Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
COLUMN: A much better Sunday for Blue Raider Nation
9/11/2022 4:58:00 PM | Football
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Walking into the Murphy Center on Sunday afternoon to write this column, I happened to run into offensive line coach Mike Polly just outside the athletic communications office. As usual, pleasantries were exchanged.
"Hey coach!"
"Hey Sam, how are you?"
"Great! Yourself?"
"Much better. Much, much better."
Hours later, when a few ideas for this column laid crumbled up in my wastepaper basket, the simplicity of Polly's reply stuck with me. Indeed, Blue Raider Nation is doing "much better" this Sunday than last, all thanks to a dominant performance out west, where MTSU controlled the entire game against Colorado State, almost literally leading wire-to-wire thanks to a Tra Fluellen Pick-6 on the first play of the game.
After the 34-19 win, Rick Stockstill was effusive in his praise of almost every facet of his team for the work they put in this week after getting humbled in the team's season opener.
"You play this game for 60 minutes and we did that," Stockstill said. "Created a lot of sacks, created a lot of turnovers, we executed well offensively. We had a lot better third down percentage. We were able to run the ball against a really good team. Just really proud of the competitive spirit our team showed tonight. Our coaches also did a phenomenal job. Give them a lot of credit as well."
At halftime, the stats between MTSU and CSU were essentially a mirror image of what last week's were, with MTSU now outgaining their opponent sevenfold and converting on third and fourth down. Big picture problems, like the offensive line allowing too much pressure, were not regular occurrences. Little details, like attacking an offense in a max protect blocking scheme, were taken care of.
Sure, there's still so much to improve on with a team this young, but wow, was that first half in particular impressive to see. Exactly 250 yards of offense while allowing only 35 yards, a 27-0 lead, 8.4 yards per completion (Chase Cunningham was 24-of-27 at the half!). Frank Peasant had 56 rushing yards and two touchdowns at the half, the defense already had three takeaways.
So yes, Mike Polly, things are much better this Sunday. A credit to the players, always, but also the coaches, who fought through a lot of pressure to find solutions to problems and get the team prepared and motivated for a cross country trip.
"I thought we had a really good week of preparation," Stockstill said. "I thought our mental intensity and focus all week long was good. I talked to them on Sunday about controlling what we can control and just worry about ourselves. Don't worry about all the outside noise and being 14-point underdogs, five million feet above sea level, all that kind of stuff. I thought we were really, really good today."
One thing that was evident to me both during the game and post-game was the confidence that had returned to everyone involved Blue Raider football. The sideline had an extra pep in its step when the camera panned over, the hustle on and off the field was better, even Stockstill himself, usually among the most even-keeled of all college coaches on the sideline, cracked several smiles, none bigger than when shaking the hand of punter Kyle Ulbrich after he pinned CSU at their own two-yard line to essentially finish the game off in the fourth quarter.
They had proven, not just to themselves, but to everyone around the country, that they were capable of the sort of domination they had suffered against the week before. They had evidence, right in front of them, that they could run the football well, that they could knock the quarterback down, that they could cover a punt. Little things that had gone wrong were going right.
Doesn't mean they'll go right all the time the rest of the year, as the third quarter where CSU outscored the Blue Raiders 19-7 showed us. There's plenty of things to look at in the film room this Sunday, I'm sure.
But it's a Sunday after a Blue Raider win, not a Blue Raider loss.
And that makes going through that film much, much better.
"Hey coach!"
"Hey Sam, how are you?"
"Great! Yourself?"
"Much better. Much, much better."
Hours later, when a few ideas for this column laid crumbled up in my wastepaper basket, the simplicity of Polly's reply stuck with me. Indeed, Blue Raider Nation is doing "much better" this Sunday than last, all thanks to a dominant performance out west, where MTSU controlled the entire game against Colorado State, almost literally leading wire-to-wire thanks to a Tra Fluellen Pick-6 on the first play of the game.
After the 34-19 win, Rick Stockstill was effusive in his praise of almost every facet of his team for the work they put in this week after getting humbled in the team's season opener.
"You play this game for 60 minutes and we did that," Stockstill said. "Created a lot of sacks, created a lot of turnovers, we executed well offensively. We had a lot better third down percentage. We were able to run the ball against a really good team. Just really proud of the competitive spirit our team showed tonight. Our coaches also did a phenomenal job. Give them a lot of credit as well."
At halftime, the stats between MTSU and CSU were essentially a mirror image of what last week's were, with MTSU now outgaining their opponent sevenfold and converting on third and fourth down. Big picture problems, like the offensive line allowing too much pressure, were not regular occurrences. Little details, like attacking an offense in a max protect blocking scheme, were taken care of.
Sure, there's still so much to improve on with a team this young, but wow, was that first half in particular impressive to see. Exactly 250 yards of offense while allowing only 35 yards, a 27-0 lead, 8.4 yards per completion (Chase Cunningham was 24-of-27 at the half!). Frank Peasant had 56 rushing yards and two touchdowns at the half, the defense already had three takeaways.
So yes, Mike Polly, things are much better this Sunday. A credit to the players, always, but also the coaches, who fought through a lot of pressure to find solutions to problems and get the team prepared and motivated for a cross country trip.
"I thought we had a really good week of preparation," Stockstill said. "I thought our mental intensity and focus all week long was good. I talked to them on Sunday about controlling what we can control and just worry about ourselves. Don't worry about all the outside noise and being 14-point underdogs, five million feet above sea level, all that kind of stuff. I thought we were really, really good today."
One thing that was evident to me both during the game and post-game was the confidence that had returned to everyone involved Blue Raider football. The sideline had an extra pep in its step when the camera panned over, the hustle on and off the field was better, even Stockstill himself, usually among the most even-keeled of all college coaches on the sideline, cracked several smiles, none bigger than when shaking the hand of punter Kyle Ulbrich after he pinned CSU at their own two-yard line to essentially finish the game off in the fourth quarter.
They had proven, not just to themselves, but to everyone around the country, that they were capable of the sort of domination they had suffered against the week before. They had evidence, right in front of them, that they could run the football well, that they could knock the quarterback down, that they could cover a punt. Little things that had gone wrong were going right.
Doesn't mean they'll go right all the time the rest of the year, as the third quarter where CSU outscored the Blue Raiders 19-7 showed us. There's plenty of things to look at in the film room this Sunday, I'm sure.
But it's a Sunday after a Blue Raider win, not a Blue Raider loss.
And that makes going through that film much, much better.
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