Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
COLUMN: “This is a Nick Vattiato fan account”
11/13/2022 6:00:00 PM | Football
On the true sophomore’s selflessness, and overcoming adversity
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — I often enjoy scrolling through the @MT_FB Twitter account after games once my writing is done on Saturday. During the game itself, I'm so zoned in on what I have to do with the recap, the press conference afterwards and my own feed (@sjdoughton, if you aren't following already), I can miss much of the great work our social team does during the game.
But as much as I love the graphics, the videos, the pictures from the sidelines, I love the replies after a win much more. And after Saturday's 24-14 win over Charlotte, @dmarcovelli gave me the biggest smile of the night with his reply to the final score graphic.
This is a Nick Vattiato fan account now #GBR
— Marco (@dmarcoveli) November 12, 2022
Finding a subject for these Sunday columns can be tough on weeks like this one. So much of what MTSU excelled at on the field Saturday afternoon were things that have been apparent nearly every week this year.
A relentless, deep defensive line constantly getting pressure and into the backfield, making running and passing alike a challenge thanks to folks like Marley Cook, Jordan Ferguson and Zaylin Wood, among a host of others.
Special Teams units with a knack for blocking kicks coming home twice, resulting in seven points for MTSU. To say nothing of the always present punt coverage and reliable kicking game from Kyle Ulbrich and Zeke Rankin.
The offense was not the overarching success of the other two units on Saturday, where new players rotating in due to injury clearly took nearly the entire first half to fully click with one another. Chief among them, Nick Vattiato, who stepped into the starting quarterback role after taking over for much of the second half last week against LA Tech for the injured Chase Cunningham.
I can't imagine it's been an easy season for Vattiato, who's still the reigning Bahamas Bowl MVP after taking over for Cunningham for the 2021 Blue Raiders' final five games. With his true freshman season in 2021 originally slotted to be a redshirt year for him, the emergency quarterback duty he was thrust into by circumstance dashed that plan. So in 2022, after Cunningham won the job in fall camp, the plan was for him to get that redshirt back.
For that to happen, however, the backup quarterback every week on the depth chart was not even getting the garbage time snaps at the end of blowouts to preserve the four games he was allowed to play in and still redshirt. Still, even knowing this, Vattiato's focus never wavered.
"All season, us as a quarterback room, we prepare each and every week like if you are the starter," Vattiato said after the game. "I know that sounds cliche, but we take pride in doing that, whether it's Chase, myself, Preston, DJ, Kyle or Stone. I felt like no matter who's asked to go in there and play, that we can do a great job supporting whoever's in."
Rick Stockstill admires Vattiato, speaking highly of his unselfish nature, how he puts the team before himself. After the game on Saturday, he spent the final two and a half minutes of his press conference praising the young quarterback.
"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."
Vattiato's numbers on Saturday don't jump out on paper. Just over 200 yards through the air, no TDs and an interception, a handful of yards on scrambles on the ground. But those watching the game amid the frigid November air at Floyd Stadium saw him get more comfortable as the game went on.
In a game where he completed 22-of-29 total passes, five of those seven incompletions came in the first half. He let Frank Peasant cook in the backfield, and sprinkled passes to nine different targets to help open up those running lanes. He even found his own bit of running, and element to his game we've not seen from him regularly in the past. And after giving the ball away twice in the second quarter, he kept the ball safe the rest of the night.
Vattiato is a guy that has a lot of football ahead of him, a remarkable thing to note with the highs he's already experienced at the FBS level. Stockstill noted that even with the eight games he has under his belt now in his career, he really hasn't taken a ton of snaps, relatively speaking. His counterpart on the Charlotte sideline yesterday, Chris Reynolds, for instance? He's started over 40 games in his time with the 49ers. Saturday was Vattiato's sixth career start.
After seeing him on the field at different times the last two seasons, I have to join Marco as a Nick Vattiato fan account. The man is a gutsy signal-caller that finds a way to put his team in position to win games, and is clearly a guy the team rallies around no matter whether he's leading them on the field or off of it.
For his own sake, I'm hopeful Chase Cunningham will be able to return this season, just so Nick can get that redshirt year back, so he'll have even more of an opportunity to grow in his future. But when he's called into action, I'm delighted I get to tell my friends across C-USA and across the country to have confidence in the guy, because he finds a way to help the Blue Raiders every single time he's asked.
