Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Saturday, November 21
Troy, AL
2:30 PM
Middle Tennessee
3-6 , 2-4
20
at
17
Troy University
4-4 , 2-2
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Middle Tennessee
7
10
0
3
20
Troy
3
7
0
7
17
Blue Raiders beat Troy to reclaim Palladium
11/21/2020 6:19:00 PM | Football
TROY, Ala. — After losing the Palladium Trophy for the first time in eight years Week 2 against Troy, Middle Tennessee snatched it right back Saturday.
In the second part of a rare single-season, non-conference, home-and-home series, the Blue Raiders (3-6) controlled both sides of the ball against the Trojans (4-4), winning 20-17.
"Great win for us. I'm really happy for our players," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "We had a good edge about ourselves tonight, and to me, that shows the improvement that these guys are making. … I'm really proud of our guys."
It was a much better performance from Middle Tennessee Saturday than all the way back on Sept. 19, when Troy won in Murfreesboro 47-14.
The Blue Raiders controlled the possession, keeping the ball for 37:21 and running 12 more plays (74-62) than the Trojans. They did it by running the football effectively, stopping the run and winning the turnover battle 2-0.
"All week, we kind of spoke it into existence that no matter what the box looked like, we were going to run the ball," redshirt junior quarterback Asher O'Hara said. "All week in practice, … we had really competitive team periods, and we all got better offensively, defensively and in special teams."
Troy took an early 3-0 lead, but Middle Tennessee answered with a touchdown on a 4-yard rush by redshirt junior Chaton Mobley to push ahead. The Raiders wouldn't lose the lead the rest of the way.
An interception by junior linebacker Johnathan Butler on the ensuing Trojan possession set up MT with another touchdown, the first of freshman running back Frank Peasant's career. It was followed by Troy's only touchdown of the day before senior Crews Holt made a 22-yard field goal right before halftime.
The 17-10 lead lasted all the way until Holt made his second field goal of the day, a 49-yarder for a new career long, with 2:37 left in the game. The Blue Raiders defense was simply too much for the Trojans offense, forcing three punts and an interception on four consecutive drives in the second half.
Troy managed 392 yards of offense, including only 92 rushing.
"At the beginning of the game, we didn't start out as fast or as physical as we wanted … so we emphasized our physicality and imposed our will [in the second half]," junior safety Gregory Grate. "Going back to the first game against them, they really put up numbers against us. To be able to hold them like that, that's a really good win in my book."
With the defense making things tough for the Trojans, redshirt junior quarterback Asher O'Hara and the Raider offense went to work.
O'Hara completed 19-of-23 passes for 210 yards, but it was the running game that really helped MT keep possession. O'Hara ran 25 times for a team-high 86 yards, while Mobley had 13 carries for 57 yards. The Raiders combined for 51 rushes for 186 yards.
"The last week of practice, that's all [offensive coordinator Tony Franklin] was harping on was we were going to run the ball good," Mobley said. "We came here with the mindset that that's what we were going to do, and we got it done."
O'Hara's favorite target on the afternoon was redshirt junior Yusuf Ali, who caught seven passes for 90 yards.
Defensively, Grate finished with eight tackles and an interception, his Conference-USA-leading fourth of the season. His safety mate, senior Reed Blankenship, also had eight tackles. Senior linebacker DQ Thomas had six tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
The Blue Raiders will get back into Conference USA play next Saturday when they host Florida Atlantic on senior day. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Floyd Stadium.
"All three phases I thought complimented each other well tonight," Stockstill said. "Anytime you can do that, you'll be tough to beat."
Gallery: (11-21-2020) @MT_FB at Troy
In the second part of a rare single-season, non-conference, home-and-home series, the Blue Raiders (3-6) controlled both sides of the ball against the Trojans (4-4), winning 20-17.
"Great win for us. I'm really happy for our players," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "We had a good edge about ourselves tonight, and to me, that shows the improvement that these guys are making. … I'm really proud of our guys."
It was a much better performance from Middle Tennessee Saturday than all the way back on Sept. 19, when Troy won in Murfreesboro 47-14.
