Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
NOTEBOOK: Football looks to build on what’s worked in final game of the season
11/25/2024 6:46:00 PM | Football, General, Men's Basketball, Men's Cross Country and Track & Field, Women's Volleyball, Track & Field/Cross Country
Kiplagat posts best-ever MTSU finish at Cross Country Nationals
With injuries up front forcing the offense to adjust, MTSU has tried a plethora of strategies to move the ball this season, from tight-end heavy formations, to spread out looks, to two-back from the gun to lining up under center, which the Blue Raiders did plenty of on Saturday against New Mexico State. The result against the Aggies was a season-best performance on the ground, racking up over six yards per carry.
"It lets your offensive line know, 'hey, we're getting behind you and running the ball," tight end Holden Willis said. "You can still throw it out of under center, but a lot of times, it's downhill running."
Ahead of Friday's season finale at FIU, the Blue Raiders are looking to continue to build good habits into next season, head coach Derek Mason said, particularly straining as a group in the run game. The under center, downhill rushing attack plays a role in that.
"We're still exploring this football team," Mason said, with a nod to the injury luck the team has had up front, where MTSU has started 11 different offensive lines in 11 games. "We know what Holden Willis is, we know what Omari Kelly is, we understand what the running back room is. It's all the other pieces we're trying to figure out. How do you figure out all the other pieces that maintain and give us a chance for consistency?"
The Blue Raiders know they'll need to score points to keep pace with a fast FIU squad this week that features two receivers with at least five touchdown catches, led by 11 TD receptions from Eric Rivers. Kickoff against the Panthers in Miami is set for 1 p.m. CT on ESPN+ and the Blue Raider Network.
Kiplagat finishes Top 20 at NCAA Cross Country Championships
Allan Kiplagat finished in 19th place at the NCAA Cross Country National Championship to earn All-American honors.
The freshman had a sensational day, even though temperatures were below freezing in Madison. He ran a personal best time of 29:12.8 in the 10k, becoming the first freshman in the race to cross the finish line.
"That was a phenomenal race," Head Coach Keith Vroman said. "He worked really smart and finished strong. It has been really nice to see him progress through the year. He has improved with every race this season. His patience paid off today, and we look forward to what he can do on the track."
Kiplagat finishes his cross-country season with numerous honors, including C-USA Freshman of the Week three times, C-USA Athlete of the Week, C-USA Athlete of the Year, C-USA Freshman of the Year, All-Region first team, and now All-American.
This is the best finish in NCAA National Championship history for MTSU cross country, surpassing Kigen Chemadi's 23rd-place finish in 2017 in Louisville, Ky.
𝑨𝑳𝑳-𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑹𝑰𝑪𝑨𝑵
— Middle Tennessee XC/Track & Field (@MT_TrackField) November 23, 2024
Allan Kiplagat finishes in 19th place at the National Championship to earn All-American honors.
#BLUEnited pic.twitter.com/1GFeBj4aoK
Porter, Mostafa named to All-Myrtle Beach Invitational Team after final appearance for Blue Raiders
After strong showings in all rounds of the Myrtle Beach Invitational, Jestin Porter and Essam Mostafa were named to the All-Tournament Team. The two members of the Middle Tennessee men's basketball team were instrumental to the squad's run to the championship game.
dominant.
— Middle Tennessee Men's Basketball (@MT_MBB) November 25, 2024
our guys essam and jp were selected to the myrtle beach invitational all-tournament team 👏 pic.twitter.com/myIJPg0EKq
Jestin Porter reached 20+ points in the opening two contests, setting a season-high with 26 against South Florida. The senior averaged 50 percent shooting from the field over the three contests, while also shooting 52.9 percent from beyond the arc. He dished out seven assists and snatched four steals throughout the tournament.
