Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Looking ahead to MT and Troy
11/20/2020 3:00:00 PM | Football
TROY, Ala. — It's not often two out-of-conference teams meet twice in the same season these days in college football. That will happen Saturday when Middle Tennessee travels to Troy.
The Blue Raiders (2-6) will hope to have a little redemption over the Trojans (4-3), who won 47-14 in Murfreesboro on Sept. 19 to take the Palladium Trophy for the first time since 2012.
"It's a little unusual playing someone for the second time this season," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "They got after us pretty good the second game of the year … and we have an opportunity you don't often get in the same season to avenge that."
Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT.
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): 93-92 (15th year), 70-45
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
Chip Lindsey
Record, at Troy: 9-10, same
Bowl appearances as head coach, record: None
Accolades: Served as an offensive analyst on Auburn's staff in 2013, the season the Tigers won the SEC title and fell 13 seconds short of a national championship; offensive coordinator at Auburn in 2017 when the Tigers won an SEC West Division Championship; Troy finished ninth nationally in passing offense (313.2) in 2019
Series history
This is a long-standing rivalry that goes all the way back to 1936. The teams were then Sun Belt Conference foes from 2001-2012.
The Blue Raiders currently own a 12-9 advantage in the 21-game series all-time. However, Troy has won eight of the 12 meetings since MT moved to Division I-A in 1999 and owns a 4-1 mark over the Raiders at home in that time. The last time Middle Tennessee won at Troy was in 2005.
Last meeting
You don't have to go back very far to find the last time the two teams met. It was this season in Middle Tennessee's second game and Troy's first on Sept. 19.
The Blue Raiders went into the matchup off a season-opening loss at Army and couldn't find easy sledding offensively nor a stopper for the Trojans' offense in a 47-14 loss.
MT tied the game at seven late in the first quarter, and it looked like the two teams were going to be in a dogfight. Troy took over from there, though, rattling off 40 straight points before the Raiders scored late in the fourth quarter.
The Trojans out-gained Middle Tennessee 496-241 offensively and forced three interceptions. MT starting quarterback Asher O'Hara was pulled in the second quarter in favor of backup Chase Cunningham, but the switch didn't jumpstart the offense.
Rare home-and-home
It's not often two out-of-conference teams meet twice in a single season. The Blue Raiders haven't had such an instance since 1989, when they played Georgia Southern in the regular season then met again in the NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs. They also met twice in similar fashion in 1985.
Troy hasn't played since its game against — go figure — Georgia Southern on Nov. 7. Its contest scheduled last week against Coastal Carolina was rescheduled to Dec. 12 because the Trojans couldn't field an entire team due to injuries and COVID-19 issues. That means Stockstill and his staff will look even more at the teams' matchup earlier this season.
"We'll watch every game, and especially our game. We'll put a lot of emphasis on that one," Stockstill said. "We'll evaluate everything we did … and find some things we can build on."
Who's at QB?
In the teams' first meeting this season, Middle Tennessee had a hard time containing quarterback Gunnar Watson, who threw for 248 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. The Blue Raiders might not see him this go-round.
Watson was injured in Troy's fifth game against Georgia State and hasn't played since. Jacob Free, who threw one touchdown in mop-up duty against MT, has stepped in since and averaged 316.3 yards per game through the air with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
"I don't know if [Watson] will be the starter this week," Stockstill said. "Their offense hasn't changed any. … They're still going to throw the ball around the yard, and they have good skilled players around them."
Finding offense
If the Blue Raiders want to bring the Palladium Trophy back to Murfreesboro, they'll have to do better offensively than in the first matchup with Troy.
The Trojans stopped MT's rushing attack, giving up 87 yards and a 3.1-yard average per attempt, which forced the Blue Raiders into obvious throwing downs, where Troy was able to pick off three passes.
"I took a lot from that game, specifically," O'Hara said. "It gave me some more motivation and lit a fire under me. … We've been doing pretty good in conference, and we look to continue that against them."
Middle Tennessee has looked better offensively since Week 2, and O'Hara is growing more confident seemingly by the week. He'll likely look to Jarrin Pierce early and often Saturday after the senior wideout set a career high with 11 catches against Troy.
Graduating Raiders
Seven players plus former quarterback and current student assistant Jordan Middleton will graduate in a special ceremony at MT Saturday. While they won't be able to get their degrees in person, it will be a big day nonetheless.
"They're just showing us what student-athletes are," senior linebacker DQ Thomas said. "It's not very common that you have a football game and graduation on the same day."
