Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Doughton: Not since Savannah State: The three facets of domination for the Blue Raiders
9/4/2021 11:49:00 PM | Football
For the first time since 2014, Middle Tennessee scored a touchdown on offense, defense, and special teams
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — August 30, 2014.
"All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor was the No. 1 song in America for the first time. Guardians of the Galaxy just finished its second week at the top grossing movie at the box office. No. 12 Georgia took down No. 16 Clemson 45-21 in Athens, Ga.
And Middle Tennessee routed Savannah State 61-7 in Murfreesboro, where Jermiah Bryson ran in two scores, Trey Wattford took a fumble to the house, and Ed Batties took a punt 61 yards to score.
It was, until Saturday night, the last time Middle Tennessee scored a touchdown on offense, defense, and special teams in one game, as the Blue Raiders did against the Monmouth Hawks in a 50-15 victory at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium.
Here's how the 2021 team did it.
The Spark: The Punt Return
Saturday started slow for the Blue Raiders. They'd be the first to admit it. A scoreless first quarter, with both defenses bending but not even getting close to breaking, makes that admission easy.
It was a start that could easily have spiraled, but at the start of the second quarter, Monmouth faced a 4th and 16 from their own 27. Standing between the Middle Tennessee 30 and 35, stood the Blue Raiders' spark.
Jaylin Lane
"He's a really really good player," head coach Rick Stockstill said. "There's a trust factor with Jaylin that he's gonna make smart decisions, when to fair catch it, when to run with it. He protects the ball well."
Lane had returned punts for the Blue Raiders before, rotating through with veterans like Reed Blankenship his freshman season. Heck, he'd been catching punts a lot longer than that, even snagging a touchdown in on one in high school.
But that's never the first thing on his mind when the ball's in the air.
"First, you've got to make sure you catch the punt," Lane explained.
"The most important thing on punt returns is to make sure the offense snaps the ball on the next play," Stockstill added. "That's the most important thing."
Lane's sure hands made that part easy, even while taking some steps back to secure the ball right in the middle of the 30-yard line. From there, returning a punt is really simple. Make the first guy miss, then the next one. By that point, you've probably got the blocks lined up.
And if you're Jaylin Lane, you follow your guys home.
"When I got to the sideline, I feel like everyone on the sideline dapped me up," Lane said. "It was pure excitement. And then the game kept going on, and guys kept telling me 'you started this, you started this.' It made me feel good."
The Squeeze - The Wide Open Pass
The punt return was only the start, and the Hawks responded, scoring a touchdown over the top to tie the game. But that spark was not to be contained that easily.
Jordan Ferguson made the hit, jarring the ball out of Tony Muskett's hand and into Richard Kinley's. Setting a dime from Bailey Hockman to DJ England-Chisholm to retake the lead.
"They were coming in and trying to play man on us, man pressure," Hockman said. "When they started to do that, we just were like 'hey, let's go for it.' We went for it, and it worked out in our favor. And those guys made heck of a plays."
And when you've got the lead? Keep up the pressure, put on the squeeze. Now it was Ferguson's turn to recover, with Marley Cook stripping the ball from Owen Wright to give the Blue Raiders great field position with just under a minute to go.
What did the Blue Raiders do? Some teams might've gone for the field goal, even taken the clock down to just go into the half. But that man pressure gave way to Cover 4, and presented an opportunity.
"They were in Cover 4-Key," Hockman said. "The corner was releasing number 2. And I knew number 2 had a bubble on that play."
The corner snuck down, looking to cut off the bubble. Hockman felt the pressure almost get home, but kept his eyes down field, stepping up in the pocket.
"When I saw the corner bite on the bubble, J Lane was just running wide open," Hockman laid out. "So I just took a step and let it go. And hoped to God that was enough."
Wide open might be an understatement, there was no one within ten yards when Hockman let the ball fly, a near identical arc to his previous pass to England-Chisholm.
An easy catch, most would think. For Lane, he might disagree.
"Catch the ball," Lane said when asked what went through his mind. "Those are the hardest catches, believe it or not. You're wide open, nobody's around."
Lane went to his knees, securing the ball and the six points. Zeke Rankin booted the PAT through.
21-7.
The squeeze was on.
The Dagger
Only one facet left to go. And after a plethora of second half adjustments, the defense was in the right spot to make it.
Up 28-15, where the Hawks were forced to throw the ball more. More one-dimensional, as Coach Stock would say.
It was the perfect opportunity to make all of the work worth it. The point of emphasis since January workouts, through spring ball, through summer workouts, through the first day of August to the last day of practice before the game this week.
