Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
In all three phases, the Blue Raiders make the wrong recipe in Ruston
11/6/2022 8:13:00 AM | Football
Big plays, turnovers and a blocked kick stun MTSU in the Bayou State
RUSTON, La. — Five third quarter turnovers. Giving up four passing plays over 35 yards. A blocked punt on a rush scheme you see "a million times" every practice.
It's an ingredient list for a recipe that no coach keeps in their cookbook. But it's recipe every coach knows by heart: if you turn the ball over on offense, give up big plays on defense and get a kick blocked on special teams, there's pretty much no games you're going to win. On Saturday afternoon in Ruston, the Middle Tennessee football team threw all three ingredients in the pot.
The result? A 40-24 loss to a now 3-6 LA Tech team, and further pressure on the final three games of November to make the postseason.
"It was a perfect recipe of when you give up explosive plays like that, you turn the ball over, it's a recipe for disaster," head coach Rick Stockstill said.
It started in the first half, where the MTSU defense struggled to stop passing plays over the top. Credit LA Tech's explosive receivers, of course, for making the plays possible. Tre Harris, Cyrus Allen, both underclassmen for the Bulldogs, are going to be names folks around the C-USA will be hearing for a long time.
But the numbers don't lie. In the first half, MTSU gave up 242 yards in the air to pass plays of at least 15 yards, including a 57-yard pass, a 44-yard pass and a 44-yard touchdown pass. For the game, LA Tech only threw for 311 total yards.
How did the Bulldogs get over the top? Defensive end Jordan Ferguson pointed to a familiar look to the Blue Raiders at this point in the season: bringing in an extra lineman as a tight end, keeping a back in with the tight end to max protect and slow down the MTSU pass rush, giving the quarterback enough time for his wideout to win the one-on-one matchup.
"It was four rushers and I think six or seven blockers," Ferguson said. "No excuse, we can make plays like that, but it's going to be a little bit harder."
It was a look that the air raid heavy Bulldogs are not known for this season, Ferguson noted, but one the Blue Raiders have faced more and more each game, particularly after UAB had a lot of success with max protect throws in their win over MTSU.
"The biggest thing this year, I think a lot of people are playing copycat football," Ferguson said. "Because that wasn't their scheme at all. They showed a little bit of it. But I felt like they ran 75 percent max protect this game, and they were very successful with it, so kudos to them for keep going to it."
Still, even with the explosive plays, the defense was able to hold LA Tech to field goals multiple times in the red zone, while the offense, thanks in part to a solid day rushing the football, pulled the Blue Raiders within a score just before halftime, with MTSU scheduled to receive the second half kickoff.
On just the second play from scrimmage after that kickoff, however, the disaster started. Chase Cunningham threw into the shadows, and double coverage, toward the LA Tech sideline, caught by a Bulldog DB. Teldrick Ross would give MTSU the ball back with an INT of his own on the next series. But the Bulldogs would get a pick-six on a blown screen play three plays after that interception. After Cunningham threw another interception, this one at the LA Tech goal line, the rout was well and truly on.
"The third quarter is just a turnover fest," Stockstill said. "Just didn't play well enough, execute well enough, do the things that you have to do to win a football game."
Captain Yusuf Ali was even more blunt.
"They just played well," Ali said. "We didn't play to the best of our ability."
The interceptions would've been tough enough as is, but a blocked punt and lost fumble from Nicholas Vattiato, who took over for Cunningham after he left with an injury, both leading to LA Tech field goals. That they weren't touchdowns is a credit to the Blue Raider defense, but the bad field positions only compounded the problems down the stretch for MTSU.
"If I say it wasn't (something LA Tech did), it takes away from them, and I'll never do that," Stockstill said of the causes of the offensive turnovers. "They did a good job, but mostly it was us...We can protect the ball a heck of a lot better than what we did."
With the loss, MTSU will have to win out in their final three games to ensure a winning season in 2022 and win two of their final three games to become bowl eligible. The good news is that the Blue Raiders finally return home after two straight weeks on the road, for a two-game home stand no less. The bad news? With the injuries around the team and the issues that flared up this week, there's much work to be done in a short period of time.