Essam Mostafa set a season-high in scoring at the Myrtle Beach Invitational and earned two consecutive double-doubles in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Against Ohio, the graduate student brought down a season-high 13 rebounds to go along with 19 points for his third double-double of the season. The following day, Mostafa scored a season-best 20 points accompanied by 10 rebounds for his second-straight double-double, the first time a Blue Raider has achieved this since January 2024.
🎥 "this is a tough team, don't count us out" pic.twitter.com/8YS5hCVsC6
— Middle Tennessee Men's Basketball (@MT_MBB) November 23, 2024
MTSU Women's Basketball heads to Florida for Feast Week
Middle Tennessee women's basketball is on the road for a trio of games in the Sunshine State this week, taking on Florida A&M on Tuesday afternoon before traveling further south to Ft. Myers for the Fort Myers Tip-Off, where they'll play Purdue on Thanksgiving Day and Iowa State on Saturday.
If nobody's got us... Our boy @CharlieCreme's got us!#TrueBlue | #Team50 pic.twitter.com/1IXSMekT1J
— Middle Tennessee Women's Basketball (@MT_WBB) November 22, 2024
The Blue Raiders two games in Fort Myers will be broadcast on the Women's Sports Network. Find out how to get access to the channel at the following link: https://womenssports.com/where-to-find-us-2/
🎬 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 | One game at a time…
— Middle Tennessee Women's Basketball (@MT_WBB) November 23, 2024
#TrueBlue | #Team50 pic.twitter.com/fERcC13IeI
Volleyball has host of Blue Raiders earn All-CUSA honors
Setter Andi Spies was named Conference USA's Freshman of the Year for Volleyball last week, joining four of her MTSU teammates on All-CUSA lists this fall. Outside Hitter Adriana Rhoda was named First Team All-Conference, while Spies was joined by Middle Blocker Kiera Booth and Outside Hitter/Libero Laure Jansen on the Second Team. Middle Blocker Emma Nilson joined Spies on the All-Freshman Team.
MTSU Volleyball concluded the 2024 season last week with a five-set loss in the CUSA Tournament Quarterfinals.
🏐 2024 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR 🏐
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) November 20, 2024
Andi Spies, @MT_Volleyball #NoLimitsOnUs | https://t.co/GRI2Ubr03b pic.twitter.com/IRFT6zfWk2
Congratulations to Adriana Rhoda on being named to the @ConferenceUSA First Team All-Conference for the second consecutive season! #BLUEnited | #BetterInTheBoro pic.twitter.com/2OtlpCwmsy
— Middle Tennessee Volleyball (@MT_Volleyball) November 20, 2024
Not one, not two, but THREE @ConferenceUSA Second Team All-Conference Team members!
— Middle Tennessee Volleyball (@MT_Volleyball) November 20, 2024
Congratulations to Kiera Booth, Laure Jansen, and Andi Spies! 👏#BLUEnited | #BetterInTheBoro pic.twitter.com/TuIAwZwAtG
Freshmen on 🔝
— Middle Tennessee Volleyball (@MT_Volleyball) November 20, 2024
Congratulations to Emma Nilson and Andi Spies on being named to the @ConferenceUSA All-Freshman Team! 💪#BLUEnited | #BetterInTheBoro pic.twitter.com/d6ThSojePs
Baseball, Women's Tennis, Women's Golf releases 2025 Schedule
The 2025 schedule is here!
— Middle Tennessee Baseball (@MT_Baseball) November 21, 2024
More information -> https://t.co/VNGCBxtOx9#BLUEnited | #BlueCrew pic.twitter.com/H30qG96Ssb
The 2⃣0⃣2⃣5⃣ spring schedule is here!!
— Middle Tennessee Women's Tennis (@MT_WomensTennis) November 19, 2024
📰: https://t.co/g4aqWY1EjO#BLUEnited pic.twitter.com/0CzvTm7lZs
Our 2025 spring schedule is HERE 🤩 pic.twitter.com/2bqBe1ITW7
— Middle Tennessee Women's Golf (@MT_WGolf) November 20, 2024
Players Mentioned
