Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Against Charlotte: A Tough, Hard-Nosed Team Win for a Tough, Hard-Nosed Team
11/13/2022 8:14:00 AM | Football
On Rick Stockstill’s team on a night they “played well together”
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Rick Stockstill had to pause a long time to consider his answer.
What is his team's identity? With all the injuries on offense, it was hard to say his Middle Tennessee football had reached its potential in a 24-14 win over Charlotte. The Blue Raider defense? A different story, with active pressure all night making way for a plethora of pass breakups, forcing 21 of Chris Reynolds' passes to hit the Floyd Stadium turf.
And the special teams? With two blocked kicks, plenty of field position won, they were back to their old serves.
So after some pauses, some rambling, Stockstill settled on his answer.
"We're just a tough, hard-nosed blue-collar team right now."
Perhaps no one better encapsulated that notion than Nicholas Vattiato, stepping into the starting quarterback role for the second time in as many seasons for an injured Chase Cunningham. It was a situation that Stockstill didn't want for Vattiato, after the true sophomore had already lost his redshirt year the year before by playing too many games.
Vattiato has only appeared in two so far, meaning he has two more to go. But the veteran head coach said such selfish considerations never enter the Plantation, Fla. native's mind.
"I love Nick," Stockstill said. "He's a very, very unselfish young man. He cares about the team more than he cares about himself."
Things weren't perfect for the signal-caller on Saturday, with an interception and four fumbles to his name in the post-game stat book. But every time he was popped, he hopped back up. Helping the MTSU offense move up and down the field with a 76 percent completion rate.
"I respect that kid so much," Stockstill said. "The team respects him. When the team respects your quarterback, you know you're doing things right."
Helping Vattiato is perhaps the most hard-nosed player on the Blue Raiders: Frank Peasant. Scoring multiple times for the third game this season, the Pensacola, Fla. native racked up 84 yards on the ground, regularly blasting through the arm tackles of 49er defenders if he wasn't dragging them down field on his own.
Plenty of other unsung heroes helped an injury laden offense move the ball on Saturday. Stockstill joked that, at times, you'd needed to have an extra tab on your laptop or roster sheet handy just to know who was lining up at MTSU's four wideout positions, to say nothing of the offensive line having to move people in and out.
But all of those folks, from Elijah Metcalf to Bryce Bailey to Taharin Sudderth, made plays in key spots, helping MTSU get on the board.
Defensively, the Blue Raiders shut out the 49ers completely in the second half, denying them three fourth down conversions that zapped any chance of Charlotte being able to mount a run of their own once MTSU took a 21-14 lead on Peasant's second score of the game. Tra Fluellen channeled former teammate, now Philadelphia Eagle, Reed Blankenship, tallying 16 total tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss at safety.
"I just gave effort, did what I supposed to do," Fluellen said. "Nothing really special, we're just making the play."
So many times, Charlotte's fast-paced offense came with a big chunk play. In weeks past, MTSU might've folded on the drive. On Saturday, they stood stout, hopping back up to make play after play, none bigger the Jakobe Thomas' late fourth quarter interception.
And the MTSU special teams? Ho-ly-cow
Two blocked kicks, a field goal on Charlotte's first drive from Decorian Patterson and a bull rush into the punter from Marley Cook, getting the Blue Raiders on the board in the second half when Jordan Ferguson ran it back for a touchdown. Even the field goal holder, punter Kyle Ulbrich, made a big play, catching a high snap by going off his knees, before getting the ball down to keep Zeke Rankin's perfect kick record in 2022 intact.
"Kyle did a phenomenal, PHENOMENAL job of catching it, because he had to come off his knee," Stockstill said. "And any time you come off your knee, it just makes it that much more difficult to get it placed in the proper placement. And he did.
It wasn't always pretty. Games that end in temperatures near freezing very rarely are. And while 24 points got the job done on Saturday, the MTSU locker room will be hungry for more after that was the team's output for the third week in a row.
But after a tough win, it's nice to have a reminder of what matters. Metcalf said Stockstill's message before the game was to remember who you are playing for. An apt reminder on Salute to Veterans Day, with the armed services stripe down the center of the helmet.
But also a reminder of the area code decal on the right side of the helmet, an especially big reminder for Metcalf, who's 704 area code, a decal he shared with linebacker Christian Dixon and wide receiver Izaiah Gathings, represented Charlotte's neck of the woods.
"There's somebody back home that helped you get there and get this opportunity that you have now," Metcalf said. "It's bigger than football, it's bigger than this Saturday."
There will be at least two games bigger than this Saturday ahead for MTSU, thanks to the win bringing the team back to .500. Peasant said that his motivation for the final two games of the regular season, where MTSU would like to win both to guarantee a bowl trip in 2022, is also bigger than himself.
