Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
0-1 , 0-0
#4 Alabama
1-0 , 0-0
Blue Raiders drop season opener to No. 4 Alabama
9/2/2023 10:13:00 PM | Football
Crimson Tide roll to win over Blue Raiders
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Middle Tennessee football dropped the opening game of its the 2023 season on Saturday night in Bryant-Denny Stadium, falling 56-7 to No. 4 Alabama.
The Blue Raiders (0-1) were able to weather early momentum from the Crimson Tide (1-0) to string together multiple defensive stops in the first half, giving the Blue Raiders a chance to enter halftime down just one score. But an interception from Nicholas Vattiato quickly led to a pair of quick Alabama scores, giving the Blue Raiders a 28-0 deficit at the break that only grew in the second half. .
Bryce Bailey scored the Blue Raiders' first points of the game in the third quarter, springing free with a cut inside on third and goal for a seven-yard touchdown reception from Vattiato. It was the redshirt sophomore's first career touchdown.
By the Numbers
12: Players that recorded at least one catch for the Blue Raiders.
0: Turnovers forced by MTSU, the first time in seven games the Blue Raiders did not turnover their opponent. The last time an MTSU failed to turn a foe over was October 8, 2022 at UAB.
9, 84: Penalties and yards given from penalties for MTSU. Seven of those penalties and 74 of those yards came in the first half.
Blue Raider Notes
• MTSU began its 109th season of football with today's 2023 season opener against Alabama.
• The Blue Raiders move to 62-45-2 all-time in season openers.
• WR Javonte Sherman made his first collegiate start today against Alabama.
• WR Bryce Bailey logged his first career touchdown today against Alabama.
Head Coach Rick Stockstill
• Today's game was the 213th for Rick Stockstill as head coach of the Blue Raiders.
Offensive Player Notes
#11 | Nicholas Vattiato | QB | r-So.
• Finished 21-for-32 for 127 yards, a TD and an INT.
• Also logged 16 yards on the ground, including a career long 30-yard scamper for a first down in the second quarter.
• Completed 21 passes to 12 different receivers.
#25 | Bryce Bailey | WR | r-So.
• Logged his first career TD on a seven-yard slant from Vattiato in the third quarter.
#32 | Jekail Middlebrook | RB | Fr.
• In his first career game as a Blue Raider, led the team with 32 yards rushing on eight carries, with a long of 11 yards.
• Also, logged one reception for 21 yards.
Defensive Player Notes
#1 | Teldrick Ross | CB | r-Sr.
• Made his 15th consecutive start tonight which equals Tra Fluellen for the longest streak on the team.
#4 | Johnathan Butler | LB | r-Sr.
• Posted six stops on the evening, including his second career sack as a Blue Raider in the second quarter – his first since 2020.
#30 | Jakobe Thomas | S | r-So.
• Led the team with eight tackles and a PBU on the evening.
Special Teams Player Notes
#38 | Miles Tillman | P | r-So.
• Made his first career start as a punter tonight.
• Tallied five punts for 268 yards (53.6 average), including four punts of 50+ yards and two punts downed inside the 20-yard line.
• Logged a career long 59-yard punt in the first half.
#99 | Trey Turk | P | Jr.
• Split the punting duties with Tillman.
• Tallied three punts for 132 yards (44.0 average) with a long of 51 yards.
Thoughts from Head Coach Rick Stockstill
"First of all, give Alabama credit. Obviously, they've got a heck of a football team. The first half, we did some things offensively, moving the ball a little bit. Get a pass, move the ball on their side of the field. We had a lineman downfield, it backed us up. Then next possession, we had another little drive going and had a chop block that backed us up.
"They hit us pretty quick out of the gates. It's 14-0 at the end of the first quarter, but we hung in there. Their quarterback is a heck of player and made some really really special plays with his feet. They had the bad snap there and he just improvised had a 25-30 yard touchdown run. We hung there, it was 14-0. The last couple of three, four, five minutes of the second quarter, they kind of bombarded on us a little bit...
"I was proud of our team and how we fought and how we competed. We played extremely hard. When you play teams like this, you've got to play perfect and we didn't play perfect. But I like our team. I told them in (the locker room), I told them the last couple minutes of the game, we're going to have a heck of a team this year, a heck of a year. We've just got to make some corrections where we made mistakes tonight and get ready for another really good SEC team this weekend."
Up Next
Middle Tennessee will head to Columbia, Missouri to take on the Missouri Tigers on Sep. 9, 2023 at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on the SEC Network+ and the Blue Raider Radio Network.
Follow the Blue Raiders
Follow Middle Tennessee Football on social media on Facebook (/BlueRaiderFooball), X (Formerly known as Twitter) (@MT_FB) and Instagram (@mt_fb).
Team Stats
MT 0, ALA 7
ALA - Milroe,Jalen 21 yd run (Reichard,Will kick), 6 plays, 63 yards, TOP 02:58
MT 0, ALA 14
ALA - McClellan,Jase 1 yd run (Reichard,Will kick), 11 plays, 47 yards, TOP 05:06
MT 0, ALA 21
ALA - Milroe,Jalen 13 yd run (Reichard,Will kick), 2 plays, 42 yards, TOP 00:35
MT 0, ALA 28
ALA - Bond,Isaiah 47 yd pass from Milroe,Jalen (Reichard,Will kick) 1 plays, 47 yards, TOP 00:07
MT 0, ALA 35
ALA - Burton,Jermaine 48 yd pass from Milroe,Jalen (Reichard,Will kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:06
MT 0, ALA 42
ALA - Niblack,Amari 29 yd pass from Milroe,Jalen (Reichard,Will kick) 2 plays, 34 yards, TOP 00:41
MT 7, ALA 42
MT - Bailey,Bryce 7 yd pass from Vattiato,Nicholas (Rankin,Zeke kick) 11 plays, 68 yards, TOP 00:00
MT 7, ALA 49
ALA - Buchner,Tyler 9 yd run (Reichard,Will kick), 10 plays, 77 yards, TOP 04:47
MT 7, ALA 56
ALA - Simpson,Ty 1 yd run (Talty,Conor kick), 6 plays, 33 yards, TOP 03:17
