tackles with 10.
"We stayed high-spirited and kept the energy going, kept fighting," Grate said. "We couldn't get down on ourselves after that touchdown. We still had something to prove."
Offensively, O'Hara finished with 333 yards passing and four total touchdowns (two passing). He completed 22-of-29 throws and also had 69 rushing yards to lead the team.
His favorite target was redshirt senior CJ Windham, who had a career outing with seven grabs for 109 yards and a TD. Redshirt junior Yusuf Ali had four receptions for 83 yards and a TD, and senior Jarrin Pierce caught six balls for 62 yards.
Middle Tennessee will hope to build on the emotional win over its last bye week of the season before hosting Charlotte on Nov. 7.
"We're close," Stockstill said. "This team plays, man. They're competitive, they're tough, they're resilient, they're mentally tough, and they deserved something good to happen like this.
"I'm just proud of this team. There's no quit in this team."
Team Stats
MT 0, RICE 3
RICE - RICCITELLI, C. 34 yd field goal 8 plays, 63 yards, TOP 3:49
MT 0, RICE 6
RICE - RICCITELLI, C. 45 yd field goal 9 plays, 29 yards, TOP 3:56
MT 7, RICE 6
MT - ALI, Yusuf 25 yd pass from O'HARA, Asher (HOLT, Crews kick) 7 plays, 68 yards, TOP 2:22
MT 7, RICE 13
RICE - PITRE III, A. 3 yd pass from COLLINS, Mike (RICCITELLI, C. kick) 18 plays, 80 yards, TOP 9:07
MT 14, RICE 13
MT - WINDHAM, CJ 21 yd pass from O'HARA, Asher (HOLT, Crews kick) 6 plays, 66 yards, TOP 1:03
MT 21, RICE 13
MT - O'HARA, Asher 2 yd run (HOLT, Crews kick), 7 plays, 62 yards, TOP 3:08
MT 28, RICE 13
MT - BUTLER, J. 32 yd fumble recovery (HOLT, Crews kick)
MT 28, RICE 19
RICE - TRAMMELL, A. 8 yd pass from COLLINS, Mike (COLLINS, Mike passfailed) 5 plays, 65 yards, TOP 2:21
MT 31, RICE 19
MT - HOLT, Crews 20 yd field goal 5 plays, 15 yards, TOP 1:52
MT 31, RICE 26
RICE - BRADLEY, Jack 22 yd pass from COLLINS, Mike (RICCITELLI, C. kick) 6 plays, 83 yards, TOP 3:26
MT 31, RICE 34
RICE - TRAMMELL, A. 20 yd pass from COLLINS, Mike (TRAMMELL, A. pass) 10 plays, 83 yards, TOP 1:50
MT 34, RICE 34
MT - HOLT, Crews 48 yd field goal 5 plays, 35 yards, TOP 0:34
MT 40, RICE 34
MT - O'HARA, Asher 14 yd run (), 4 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:00