Turnovers were an issue for the defense last year. Takeaways were down, which put the Blue Raiders in a bad spot. So a circuit was devised. Strip drills, tip drills, catching drills. Fifteen minutes, 20 minutes, every practice. Drill Drill Drill. Until it's second nature for the defenders.
"We preach it," Jordan Ferguson said. "Coach Shafer wants to get three turnovers every single day. He said, if we get three turnovers, we have a 91 percent chance to win the game."
The Blue Raiders had two at that point in the game. And when preparation meets the predictability that comes from being in the lead, opportunity strikes.
"The play before that, they ran the same thing," cornerback Teldrick Ross said. "They ran the out and the vert. So I kind of knew the same thing was gonna come. Coach Shafer just put me in great call to where I could be able to look at the quarterback and see where he was throwing the ball."
Muskett, sure enough, rared back and fired. Misfired, to be more specific, the pressure for the defense forcing the ball to sail past his target and into Ross' facemask.
"Once I caught it, my next objective was just to not get caught," Ross smiled.
A quarterback in high school, Ross knew his teammates understood what he could do with the ball in his hands. And he also knew he wouldn't hear the end of it with all the green space in front of him if he didn't take it 44 yards back. So as he got to the final few yards, he sped up as the Hawks closed in.
"I could see him out of the corner of my eye," Ross said. "So I just prayed to God, and said 'just let me make it to the endzone.'"
He made it to the endzone.
------
Today, September 4, 2021, "Stay" by The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber just finished its fourth week at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is projected to take home the weekend box office. No. 5 Georgia defeated No. 3 Clemson 10-3 in Charlotte.
And the Blue Raiders scored a touchdown in all three facets of the game.
A rarity. But when it does happen? It makes these FCS matchups memorable. And gives a team hungry to prove itself something to build off of.
"Special teams ignited us tonight and got us that spark we needed," Ross said. "Then offense and defense fed off of it."
"All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor was the No. 1 song in America for the first time. Guardians of the Galaxy just finished its second week at the top grossing movie at the box office. No. 12 Georgia took down No. 16 Clemson 45-21 in Athens, Ga.
And Middle Tennessee routed Savannah State 61-7 in Murfreesboro, where Jermiah Bryson ran in two scores, Trey Wattford took a fumble to the house, and Ed Batties took a punt 61 yards to score.
It was, until Saturday night, the last time Middle Tennessee scored a touchdown on offense, defense, and special teams in one game, as the Blue Raiders did against the Monmouth Hawks in a 50-15 victory at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium.
Here's how the 2021 team did it.
The Spark: The Punt Return
Saturday started slow for the Blue Raiders. They'd be the first to admit it. A scoreless first quarter, with both defenses bending but not even getting close to breaking, makes that admission easy.
It was a start that could easily have spiraled, but at the start of the second quarter, Monmouth faced a 4th and 16 from their own 27. Standing between the Middle Tennessee 30 and 35, stood the Blue Raiders' spark.
Jaylin Lane
"He's a really really good player," head coach Rick Stockstill said. "There's a trust factor with Jaylin that he's gonna make smart decisions, when to fair catch it, when to run with it. He protects the ball well."
Lane had returned punts for the Blue Raiders before, rotating through with veterans like Reed Blankenship his freshman season. Heck, he'd been catching punts a lot longer than that, even snagging a touchdown in on one in high school.
But that's never the first thing on his mind when the ball's in the air.
"First, you've got to make sure you catch the punt," Lane explained.
"The most important thing on punt returns is to make sure the offense snaps the ball on the next play," Stockstill added. "That's the most important thing."
Lane's sure hands made that part easy, even while taking some steps back to secure the ball right in the middle of the 30-yard line. From there, returning a punt is really simple. Make the first guy miss, then the next one. By that point, you've probably got the blocks lined up.
And if you're Jaylin Lane, you follow your guys home.
He's GONE!! @j_lane_2 of @MT_FB takes it 70 yards to the HOUSE for 7!!! #CUSAFB
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) September 4, 2021
📺 https://t.co/8JxnEriAt3 pic.twitter.com/HkciHJRg5C
"When I got to the sideline, I feel like everyone on the sideline dapped me up," Lane said. "It was pure excitement. And then the game kept going on, and guys kept telling me 'you started this, you started this.' It made me feel good."
The Squeeze - The Wide Open Pass
The punt return was only the start, and the Hawks responded, scoring a touchdown over the top to tie the game. But that spark was not to be contained that easily.
