Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
COLUMN: "We've got to get a lot better in a hurry”
10/9/2022 2:07:00 PM | Football
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In retrospect, the first play of the day proved it was going to be a long afternoon for the visitors.
After an opening kickoff return that gave UAB the ball on their own 30, the Blazers took the field in a standard shotgun look for their offense. Wideout to each sideline, tight ends on the line itself, quarterback Dylan Hopkins ready for the snap with running back DeWayne McBride to his side. With the snap, Hopkins faked a handoff to McBride, while Middle brought pressure.
Along the MTSU sideline, Deonte Stanley was guarding Trea Shropshire man-to-man. When Hopkins looked up off the play action fake, there was no question he was going to test the cornerback making his first start.
Hopkins fired; Shropshire got past Stanley. And 46 yards later, when Stanley dragged the wideout down, the Blazers had their gameplan set against the Blue Raiders for the rest of the day.
"We got exposed on the back end," MTSU head coach Rick Stockstill said post-game. "Especially in the first half, we didn't stop them. They scored every possession in the first half, and they got explosive plays. We've got to get a lot better in a hurry."
Shropshire would finish Saturday with 193 of Dylan Hopkins' 278 passing yards on just six catches, with the veteran quarterback constantly targeting his side of the field to test MTSU's pass defense, a test the Blue Raiders failed to pass for the second week in a row.
There's plenty of talent in the defensive backfield, to be sure, but at the season's halfway point, it still looks like a unit getting used to not having Reed Blankenship, now with the Philadelphia Eagles, back there cleaning up problems both at the line and in coverage. That will have to change in the coming weeks ahead.
"We expected them to run the ball more," defensive end Jordan Ferguson said of the defense's slow start. "They started the game passing the ball, taking shots. It's hard, they tried to eliminate what we do as far as blitzing and just being dominant up front."
The more downfield shots they hit as the game went on, the more the running game opened up for the Blazers as well, with UAB having both McBride and Jermaine Brown Jr. pass the century mark in rushing, thanks to both strong blocking up front, but also poor tackling from the back end of the Blue Raider defense. UAB hit eight runs for 10 or more yards on Saturday, including three runs of at least 30 yards.
A credit to the Blazers, to be sure, who used heavy packages to great success on both runs and passes all afternoon, neutralizing both the defense's best unit this season (the defensive line) but also the blitzes that have made MTSU effective for so long. Nevertheless, it was a disappointment for a MTSU team that knew that was what UAB wanted to do offensively and had no way to counter it during the game.
All of the defense's struggles compounded into the Blue Raider offense, which failed to sustain much momentum outside of a couple of drives. The quick score deficit, as it did last week against UTSA, made MTSU one dimensional most of the afternoon, leading to plenty of pressure on quarterback Chase Cunningham as UAB pinned its ears back, sacking Cunningham for three sacks and delivering plenty of pressure on almost every other dropback.
There were flashes, from Joe Ervin finally getting some extended play at running back after battling injuries since August and giving MTSU a spark, to the quick passes getting plenty of first downs in MTSU territory and even across midfield to some extent. But never enough to keep the Blue Raiders in the game like they were a week ago in Floyd Stadium.
"Even when we got it moving, we just stalled out," Jaylin Lane said. "We've just got to start using our momentum better. After getting a first down, not feeling a sigh of relief, but using it as a driver to keep going."
All of this, of course, will not get more manageable in the near future, as MTSU returns home this week to face the final team picked in the Top 3 preseason at C-USA Kickoff that they'll face in their three-game slate to start conference play: Western Kentucky, who just took UTSA down to the wire in the Alamodome, requiring a gutsy fourth down call from Jeff Traylor to ice the game at the last for the Roadrunners.
With so much to fix from a game like Saturday's, it can be hard to know where to start. But Rick Stockstill had a quick thought of where his focus would be, with the Hilltoppers Air Raid attack coming to town for Homecoming.
"The last (few) weeks have been tough defending the ball in the air," Stockstill said. "And Western's going to throw it a heck of a lot more than UAB and a heck of a lot more than what San Antonio did. We've got to get better in a hurry on the back end."
