Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
2-4 , 1-2
Liberty University
5-1 , 0-0
Team Stats
MTS 0, LIB 7
LIB - Douglas,Demario 35 yd pass from Willis,Malik (Beck,Brayden kick) 3 plays, 45 yards, TOP 01:19
MTS 0, LIB 14
LIB - Jackson,Jerome 5 yd pass from Willis,Malik (Beck,Brayden kick) 6 plays, 84 yards, TOP 02:22
MTS 0, LIB 21
LIB - Green,TJ 1 yd run (Beck,Brayden kick), 11 plays, 80 yards, TOP 05:31
MTS 7, LIB 21
MTS - Marshall,Jimmy 6 yd pass from Cunningham,Chase (Rankin,Zeke kick) 9 plays, 84 yards, TOP 03:51
MTS 7, LIB 24
LIB - Beck,Brayden 37 yd field goal 10 plays, 74 yards, TOP 02:10
MTS 7, LIB 26
LIB - Chibueze,Henry 0 yd safety
MTS 13, LIB 26
MTS - Pierce,Jarrin 31 yd pass from Cunningham,Chase () 4 plays, 31 yards, TOP 01:07
MTS 13, LIB 34
LIB - Mack,Joshua 2 yd run (Brumm,Brody pass), 8 plays, 67 yards, TOP 04:33
MTS 13, LIB 41
LIB - Willis,Malik 1 yd run (Beck,Brayden kick), 7 plays, 48 yards, TOP 04:31
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Blue Raiders can't find their groove at Liberty
10/9/2021 5:55:00 PM | Football
Middle Tennessee never found its stride offensively in the first quarter, with all five drives that started in the first quarter ending in either a punt, a loss on downs, or a turnover. Defensively, Liberty quarterback Malik Willis threw his first interception of the season in the first quarter, with Greg Grate high pointing the ball and getting both feet in on the sideline to turn the NFL prospect over. The interception was sandwiched between two Flame touchdowns in the first quarter.
The Blue Raiders finally broke through late in the second quarter, putting together a nine play, 84 yard drive to score their first points of the afternoon. Jimmy Marshall hauled in four catches during the drive, including a six-yard touchdown catch where he followed his blockers and lowered his shoulders into the end zone for the score.
Middle Tennessee entered the locker room at halftime trailing 24-7 after sacking Willis to put the triple zeros on the clock.
The second half points started with a Liberty safety, but the Blue Raider defense responded in a big way on the next drive. DQ Thomas slipped back to cover the tight end seam and high pointed the pass attempt, snaring the team's second interception of the afternoon.
After a turnover on downs, Decorian Patterson would get in on the turnover fun, tracking a deep ball beautifully down the right sideline and adjusting his hips to catch the ball, returning the interception 33 yards deep into Liberty territory.
Facing fourth down on the ensuing drive, Chase Cunningham rolled out right and hit Jarrin Pierce downfield for a 31-yard touchdown pass to pull the Blue Raiders within two scores. The two point conversion attempt following the score failed. Liberty would punch back with a touchdown and two point conversion of their own to take a 34-13 lead into the fourth quarter.
Liberty would score another touchdown late in the fourth quarter to give us the final margin of victory.
Marshall led all Blue Raiders with seven receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown. Jurriente Davis and Grate both competed for the most tackles, with the linebacker from Greensboro, N.C. just edging out his safety teammate, 14 to 12.
The Blue Raiders head into their open week 2-4, 1-2 C-USA, with five C-USA games on tap in the second half of the season. Middle Tennessee will travel to UConn on Friday, October 22, for their next game.
POSTGAME NOTES:
CAPTAINS: Today's game captains were Reed Blankenship, Jordan Ferguson, DQ Thomas, Jarrin Pierce and CJ Windham.
STREAK STAYS ALIVE: WR Jarrin Pierce had four catches against Liberty to extend his streak of consecutive games with at least one reception to 27 games, which is tied for the 13th longest such streak nationally and the sixth longest all time at Middle Tennessee. Pierce has caught at least one pass in every game of his Blue Raider career.
GRATE PICK: Safety Gregory Grate continued his stellar season at Liberty with 12 tackles, of which eight were solo. Grate also came up with his first interception of the season and sixth of his career when he picked off Malik Willis in the first quarter. The interception was the first of the season for Willis. Grate has had a knack for turnovers. He also has forced six fumbles in his career, including two this season. Grate also added a tackle for loss and a pass breakup against Liberty.
TAKEAWAYS: Liberty QB Malik Willis entered Saturday's game with no interceptions but the Middle Tennessee defense picked off three of his aerials Saturday. MT has 17 takeaways through six games. Gregory Grate hauled in a first-quarter interception. DQ Thomas and Decorian Patterson collected interceptions on consecutive Liberty drives in the third quarter. It was Thomas' first career INT and the second for Patterson. MT has recovered nine opponent fumbles and collected eight interceptions this season. The Blue Raiders have had at least one takeaway in each game.
IMPACT PLAYER: Newcomer Jurriente Davis has made an instant impact for the MT defense after transferring from Hutchinson Community College. The sophomore linebacker has continued to flourish as the season has progressed and enjoyed his best all-around game of the season against Liberty, one week after enjoying a career outing against Marshall. Davis established a new career high with a team-best 14 tackles against Liberty, besting the eight he registered against Marshall last week. Ten of the 14 tackles were solo, also a career high. He was also in on a sack.
TOUCHDOWN TANDEM: Tight end Jimmy Marshall came up big on MT's first scoring drive of the game. Marshall caught all four of his targets from QB Chase Cunningham for 57 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown reception to cap the drive. Marshall was in on four of the nine plays on the drive and was responsible for 57 of the 84 yards. The big play was a 37-yard reception.
RED ZONE SUCCESS: MT's offense continued its success inside the red zone scoring on its only opportunity against Liberty in the second quarter Saturday. The Blue Raiders have scored on 14-of-16 red zone chances for a 88 percent success rate. MT has scored 13 touchdowns in the red zone and added one field goal. The Blue Raiders have scored on eight straight red zone trips.
NEGATIVE PLAYS: MT's defense entered the Liberty game with 28 tackles for loss and nine sacks, and the unit proved disruptive and added to those totals Saturday. The blue-clad stop squad had six tackles for loss and three sacks against the Flames. Jordan Ferguson leads the Blue Raiders with tackles for loss (9) and sacks (9) after collecting two each Saturday.
QUICK HITTERS: WR Jarrin Pierce and safety Greg Grate made their team-leading 15th consecutive start today against Liberty … WR Jaylin Lane made his first career start today … Liberty's third quarter safety was the first against MT since Troy got one in 2020.