Jordan Ferguson made the hit, jarring the ball out of Tony Muskett's hand and into Richard Kinley's. Setting a dime from Bailey Hockman to DJ England-Chisholm to retake the lead.
"They were coming in and trying to play man on us, man pressure," Hockman said. "When they started to do that, we just were like 'hey, let's go for it.' We went for it, and it worked out in our favor. And those guys made heck of a plays."
.@BaileyHockman's dropping dimes.@DJ_Chisolm's tip-toeing to the goal line.
— Middle Tennessee FB (@MT_FB) September 5, 2021
Here's a look at MT's second score of the season. 👀 pic.twitter.com/6DuPbSVhye
And when you've got the lead? Keep up the pressure, put on the squeeze. Now it was Ferguson's turn to recover, with Marley Cook stripping the ball from Owen Wright to give the Blue Raiders great field position with just under a minute to go.
What did the Blue Raiders do? Some teams might've gone for the field goal, even taken the clock down to just go into the half. But that man pressure gave way to Cover 4, and presented an opportunity.
"They were in Cover 4-Key," Hockman said. "The corner was releasing number 2. And I knew number 2 had a bubble on that play."
The corner snuck down, looking to cut off the bubble. Hockman felt the pressure almost get home, but kept his eyes down field, stepping up in the pocket.
"When I saw the corner bite on the bubble, J Lane was just running wide open," Hockman laid out. "So I just took a step and let it go. And hoped to God that was enough."
Wide open might be an understatement, there was no one within ten yards when Hockman let the ball fly, a near identical arc to his previous pass to England-Chisholm.
An easy catch, most would think. For Lane, he might disagree.
"Catch the ball," Lane said when asked what went through his mind. "Those are the hardest catches, believe it or not. You're wide open, nobody's around."
Lane went to his knees, securing the ball and the six points. Zeke Rankin booted the PAT through.
Make that ✌️ passing TDs for @BaileyHockman and ✌️ total TDs for @j_lane_2 on the day.
— Middle Tennessee FB (@MT_FB) September 5, 2021
🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/88lOlOOHgY
21-7.
The squeeze was on.
The Dagger
Only one facet left to go. And after a plethora of second half adjustments, the defense was in the right spot to make it.
Up 28-15, where the Hawks were forced to throw the ball more. More one-dimensional, as Coach Stock would say.
It was the perfect opportunity to make all of the work worth it. The point of emphasis since January workouts, through spring ball, through summer workouts, through the first day of August to the last day of practice before the game this week.
Turnovers were an issue for the defense last year. Takeaways were down, which put the Blue Raiders in a bad spot. So a circuit was devised. Strip drills, tip drills, catching drills. Fifteen minutes, 20 minutes, every practice. Drill Drill Drill. Until it's second nature for the defenders.
"We preach it," Jordan Ferguson said. "Coach Shafer wants to get three turnovers every single day. He said, if we get three turnovers, we have a 91 percent chance to win the game."
The Blue Raiders had two at that point in the game. And when preparation meets the predictability that comes from being in the lead, opportunity strikes.
"The play before that, they ran the same thing," cornerback Teldrick Ross said. "They ran the out and the vert. So I kind of knew the same thing was gonna come. Coach Shafer just put me in great call to where I could be able to look at the quarterback and see where he was throwing the ball."
Muskett, sure enough, rared back and fired. Misfired, to be more specific, the pressure for the defense forcing the ball to sail past his target and into Ross' facemask.
"Once I caught it, my next objective was just to not get caught," Ross smiled.
A quarterback in high school, Ross knew his teammates understood what he could do with the ball in his hands. And he also knew he wouldn't hear the end of it with all the green space in front of him if he didn't take it 44 yards back. So as he got to the final few yards, he sped up as the Hawks closed in.
"I could see him out of the corner of my eye," Ross said. "So I just prayed to God, and said 'just let me make it to the endzone.'"
He made it to the endzone.
This INT by Teldrick Ross gives Middle Tennessee touchdowns in ALL THREE phases of the game for the first time since 2014.#BlueRaiders | #EATT pic.twitter.com/Xmw7QYOBRL
— Middle Tennessee FB (@MT_FB) September 5, 2021
------
Today, September 4, 2021, "Stay" by The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber just finished its fourth week at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is projected to take home the weekend box office. No. 5 Georgia defeated No. 3 Clemson 10-3 in Charlotte.
And the Blue Raiders scored a touchdown in all three facets of the game.
A rarity. But when it does happen? It makes these FCS matchups memorable. And gives a team hungry to prove itself something to build off of.
"Special teams ignited us tonight and got us that spark we needed," Ross said. "Then offense and defense fed off of it."
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