After an opening kickoff return that gave UAB the ball on their own 30, the Blazers took the field in a standard shotgun look for their offense. Wideout to each sideline, tight ends on the line itself, quarterback Dylan Hopkins ready for the snap with running back DeWayne McBride to his side. With the snap, Hopkins faked a handoff to McBride, while Middle brought pressure.
Along the MTSU sideline, Deonte Stanley was guarding Trea Shropshire man-to-man. When Hopkins looked up off the play action fake, there was no question he was going to test the cornerback making his first start.
Hopkins fired; Shropshire got past Stanley. And 46 yards later, when Stanley dragged the wideout down, the Blazers had their gameplan set against the Blue Raiders for the rest of the day.
"We got exposed on the back end," MTSU head coach Rick Stockstill said post-game. "Especially in the first half, we didn't stop them. They scored every possession in the first half, and they got explosive plays. We've got to get a lot better in a hurry."
Shropshire would finish Saturday with 193 of Dylan Hopkins' 278 passing yards on just six catches, with the veteran quarterback constantly targeting his side of the field to test MTSU's pass defense, a test the Blue Raiders failed to pass for the second week in a row.
There's plenty of talent in the defensive backfield, to be sure, but at the season's halfway point, it still looks like a unit getting used to not having Reed Blankenship, now with the Philadelphia Eagles, back there cleaning up problems both at the line and in coverage. That will have to change in the coming weeks ahead.
"We expected them to run the ball more," defensive end Jordan Ferguson said of the defense's slow start. "They started the game passing the ball, taking shots. It's hard, they tried to eliminate what we do as far as blitzing and just being dominant up front."
The more downfield shots they hit as the game went on, the more the running game opened up for the Blazers as well, with UAB having both McBride and Jermaine Brown Jr. pass the century mark in rushing, thanks to both strong blocking up front, but also poor tackling from the back end of the Blue Raider defense. UAB hit eight runs for 10 or more yards on Saturday, including three runs of at least 30 yards.
A credit to the Blazers, to be sure, who used heavy packages to great success on both runs and passes all afternoon, neutralizing both the defense's best unit this season (the defensive line) but also the blitzes that have made MTSU effective for so long. Nevertheless, it was a disappointment for a MTSU team that knew that was what UAB wanted to do offensively and had no way to counter it during the game.
All of the defense's struggles compounded into the Blue Raider offense, which failed to sustain much momentum outside of a couple of drives. The quick score deficit, as it did last week against UTSA, made MTSU one dimensional most of the afternoon, leading to plenty of pressure on quarterback Chase Cunningham as UAB pinned its ears back, sacking Cunningham for three sacks and delivering plenty of pressure on almost every other dropback.
There were flashes, from Joe Ervin finally getting some extended play at running back after battling injuries since August and giving MTSU a spark, to the quick passes getting plenty of first downs in MTSU territory and even across midfield to some extent. But never enough to keep the Blue Raiders in the game like they were a week ago in Floyd Stadium.
"Even when we got it moving, we just stalled out," Jaylin Lane said. "We've just got to start using our momentum better. After getting a first down, not feeling a sigh of relief, but using it as a driver to keep going."
All of this, of course, will not get more manageable in the near future, as MTSU returns home this week to face the final team picked in the Top 3 preseason at C-USA Kickoff that they'll face in their three-game slate to start conference play: Western Kentucky, who just took UTSA down to the wire in the Alamodome, requiring a gutsy fourth down call from Jeff Traylor to ice the game at the last for the Roadrunners.
With so much to fix from a game like Saturday's, it can be hard to know where to start. But Rick Stockstill had a quick thought of where his focus would be, with the Hilltoppers Air Raid attack coming to town for Homecoming.
"The last (few) weeks have been tough defending the ball in the air," Stockstill said. "And Western's going to throw it a heck of a lot more than UAB and a heck of a lot more than what San Antonio did. We've got to get better in a hurry on the back end."
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