Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
2-3 , 1-2
Marshall University
2-3 , 0-1
Team Stats
MAR 0, MTS 7
MTS - DiLiello,Mike 3 yd run (Rankin,Zeke kick), 10 plays, 62 yards, TOP 04:18
MAR 0, MTS 14
MTS - Pierce,Jarrin 13 yd pass from Cunningham,Chase (Rankin,Zeke kick) 8 plays, 58 yards, TOP 03:28
MAR 7, MTS 14
MAR - Ali,Rasheen 12 yd run (Ciucci,Shane kick), 4 plays, 73 yards, TOP 00:20
MAR 7, MTS 21
MTS - Mobley,Chaton 41 yd run (Rankin,Zeke kick), 4 plays, 49 yards, TOP 01:41
MAR 7, MTS 28
MTS - Lane,Jaylin 34 yd pass from Cunningham,Chase (Rankin,Zeke kick) 6 plays, 69 yards, TOP 02:02
MAR 14, MTS 28
MAR - Ali,Rasheen 1 yd run (Ciucci,Shane kick), 8 plays, 80 yards, TOP 02:05
MAR 14, MTS 34
MTS - Blankenship,Reed 90 yd fumble recovery ()
MAR 21, MTS 34
MAR - Ali,Rasheen 2 yd run (Ciucci,Shane kick), 17 plays, 89 yards, TOP 04:25
MAR 28, MTS 34
MAR - Ahmed,Shadeed 17 yd pass from Wells,Grant (Ciucci,Shane kick) 12 plays, 97 yards, TOP 03:03
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Blue Raiders stop Marshall, 34-28
10/2/2021 10:35:00 PM | Football
Defense forces six turnovers in victory
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee dominated defensively in Floyd Stadium on Saturday night, riding six takeaways to a 34-28 win in the Blue Raider's C-USA home opener.
Middle Tennessee struck first on their first drive of the game, moving the 62 yards down the field for Mike DiLiello to score his first points of the season when he took the sweep read option into the endzone untouched for a 7-0 lead.
That score would remain through the first quarter, as the Blue Raiders outgained the Thundering Herd 101-25 total yards in the rain at Floyd Stadium.
Jarrin Pierce would continue the offense's hot start to open the second quarter, securing a toe tapping catchin the back right corner of the endzone to give Middle Tennessee a 14-0 lead with 12:41 left in the half.
After Marshall scored quickly on the ensuing drive, MT struck back with a 43 yard kickoff return by Jaylin Lane gave Middle Tennessee great field position at their own 49. Facing 4th and 2, Chaton Mobley capped the drive off with a 41-yard touchdown run, hitting the hole and sprinting past a non-existent third level of the Herd defense to give MT a 21-7 lead.
On the ensuing drive, Reed Blankenship forced the ball loose with a third down hit on Rasheen Ali, leading a Jurriente Davis recovery and the Blue Raiders first takeaway of the evening.
Jaylin Lane got in on the offensive fun on the next drive, getting a step on the opposite corner and streaking open for a 34-yard touchdown pass from Cunningham to give MT a 28-7 lead.
Marshall would get a touchdown back late in the second quarter, resulting in a 28-14 lead for the Blue Raiders at the break. Middle Tennessee's 138 rushing yards at the half surpassed the most rushing yards the Blue Raiders compiled in a game up to this point in the season.
Both offenses struggled in the third quarter as the rain picked up in Floyd Stadium. Jalen Jackson got in on the takeaway action with an interception late in the third quarter, high pointing an overthrow from Grant Wells to give MT its first interception of the evening.
After a Herd takeaway helped put Marshall in the red zone, Cody Smith laid down yet another big hit on a Marshall running back, popping the ball out right into the arms of Reed Blankenship, who ran the fumble back 91 yards for the Blue Raiders' first defensive touchdown since Teldrick Ross' interception return for a touchdown against Monmouth. The ensuing PAT was blocked, giving MT a 34-14 lead that held going into the fourth quarter.
The Herd would get a touchdown back in the fourth frame, but Deidrick Stanley II helped ice the game when he cut off a crossing pattern and gave Grant Wells his second interception of the night.
After some running of the clock by the Blue Raiders, the Herd would get a late score to pull within six points, but illegal touching on the onside kick gave MT the ball with just over a minute remaining and no Marshall timeouts, icing the game.
POSTGAME NOTES
CAPTAINS: Today's game captains were Reed Blankenship, Jordan Ferguson, DQ Thomas, Jarrin Pierce and CJ Windham.