"We've got to come back to work," Ali said. "It's not going to be easy."
It's an ingredient list for a recipe that no coach keeps in their cookbook. But it's recipe every coach knows by heart: if you turn the ball over on offense, give up big plays on defense and get a kick blocked on special teams, there's pretty much no games you're going to win. On Saturday afternoon in Ruston, the Middle Tennessee football team threw all three ingredients in the pot.
The result? A 40-24 loss to a now 3-6 LA Tech team, and further pressure on the final three games of November to make the postseason.
"It was a perfect recipe of when you give up explosive plays like that, you turn the ball over, it's a recipe for disaster," head coach Rick Stockstill said.
It started in the first half, where the MTSU defense struggled to stop passing plays over the top. Credit LA Tech's explosive receivers, of course, for making the plays possible. Tre Harris, Cyrus Allen, both underclassmen for the Bulldogs, are going to be names folks around the C-USA will be hearing for a long time.
But the numbers don't lie. In the first half, MTSU gave up 242 yards in the air to pass plays of at least 15 yards, including a 57-yard pass, a 44-yard pass and a 44-yard touchdown pass. For the game, LA Tech only threw for 311 total yards.
How did the Bulldogs get over the top? Defensive end Jordan Ferguson pointed to a familiar look to the Blue Raiders at this point in the season: bringing in an extra lineman as a tight end, keeping a back in with the tight end to max protect and slow down the MTSU pass rush, giving the quarterback enough time for his wideout to win the one-on-one matchup.
"It was four rushers and I think six or seven blockers," Ferguson said. "No excuse, we can make plays like that, but it's going to be a little bit harder."
It was a look that the air raid heavy Bulldogs are not known for this season, Ferguson noted, but one the Blue Raiders have faced more and more each game, particularly after UAB had a lot of success with max protect throws in their win over MTSU.
"The biggest thing this year, I think a lot of people are playing copycat football," Ferguson said. "Because that wasn't their scheme at all. They showed a little bit of it. But I felt like they ran 75 percent max protect this game, and they were very successful with it, so kudos to them for keep going to it."
Still, even with the explosive plays, the defense was able to hold LA Tech to field goals multiple times in the red zone, while the offense, thanks in part to a solid day rushing the football, pulled the Blue Raiders within a score just before halftime, with MTSU scheduled to receive the second half kickoff.
On just the second play from scrimmage after that kickoff, however, the disaster started. Chase Cunningham threw into the shadows, and double coverage, toward the LA Tech sideline, caught by a Bulldog DB. Teldrick Ross would give MTSU the ball back with an INT of his own on the next series. But the Bulldogs would get a pick-six on a blown screen play three plays after that interception. After Cunningham threw another interception, this one at the LA Tech goal line, the rout was well and truly on.
"The third quarter is just a turnover fest," Stockstill said. "Just didn't play well enough, execute well enough, do the things that you have to do to win a football game."
Captain Yusuf Ali was even more blunt.
"They just played well," Ali said. "We didn't play to the best of our ability."
The interceptions would've been tough enough as is, but a blocked punt and lost fumble from Nicholas Vattiato, who took over for Cunningham after he left with an injury, both leading to LA Tech field goals. That they weren't touchdowns is a credit to the Blue Raider defense, but the bad field positions only compounded the problems down the stretch for MTSU.
"If I say it wasn't (something LA Tech did), it takes away from them, and I'll never do that," Stockstill said of the causes of the offensive turnovers. "They did a good job, but mostly it was us...We can protect the ball a heck of a lot better than what we did."
With the loss, MTSU will have to win out in their final three games to ensure a winning season in 2022 and win two of their final three games to become bowl eligible. The good news is that the Blue Raiders finally return home after two straight weeks on the road, for a two-game home stand no less. The bad news? With the injuries around the team and the issues that flared up this week, there's much work to be done in a short period of time.
"We've got to come back to work," Ali said. "It's not going to be easy."
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