Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
With a dominant win, the Blue Raiders finally showed they found a way to “to keep getting better”
11/12/2023 7:59:00 AM | Football
"I've never doubted the character of the team,” Rick Stockstill said.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — It was a Saturday where everything that could've gone right, went right for Middle Tennessee football.
The day started with the crisp fall day that was perfect football weather, nearly warm most of the afternoon with temperatures in the mid-sixties but with plenty of changing leaves on the Raider Walk.
Things went more right in the first quarter, when Elijah Metcalf spun out of a tackle on a screen pass, kept on his feet with his arm and sprinted past the remaining FIU Panthers for the first of four touchdown passes on the day for Nicholas Vattiato.
When Richard Kinley picked the ball out of the air after Jorden Starling stripped the ball from Keyone Jenkins at the end of the first quarter, grabbing the ball for a 23-yard fumble recovery touchdown, the route was on. For Blue Raider fans, the afternoon only got better, with MTSU keeping the Panthers out of the endzone the entire game, even getting a safety in the course of Middle Tennessee's 40-6 victory.
"Tonight we showed, not only (to) everyone else but (to) ourselves, when we do what we're supposed to, when we play the way we know we can, good things will happen," Vattiato said.
It's not been a season with much to write home about for MTSU, who picked up just their third win of the season, and just their second in CUSA play, on Saturday. The seven losses already registered have placed even bowl eligibility out of reach in the final month of the season. Saturday's game, for good reason, was called the most complete game the Blue Raiders have played this year by multiple visitors to post-game media availability.
There have been weeks like MTSU's loss at Liberty, where the offense scored 35 points with a plethora of explosive plays but fell just short when the defense gave up 42 points. Conversely, the following game at New Mexico State saw the defense let up just 13 points, only for the offense to manage just one touchdown.
"Finally, we put a game together, all three phases, probably the most complete game we've played with all three phases," head coach Rick Stockstill said. "We played really good, complementary football."
The offense was efficient, able to run (139 yards) and pass (288 yards) to get 6.8 yards per play. Vattiato was extremely efficient, completing 18-of-25 passes with four touchdowns and no turnovers, averaging 15.3 yards per completion. Four different Blue Raiders all caught touchdown passes, each with a flourish, from Holden Willis' juke to the goalline to Jeremy Tate's power through a tackle to DJ England-Chisolm's blazing speed.
Defensively, FIU had nowhere to run, with a strong vertical push from the defensive line opening up opportunities for the linebackers and D-Line alike, the forced east-west run game ending with a 1.3 yards per rush average from the visitors. Through the air, the Panthers weren't much better, completing just 59 percent of their total passes while getting sacked four times.
And even on special teams, MTSU was sharp, twice downing FIU inside their own five, with one of those drives leading directly to the Blue Raiders' second half safety.
"They take that for granted," Richard Kinley said of MTSU's two punters, Miles Tillman and Trey Turk, who both have lockers near Kinley in the Blue Raider locker room. "Kicking is hard. I know I can't go out there and do that."
It was a game that left the Blue Raiders' head coach happy that his team finally had some confidence, some "feel-good" for the work they've put in all year. But it also highlighted the disappointment of Saturday being the first, and so far only, time MTSU has reached its ceiling this season.
"We haven't played as well as what we've been capable of," Stockstill said. "And that's the frustrating and disappointing part. But I've never doubted the character of the team. Whoever we've lost to, we've come back and practiced well."
While the Blue Raiders had motivation in making FIU's path to a bowl much harder on Saturday ("We've seen that FIU got two more wins to go," England-Chisolm said of the now 4-6 Panthers. "So, if we can't go to a bowl game, we're not going to let them go to a bowl game."), the final two games on MTSU's schedule feature a team already out of bowl contention (3-7 UTEP) and a team that was never going to be eligible this season (FBS-transitioning and now 2-8 Sam Houston). The final two games will be purely about pride and character for those inside the MTSU locker room.
But after getting that winning feeling one more time on Saturday, the Blue Raiders only plan is to strive for that feeling again.