The Blue Raiders controlled the possession, keeping the ball for 37:21 and running 12 more plays (74-62) than the Trojans. They did it by running the football effectively, stopping the run and winning the turnover battle 2-0.
"All week, we kind of spoke it into existence that no matter what the box looked like, we were going to run the ball," redshirt junior quarterback Asher O'Hara said. "All week in practice, … we had really competitive team periods, and we all got better offensively, defensively and in special teams."
Troy took an early 3-0 lead, but Middle Tennessee answered with a touchdown on a 4-yard rush by redshirt junior Chaton Mobley to push ahead. The Raiders wouldn't lose the lead the rest of the way.
An interception by junior linebacker Johnathan Butler on the ensuing Trojan possession set up MT with another touchdown, the first of freshman running back Frank Peasant's career. It was followed by Troy's only touchdown of the day before senior Crews Holt made a 22-yard field goal right before halftime.
The 17-10 lead lasted all the way until Holt made his second field goal of the day, a 49-yarder for a new career long, with 2:37 left in the game. The Blue Raiders defense was simply too much for the Trojans offense, forcing three punts and an interception on four consecutive drives in the second half.
Troy managed 392 yards of offense, including only 92 rushing.
"At the beginning of the game, we didn't start out as fast or as physical as we wanted … so we emphasized our physicality and imposed our will [in the second half]," junior safety Gregory Grate. "Going back to the first game against them, they really put up numbers against us. To be able to hold them like that, that's a really good win in my book."
With the defense making things tough for the Trojans, redshirt junior quarterback Asher O'Hara and the Raider offense went to work.
O'Hara completed 19-of-23 passes for 210 yards, but it was the running game that really helped MT keep possession. O'Hara ran 25 times for a team-high 86 yards, while Mobley had 13 carries for 57 yards. The Raiders combined for 51 rushes for 186 yards.
"The last week of practice, that's all [offensive coordinator Tony Franklin] was harping on was we were going to run the ball good," Mobley said. "We came here with the mindset that that's what we were going to do, and we got it done."
O'Hara's favorite target on the afternoon was redshirt junior Yusuf Ali, who caught seven passes for 90 yards.
Defensively, Grate finished with eight tackles and an interception, his Conference-USA-leading fourth of the season. His safety mate, senior Reed Blankenship, also had eight tackles. Senior linebacker DQ Thomas had six tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
The Blue Raiders will get back into Conference USA play next Saturday when they host Florida Atlantic on senior day. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Floyd Stadium.
"All three phases I thought complimented each other well tonight," Stockstill said. "Anytime you can do that, you'll be tough to beat."
Team Stats
MT
TROY
Total Yards
396
392
Pass Yards
210
300
Rushing Yards
186
92
Penalty Yards
25
39
1st Downs
23
18
3rd Downs
5
8
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
37:21
22:39
1st Quarter
MT 0, TROY 3
TROY - Legassey, Evan 33 yd field goal 10 plays, 68 yards, TOP 3:40
MT 7, TROY 3
MT - MOBLEY, Chaton 4 yd run (HOLT, Crews kick), 11 plays, 66 yards, TOP 5:09
2nd Quarter
MT 14, TROY 3
MT - PEASANT, Frank 5 yd run (HOLT, Crews kick), 11 plays, 71 yards, TOP 5:09
MT 14, TROY 10
TROY - Smith, B.J. 2 yd run (Legassey, Evan kick), 7 plays, 70 yards, TOP 3:16
MT 17, TROY 10
MT - HOLT, Crews 22 yd field goal 13 plays, 70 yards, TOP 4:12
4th Quarter
MT 20, TROY 10
MT - HOLT, Crews 49 yd field goal 10 plays, 51 yards, TOP 5:20
MT 20, TROY 17
TROY - McClain, Khalil 8 yd pass from Watson, Gunnar (Legassey, Evan kick) 11 plays, 85 yards, TOP 2:09
Game Leaders
CMP
19
TD
0
YDS
210
INT
0
Players Mentioned
S
/ Football
LB
/ Football
PK
/ Football
RB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
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