Blue Raiders hit the road to face Marshall on Saturday

Saturday, Sept. 12 \| 6:02 p.m. \| Joan C.Edwards Stadium (30,475) \| Huntington, WV

	MIDDLE TENNESSEE BLUE RAIDERS 1-0, 0-0 CUSA	AT	MARSHALL THUNDERING HERD 0-1, 0-0 SUN BELT

WATCH: ESPN+ \| STATS: LINK \| RADIO: WGNS (LINK)

HUNTINGTON — Following an impressive season-opening victory, Middle Tennessee hits the road for the first time in 2026 when the Blue Raiders travel to Huntington, West Virginia, to take on Marshall Saturday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT, with the game streaming live on ESPN+.

The Blue Raiders opened the season last Saturday, rolling to a 38-14 victory over Murray State at Floyd Stadium in a weathered delayed game that was officially called at 12:55 a.m. with 11:01 remaining in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Roman Gagliano threw for 200 yards, while running back Antonio Martin rushed for 103 yards and wide receiver Cam'ron Lacy recorded 118 receiving yards to lead the Blue Raider offense. MTSU also turned in a strong defensive effort, holding the Racers to 14 points.

Saturday's contest will provide MTSU with its first road test of the season and a chance to build momentum before returning home to face Nevada on Sept. 19. Marshall enters the matchup 0-1 after opening its season with a 45-0 loss at Penn State. The Thundering Herd will be making its 2026 home debut Saturday, adding another challenge for the Blue Raiders in what is expected to be a spirited atmosphere in Huntington.

The Blue Raiders and Thundering Herd have met 12 times previously, with Marshall holding a 7-5 advantage in the all-time series. Marshall won the most recent meeting, 42-28, in 2025, while MTSU earned a 34-28 victory in the teams' previous matchup in 2021.

GAME 2

» Saturday, November 12 - 6:02 p.m. CT
» Joan C. Edwards Stadium
» Huntington, WV

SERIES HISTORY

» The Blue Raiders and Herd will be meeting for the 13th time in football after facing each other last year in Murfreesboro. Marshall owns a slim 7-5 advantage in the series, which began in 1992 in the NCAA I-AA playoffs. The two schools played as members of CUSA together from 2013-2021 and during that span, MTSU owned a 5-4 advantage in the series. The Blue Raiders are just 1-5 all-time in Huntington with the lone win coming in 2018 (34-24).
BLUE RAIDER NOTES

» After starting the year with a win last week, the Blue Raiders have a chance to begin the season 2-0 for the first time since 2001.
» Dating back to last season, the Blue Raiders have scored 30 or more points in three straight games for the first time since the 2023 season. The last time an MTSU team hit the 30-point mark in four straight games was during the 2022 campaign.
» MTSU started 10 players against Murray St. who came from last year's transfer portal haul (five on offense and five on defense).
» The 38 points scored against Murray State is the most put up in the Derek Mason era.
» The Blue Raider offense has committed just one turnover in its last four games combined.
» MTSU had eight offensive drives against Murray State and five of them ended in scores.
» MTSU's weather delay was 4:13 in win over Murray State and marked the third straight year the Blue Raiders have had a home game interrupted for weather. They had 2:40 delay in 2024 against TTU and a 2:12 delay against Marshall last year. That totals 9:05 in delays or right at 3 games.
» Consecutive Starts: AJ Jones 8, Korey Smith 5, Kalen Woods 5 and Alex Gale 5

BLUE RAIDERS VS SBC

» MTSU spent 12 years as members of the Sun Belt Conference from 2001 to 2012. The Blue Raiders carry a mark of 50-38 against teams from the Sun Belt Conference all-time. Overall, MTSU has lost three straight to the SBC with the last win coming on Nov. 24, 2012 against Troy.

FIRST TIME STARTERS

» MTSU had 13 players make their first starts as Blue Raiders in the win over Murray State in the opener. On offense, WR Markus Allen, RB Antonio Martin, OL Chris Moreno, OL Trevaris Edwards, OL Quentin Butler, and OL Reese Tripp all made their first starts as Blue Raiders. Defensively, S James Johnson, LB Ashton Taylor, CB Aidan Singleton, S Gumbo Gaskins, DE Kaven Call, DE Aidan Butts and DL Archie Roseman all made their first starts.

BIG START FOR LACY

» WR Cam Lacy got the 2026 season off to a strong start. The Toccoa, GA, native equaled his personal-best with eight receptions against Murray State while setting a career-high with 118 yards. Lacy, who was fifth on the team last year with a career-best 38 receptions for a team-high 549 ya, rdsalso had 78 yards after catch against the Racers to go with his one touchdown. It was the third 100-yard receiving game of his career.

SCOOP AND SCORE

» Safety Kalen Woods recorded the first defensive score under Derek Mason when he picked up a fumble in the win over Murray State and returned it 39 yards for a TD. It marked the first fumble return for a score by the Blue Raiders since the 2023 season against FIU.

RUN GAME UPTICK

» MTSU came into the 2026 season with an emphasis to elevate the running game. After one game, it appears the changes are working. The combination of Antonio Martin and Terrence Brown accounted for 170 of the team's 196 rushing yards against Murray State for an impressive average of 8.9 yards a carry. Martin notched a team-high 103 yards on 15 carries to notch just the program's sixth 100-yard rushing game since 2001.

IMPRESSIVE STARTER NUMBERS FOR ROMAN

» Signal-caller Roman Gagliano has made four career starts with three to end the 2025 season and the opener this year. In those four starts, the Opelika, AL, native has accounted for 1,318 yards of total offense with 1,111 passing yards, 207 rushing yards and been responsible for 11 touchdowns. More importantly is the fact he has thrown 170 career passes with no interceptions.

Saturday, Sept. 12 | 6:02 p.m. | Joan C.Edwards Stadium (30,475) | Huntington, WV

GAME 2

SERIES HISTORY

Players Mentioned

Markus Allen

Terrence Brown

Quentin Butler

Aidan Butts

Kaven Call

Trevaris Edwards

Roman Gagliano

Alex Gale

Gumbo Gaskins

James Johnson

AJ Jones

Cam'ron Lacy

Antonio Martin

Chris Moreno

Aidan Singleton

Korey Smith

Ashton Taylor

Reese Tripp

Kalen Woods

Middle Tennessee State University Athletics