"We have to lock in, we have to be determined," Peasant said. "What pushes me is the seniors. Like Big Ferg, I really respect him. So, I can't let him down, this is last year. I feel like everybody, the underclassmen, we've got to push for our seniors."
What is his team's identity? With all the injuries on offense, it was hard to say his Middle Tennessee football had reached its potential in a 24-14 win over Charlotte. The Blue Raider defense? A different story, with active pressure all night making way for a plethora of pass breakups, forcing 21 of Chris Reynolds' passes to hit the Floyd Stadium turf.
And the special teams? With two blocked kicks, plenty of field position won, they were back to their old serves.
So after some pauses, some rambling, Stockstill settled on his answer.
"We're just a tough, hard-nosed blue-collar team right now."
Perhaps no one better encapsulated that notion than Nicholas Vattiato, stepping into the starting quarterback role for the second time in as many seasons for an injured Chase Cunningham. It was a situation that Stockstill didn't want for Vattiato, after the true sophomore had already lost his redshirt year the year before by playing too many games.
Vattiato has only appeared in two so far, meaning he has two more to go. But the veteran head coach said such selfish considerations never enter the Plantation, Fla. native's mind.
"I love Nick," Stockstill said. "He's a very, very unselfish young man. He cares about the team more than he cares about himself."
Things weren't perfect for the signal-caller on Saturday, with an interception and four fumbles to his name in the post-game stat book. But every time he was popped, he hopped back up. Helping the MTSU offense move up and down the field with a 76 percent completion rate.
"I respect that kid so much," Stockstill said. "The team respects him. When the team respects your quarterback, you know you're doing things right."
Helping Vattiato is perhaps the most hard-nosed player on the Blue Raiders: Frank Peasant. Scoring multiple times for the third game this season, the Pensacola, Fla. native racked up 84 yards on the ground, regularly blasting through the arm tackles of 49er defenders if he wasn't dragging them down field on his own.
Plenty of other unsung heroes helped an injury laden offense move the ball on Saturday. Stockstill joked that, at times, you'd needed to have an extra tab on your laptop or roster sheet handy just to know who was lining up at MTSU's four wideout positions, to say nothing of the offensive line having to move people in and out.
But all of those folks, from Elijah Metcalf to Bryce Bailey to Taharin Sudderth, made plays in key spots, helping MTSU get on the board.
Defensively, the Blue Raiders shut out the 49ers completely in the second half, denying them three fourth down conversions that zapped any chance of Charlotte being able to mount a run of their own once MTSU took a 21-14 lead on Peasant's second score of the game. Tra Fluellen channeled former teammate, now Philadelphia Eagle, Reed Blankenship, tallying 16 total tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss at safety.
"I just gave effort, did what I supposed to do," Fluellen said. "Nothing really special, we're just making the play."
So many times, Charlotte's fast-paced offense came with a big chunk play. In weeks past, MTSU might've folded on the drive. On Saturday, they stood stout, hopping back up to make play after play, none bigger the Jakobe Thomas' late fourth quarter interception.
And the MTSU special teams? Ho-ly-cow
Two blocked kicks, a field goal on Charlotte's first drive from Decorian Patterson and a bull rush into the punter from Marley Cook, getting the Blue Raiders on the board in the second half when Jordan Ferguson ran it back for a touchdown. Even the field goal holder, punter Kyle Ulbrich, made a big play, catching a high snap by going off his knees, before getting the ball down to keep Zeke Rankin's perfect kick record in 2022 intact.
"Kyle did a phenomenal, PHENOMENAL job of catching it, because he had to come off his knee," Stockstill said. "And any time you come off your knee, it just makes it that much more difficult to get it placed in the proper placement. And he did.
It wasn't always pretty. Games that end in temperatures near freezing very rarely are. And while 24 points got the job done on Saturday, the MTSU locker room will be hungry for more after that was the team's output for the third week in a row.
But after a tough win, it's nice to have a reminder of what matters. Metcalf said Stockstill's message before the game was to remember who you are playing for. An apt reminder on Salute to Veterans Day, with the armed services stripe down the center of the helmet.
But also a reminder of the area code decal on the right side of the helmet, an especially big reminder for Metcalf, who's 704 area code, a decal he shared with linebacker Christian Dixon and wide receiver Izaiah Gathings, represented Charlotte's neck of the woods.
"There's somebody back home that helped you get there and get this opportunity that you have now," Metcalf said. "It's bigger than football, it's bigger than this Saturday."
There will be at least two games bigger than this Saturday ahead for MTSU, thanks to the win bringing the team back to .500. Peasant said that his motivation for the final two games of the regular season, where MTSU would like to win both to guarantee a bowl trip in 2022, is also bigger than himself.
"We have to lock in, we have to be determined," Peasant said. "What pushes me is the seniors. Like Big Ferg, I really respect him. So, I can't let him down, this is last year. I feel like everybody, the underclassmen, we've got to push for our seniors."
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