"A lot of our goals this year we haven't accomplished," Vattiato said. "But we're going to create this momentum going forward. We're just going to keep getting better."
The day started with the crisp fall day that was perfect football weather, nearly warm most of the afternoon with temperatures in the mid-sixties but with plenty of changing leaves on the Raider Walk.
Things went more right in the first quarter, when Elijah Metcalf spun out of a tackle on a screen pass, kept on his feet with his arm and sprinted past the remaining FIU Panthers for the first of four touchdown passes on the day for Nicholas Vattiato.
When Richard Kinley picked the ball out of the air after Jorden Starling stripped the ball from Keyone Jenkins at the end of the first quarter, grabbing the ball for a 23-yard fumble recovery touchdown, the route was on. For Blue Raider fans, the afternoon only got better, with MTSU keeping the Panthers out of the endzone the entire game, even getting a safety in the course of Middle Tennessee's 40-6 victory.
"Tonight we showed, not only (to) everyone else but (to) ourselves, when we do what we're supposed to, when we play the way we know we can, good things will happen," Vattiato said.
It's not been a season with much to write home about for MTSU, who picked up just their third win of the season, and just their second in CUSA play, on Saturday. The seven losses already registered have placed even bowl eligibility out of reach in the final month of the season. Saturday's game, for good reason, was called the most complete game the Blue Raiders have played this year by multiple visitors to post-game media availability.
There have been weeks like MTSU's loss at Liberty, where the offense scored 35 points with a plethora of explosive plays but fell just short when the defense gave up 42 points. Conversely, the following game at New Mexico State saw the defense let up just 13 points, only for the offense to manage just one touchdown.
"Finally, we put a game together, all three phases, probably the most complete game we've played with all three phases," head coach Rick Stockstill said. "We played really good, complementary football."
The offense was efficient, able to run (139 yards) and pass (288 yards) to get 6.8 yards per play. Vattiato was extremely efficient, completing 18-of-25 passes with four touchdowns and no turnovers, averaging 15.3 yards per completion. Four different Blue Raiders all caught touchdown passes, each with a flourish, from Holden Willis' juke to the goalline to Jeremy Tate's power through a tackle to DJ England-Chisolm's blazing speed.
Defensively, FIU had nowhere to run, with a strong vertical push from the defensive line opening up opportunities for the linebackers and D-Line alike, the forced east-west run game ending with a 1.3 yards per rush average from the visitors. Through the air, the Panthers weren't much better, completing just 59 percent of their total passes while getting sacked four times.
And even on special teams, MTSU was sharp, twice downing FIU inside their own five, with one of those drives leading directly to the Blue Raiders' second half safety.
"They take that for granted," Richard Kinley said of MTSU's two punters, Miles Tillman and Trey Turk, who both have lockers near Kinley in the Blue Raider locker room. "Kicking is hard. I know I can't go out there and do that."
It was a game that left the Blue Raiders' head coach happy that his team finally had some confidence, some "feel-good" for the work they've put in all year. But it also highlighted the disappointment of Saturday being the first, and so far only, time MTSU has reached its ceiling this season.
"We haven't played as well as what we've been capable of," Stockstill said. "And that's the frustrating and disappointing part. But I've never doubted the character of the team. Whoever we've lost to, we've come back and practiced well."
While the Blue Raiders had motivation in making FIU's path to a bowl much harder on Saturday ("We've seen that FIU got two more wins to go," England-Chisolm said of the now 4-6 Panthers. "So, if we can't go to a bowl game, we're not going to let them go to a bowl game."), the final two games on MTSU's schedule feature a team already out of bowl contention (3-7 UTEP) and a team that was never going to be eligible this season (FBS-transitioning and now 2-8 Sam Houston). The final two games will be purely about pride and character for those inside the MTSU locker room.
But after getting that winning feeling one more time on Saturday, the Blue Raiders only plan is to strive for that feeling again.
"A lot of our goals this year we haven't accomplished," Vattiato said. "But we're going to create this momentum going forward. We're just going to keep getting better."
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