Run It Back: An MTSU Dynasy

[R1zzo23]

Quote: Originally Posted by Iron Dragon

5 red zone trips in 5 field goals, game could have been ugly but a win is a win.

Yes you're absolutely right. Our defense has really been bailing us out this season especially with our offense sputtering and not reaching expectations. Here's to hoping Bruce and Frazier can add a little something to our passing game. I think our problem is we don't establish Mathers to start the game. Maybe more runs out of the spread to ease our way into the game could help.


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[R1zzo23]

Most of the season's numbers point to favor MTSU except for perhaps the most crucial one: turnovers. Turnovers are always the great equalizer and if Brent Stockstill and Co. cannot protect the ball on the road, the Hilltoppers may have a chance to pull the upset over their rival. Kirk Herbstreit is going to go with the road warriors in this one.



Neither team really has an impressive win thus far but they are on different streaks as WKU is on a two-game losing skid while MTSU has won their last two contests.



Neither team is close to sniffing the top-25 so there isn't much to see here except for one section: key injuries. While the Blue Raiders have been playing without arguably their best front-seven defender for the past couple weeks and will continue to do so here against Western Kentucky, the Hilltoppers are without their starting QB who was lost for the season. That's a huge blow for this struggling offense.



Senior QB Tyler Ferguson takes over the reigns and hasn't looked good doing so, completing only 35% of his passes for 438 yards, 1 TD and 3 INTs. The run game, which is used less than it should be at this point, is effective with senior Anthony Wales averaging 6.6 yards a carry. The Blue Raiders are lead by their 3-headed monster in Stockstill, James and Mathers. If those three get going, the Blue Raiders have a chance at putting a hurtin' on their rivals.

[R1zzo23]

Middle Tennessee State walked into their bitter rival’s stadium coming off of two consecutive C-USA wins. A third would put them in the top spot in their division and none would be sweeter than beating the Hilltoppers. Western Kentucky was hosting a who’s who of some premiere recruits, but would they be able to impress them enough to get them to sign with their middle-of-the-pack program?



MTSU started with the ball and got one of their freshmen involved right away with freshman Jocquez Bruce catching the first of many Brent Stockstill completions. Coming into the game the coaching staff talked about trying to get Bruce and senior Demetrius Frazier more snaps and it would prove to pay off. While the opening drive ended with a field goal by Canon Rooker, Bruce and Frazier would pay dividends throughout the game.



A quick Western Kentucky punt got the Blue Raiders’ offense back on the field. This drive was quick and effective as it was capped off by a 7-yard Stockstill scramble for a touchdown. On the drive, Stockstill had three carries for 44 yards and the pictured scored. The first run was on an option keeper as he read the end and took off for 20. The second “carry” was on a play-action pass where he shook off an impending sack and scrambled 17 yards. The third was on this broken play where none of his receivers got open but the defensive line lost contain and got out of their lanes, allowing Stockstill to scramble right and race into the end zone. Two drives in and the Blue Raiders led 10-0.



After allowing a field goal on the next WKU drive, MTSU took back to the air. While Stockstill was dialed in all game long, he got a little help from his friends. The budding superstar, Richie James, climbed the ladder on the defender to haul in this 31-yard pass down the left sideline. While the crowd was sparse, you could hear a collective “ooooh” when he came down with this pass.



The two would connect later on the drive to cap it off with another seven points as Stockstill was able to thread the needle between two defenders and find Richie James for a 7-yard TD pass. Stockstill was responsible for two first quarter touchdowns and MTSU had a commanding 17-3 lead heading into the 2nd quarter of what has the makeup of a blowout.

Western Kentucky’s offense continued to sputter behind their backup QB and just couldn’t find any rhythm. Erratic passes and stuffed runs led to more snaps for the Blue Raiders and Brent Stockstill, which almost always led to more points. Stockstill continued his hot play and led another fast-paced drive down the field and found Demetrius Frazier in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD and a commanding 24-3 lead. Unless WKU came up with something quick, this game was going to be over.



The Hilltopper’s drove down the field and got within striking distance but then stalled out. They came out in their field goal formation and looked as if they were going to attempt a long 55-yard attempt. MTSU came out in a field goal return formation with one man back to try to return it if it came up short. WKU ran a fake field goal as they intentionally snapped it high. Ferguson, the backup-turned-starting QB and still the holder, took the snap and turned to his right immediately. With two guys streaking down the field behind all of MTSU’s rushers, he floated it over the top. Shaquille Johnson had a blocker in front of him, which easily blocked the return man and scampered into the endzone untouched. WKU had life and was now down 24-10 with 3:27 left in the first half.

And then Brent Stockstill took the field again…



Leading a long, methodical drive down field, bleeding the clock as much as they could while still trying to keep up a nice tempo, Stockstill was able to find his big tight end Terry Pettis down the seam. The linebacker was unable to keep up and it ended with an 18-yard score for the senior. Brent Stockstill gave the MTSU faithful another score to cheer about, making it 31-10 heading into the break. At halftime, the Blue Raiders’ QB was responsible for four touchdowns - 3 passing and 1 rushing - against their bitter rivals. This was the best half of football this team has played all season long.



The dominance was evident in the numbers. Being outgained on offense 334-180 made it look a little closer than it really was. The time of possession was just embarrassing with MTSU’s offense more than doubling the time on the field. The Hilltoppers were showing no fight whatsoever and unless they had a fire lit under their *** at halftime this was going to get ugly quick.