The seven players include Reed Blankenship, D.J. Delfendahl, Raheme Fuller, Will Gilchrist, Russ Hiett, John Turner and Blake Catlett.
The Blue Raiders (2-6) will hope to have a little redemption over the Trojans (4-3), who won 47-14 in Murfreesboro on Sept. 19 to take the Palladium Trophy for the first time since 2012.
"It's a little unusual playing someone for the second time this season," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "They got after us pretty good the second game of the year … and we have an opportunity you don't often get in the same season to avenge that."
Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT.
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): 93-92 (15th year), 70-45
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
Chip Lindsey
Record, at Troy: 9-10, same
Bowl appearances as head coach, record: None
Accolades: Served as an offensive analyst on Auburn's staff in 2013, the season the Tigers won the SEC title and fell 13 seconds short of a national championship; offensive coordinator at Auburn in 2017 when the Tigers won an SEC West Division Championship; Troy finished ninth nationally in passing offense (313.2) in 2019
Series history
This is a long-standing rivalry that goes all the way back to 1936. The teams were then Sun Belt Conference foes from 2001-2012.
The Blue Raiders currently own a 12-9 advantage in the 21-game series all-time. However, Troy has won eight of the 12 meetings since MT moved to Division I-A in 1999 and owns a 4-1 mark over the Raiders at home in that time. The last time Middle Tennessee won at Troy was in 2005.
Last meeting
You don't have to go back very far to find the last time the two teams met. It was this season in Middle Tennessee's second game and Troy's first on Sept. 19.
The Blue Raiders went into the matchup off a season-opening loss at Army and couldn't find easy sledding offensively nor a stopper for the Trojans' offense in a 47-14 loss.
MT tied the game at seven late in the first quarter, and it looked like the two teams were going to be in a dogfight. Troy took over from there, though, rattling off 40 straight points before the Raiders scored late in the fourth quarter.
The Trojans out-gained Middle Tennessee 496-241 offensively and forced three interceptions. MT starting quarterback Asher O'Hara was pulled in the second quarter in favor of backup Chase Cunningham, but the switch didn't jumpstart the offense.
Rare home-and-home
It's not often two out-of-conference teams meet twice in a single season. The Blue Raiders haven't had such an instance since 1989, when they played Georgia Southern in the regular season then met again in the NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs. They also met twice in similar fashion in 1985.
Troy hasn't played since its game against — go figure — Georgia Southern on Nov. 7. Its contest scheduled last week against Coastal Carolina was rescheduled to Dec. 12 because the Trojans couldn't field an entire team due to injuries and COVID-19 issues. That means Stockstill and his staff will look even more at the teams' matchup earlier this season.
"We'll watch every game, and especially our game. We'll put a lot of emphasis on that one," Stockstill said. "We'll evaluate everything we did … and find some things we can build on."
Who's at QB?
In the teams' first meeting this season, Middle Tennessee had a hard time containing quarterback Gunnar Watson, who threw for 248 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. The Blue Raiders might not see him this go-round.
Watson was injured in Troy's fifth game against Georgia State and hasn't played since. Jacob Free, who threw one touchdown in mop-up duty against MT, has stepped in since and averaged 316.3 yards per game through the air with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
"I don't know if [Watson] will be the starter this week," Stockstill said. "Their offense hasn't changed any. … They're still going to throw the ball around the yard, and they have good skilled players around them."
Finding offense
If the Blue Raiders want to bring the Palladium Trophy back to Murfreesboro, they'll have to do better offensively than in the first matchup with Troy.
The Trojans stopped MT's rushing attack, giving up 87 yards and a 3.1-yard average per attempt, which forced the Blue Raiders into obvious throwing downs, where Troy was able to pick off three passes.
"I took a lot from that game, specifically," O'Hara said. "It gave me some more motivation and lit a fire under me. … We've been doing pretty good in conference, and we look to continue that against them."
Middle Tennessee has looked better offensively since Week 2, and O'Hara is growing more confident seemingly by the week. He'll likely look to Jarrin Pierce early and often Saturday after the senior wideout set a career high with 11 catches against Troy.
Graduating Raiders
Seven players plus former quarterback and current student assistant Jordan Middleton will graduate in a special ceremony at MT Saturday. While they won't be able to get their degrees in person, it will be a big day nonetheless.
"They're just showing us what student-athletes are," senior linebacker DQ Thomas said. "It's not very common that you have a football game and graduation on the same day."
The seven players include Reed Blankenship, D.J. Delfendahl, Raheme Fuller, Will Gilchrist, Russ Hiett, John Turner and Blake Catlett.
Players Mentioned
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