BLANKENSHIP SETS SOLO RECORD: Senior Reed Blankenship, who became the all-time tackles leader at Middle Tennessee last week at Charlotte, entered play tonight with 211 solo tackles to rank second all-time at MT. With five solo stops against Marshall, Blankenship surpassed T.T. Barber (2012-15) for the all-time record. Blankenship now has 218 career solo stops which ranks fifth nationally among active NCAA players.
THREE-PEAT: MT's special teams came away with a blocked kick for the third straight game vs. Marshall. Chaton Mobley blocked Robert LeFevre's punt attempt in the first quarter for his first career block. It marks the first time the Blue Raiders have had blocks in three consecutive games since the start of the 2014 campaign. It goes down as the 46th career block under HC Rick Stockstill and the 66th for MT as a FBS member. Jordan Starling had a blocked field goal vs. Charlotte, and Zaylin Wood had a blocked field goal vs. UTSA.
SETTING THE TONE: MT's defense set the tone early with staunch first-quarter defense. The Blue Raiders held Marshall to 10 yards on 14 plays on its four first-quarter drives. MT forced three three-and-outs and also blocked a punt in the opening quarter. The strong defense gave the Blue Raiders great field position as they started on their 38- and 42-yard line, respectively, on the two scoring drives.
TO THE HOUSE: Reed Blankenship scored MT's second defensive TD of the season when he recovered a fumble and returned it 90 yards for a score in the third quarter. It was the 36th defensive score under HC Rick Stockstill and the 31st since 2009. It was the second defensive TD of Blankenship's career and the fourth longest under Stockstill. In fact, Blankenship has two of the four longest defensive scores under Stockstill with a 100-yard interception return vs. Old Dominion in 2018, and the 90-yard fumble return vs. Marshall. The score against The Herd proved to be a turning point as Marshall was at the Blue Raider 10, trailing 28-14, and looking to pull to within one possession.
HARD TO STOP: Bruising tailback Chaton Mobley exploded for a 41-yard TD run on a 4th-and-2 play midway through the second quarter to give the Blue Raiders a two-score lead, 21-7. It was the longest run from scrimmage for the Blue Raiders this season. Mobley finished the game with 132 yards on 15 carries for a whopping 8.8 yards per carry average. It marks the fourth time Mobley has reached the century mark.
WHAT A RUSH: MT had its best rushing game of the season against The Herd with 209 yards, besting the 123 yards it had against Charlotte last week. Seven different Blue Raiders had carries, led by Chaton Mobley's 132 yards.
TAKEAWAYS: MT's defense had six takeaways against Marshall, giving it 14 for the season. Safety Reed Blakenship was in on three of the turnovers, forcing one fumble and recovering two. Blankenship forced the first fumble and Jurriente Davis pounced on the pigskin for the recovery in the second quarter. The second turnover also occurred in the second quarter when Gregory Grate forced the fumble and Blankenship recovered it. The Blue Raiders came up with their third takeaway in the third quarter when Jordan Ferguson forced a fumble that was recovered by DQ Thomas. Jalen Jackson got in on the turnover frenzy when he hauled in the first interception of his young career in MT territory to thwart a Marshall scoring drive. The fifth turnover turned into points for the Blue Raiders when Cody Smith forced a fumble at the MT 10 that was recovered by Blankenship and returned 90 yards for a TD. Dedrick Stanley's first career INT with under six minutes remaining sealed the win. Stanley hauled in the pick inside the MT 20 with Marshall, trailing 34-21, driving.
DISRUPTIVE FORCE: Linebacker DQ Thomas hauled collected a sack against Marshall, giving him 17.5 for his career. Thomas passed Khalil Brooks to move into fourth on the all-time sacks list at MT.
STREAK STAYS ALIVE: WR Jarrin Pierce had two catches against Marshall to extend his streak of consecutive games with at least one reception to 26 games, which is the 14th longest such streak nationally ranks as the seventh longest all time at Middle Tennessee. Pierce has caught at least one pass in every game of his Blue Raider career.
PIERCE PASSES GRISWOULD: With two receptions tonight against Marshall, Jarrin Pierce surpasses Kyle Griswould (2011-13) for 8th place on the all-time receiving list. Pierce now has 122 career receptions and stands just five back of seventh place Ed Batties who had 127.
QUICK HITTERS: WR Jarrin Pierce and safety Greg Grate made their team-leading 14th consecutive start tonight against the Herd … This marked the 14th Blackout game all-time for MT and the Raiders are now 9-5 in those contests ...QB Mike DiLiello's 3-yard TD run in the first quarter was the first rushing score of his career ... MT scored on its opening drive for the first time this season. It marked the first time the Blue Raiders scored on their opening drive in 14 games.