Not much changed in the third quarter. WKU’s offense came on and threatened to score a touchdown conventionally but couldn’t finish the drive and had to settle for three points. Stockstill went back to work and was slicing up this Hilltopper defense. Into the red zone yet again, Stockstill ran a beautiful play-action fake to freeze the linebackers. With a blitzer firing down on him, Stockstill was able to get rid of the ball in time to find Pettis for his second score of the game. The rout was on!



Late in the 3rd quarter on a 3rd down with Western Kentucky almost at midfield, the play called for a speed option right. Defensive end Chris Hale sniffed it out and beat his block off the snap, blowing up the option play in the backfield and taking down Ferguson for the big loss and yet another punt. Any chance at a comeback ended with that sack and both teams knew it.



The best part about blowouts is that you get to see some of the backups get some meaningful snaps in a game. Even better is playing against your hated rival. Redshirt senior Raynard Felton got his hands on Ferguson and was able to record his first tackle of the season, this one a 3rd down sack to force a punt. The jubilation on the sideline for the 5th year defensive tackle showed how much this team cared about each other and loved seeing their teammates get their chance to shine.



While the game was in hand by halftime, MTSU didn’t let off the gas. With the second string offense in, it was WKU’s job to stop them from scoring. Why put the backups in if you’re just going to call HB slams to burn the clock. Coach Potter wanted to see what his second string guys could do. Backup QB John Urzua, a redshirt freshman, took over for Stockstill for the entire 4th quarter. While he came out shaky, missing his first three passes and throwing an INT on a pass he threw while getting hit, he was able to celebrate at least one play. Reading straight man coverage with only one deep safety in the middle of the field, Urzua spotted WR Ricky Blair beat his defender off the line on his 9-route and fired a missile over the top. Blair ran underneath it, taking it in stride and racing for a 74-yard TD pass. Statement made!



There was no doubt who the player of the game was going to be as Brent Stockstill amassed 393 passing yards, 37 rushing yards and six total touchdowns. The utter look of disgust and disappointment on the faces of WKU fans, players and coaches brought smiles to the road team. This was a beat down of epic proportions.



A couple 4th quarter touchdowns by WKU’s starters against MTSU’s backups made the game look a little more respectable but anyone who watched this game knew that it wasn’t as close as the 25-point difference would show. After the first quarter, this game was O-V-E-R!

[itsbigmike]

Very nice win against a rival. Also, spoiling WKU's hosting of the No. 1 MLB recruit in the country is a good bonus.

[gsutiger]

Nice win took them out early and never looked back

[Iron Dragon]

Stockstill balled out, nice dominating win there.

[R1zzo23]

Quote: Originally Posted by itsbigmike

Very nice win against a rival. Also, spoiling WKU's hosting of the No. 1 MLB recruit in the country is a good bonus.

I couldn't believe the crop of recruits WKU had coming to this game. I would love if this game had something where that #1 MLB came to watch WKU but found out that maybe MTSU was more interesting to him so he sends me an email saying he's potentially interested in our program. Would make things much more exciting in recruiting.

Quote: Originally Posted by gsutiger

Nice win took them out early and never looked back

This was the first time we were able to start hot. We usually come out punting our first 3-4 drives or getting lucky to settle for field goals. It felt good to score at will for once.

Quote: Originally Posted by Iron Dragon

Stockstill balled out, nice dominating win there.

Stockstill was dialed in on this one and it was fun being able to get a lot of different receivers involved in this one. Even getting the backups into the game for the first time all season was fun to see.


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[R1zzo23]

After five weeks, Oklahoma continues to sit atop the polls after handling then #8 Notre Dame 27-9 in Norman. They will get another tough test this week against #17 TCU who suffered their first loss of the season last week at SMU. Michigan State is still undefeated and has grabbed 20 first-place votes to threaten the Sooners' reign atop the rankings. Former #2 Ohio State suffered an overtime loss at Wisconsin 30-24 and dropped to just #7, leaving them still in the thick of the BCS hunt.



With Deshaun Watson now out of the top-5, we have a few new faces on the Heisman Watch list. The new favorite is FSU halfback Dalvin Cook who has his Seminoles ranked #10 in the nation. Right behind him is Tennessee's Jalen Hurd with two new signal callers - Ole Miss' Chad Kelly and UNC's Mitch Trubisky - ranked 3rd and 4th, respectively. Christian McCaffrey continues to be in the top-5 but is losing ground in the race.



The awards for Player of the Week have a very Blue Raider feel to them as Brent Stockstill was not only the C-USA offensive player of the week but took home the honors for the entire country! His 393 passing and 37 rushing yards to go with six total touchdowns was the best performance in the country. Colorado's senior corner Chidobe Awuzie was Defensive Player of the Week for the NCAA with his eight total tackles, one of which for a loss, and three interceptions. For C-USA DPoW honors, freshman LOLB Dale Craig of MTSU received the praise for his 4-tackle performance (1 for a loss) to go with a sack and a forced fumble.



Quite a few C-USA teams suffered out-of-conference losses this week as the teams gear up for the remainder of their C-USA schedules to finish off the regular season.



The C-USA standings look very top heavy in the West division with only UTEP and North Texas being the only undefeated teams in conference play. In the East, five of the six teams are undefeated in C-USA play while Old Dominion is the only team in the entire conference that has not suffered a loss of any kind on the season.