Run It Back: An MTSU Dynasy

[R1zzo23]

Quote: Originally Posted by gsutiger

No La Tech fan, but since one of the schools I went to was Grambling I have a small soft spot for the team a stones throw away.

Makes sense. Well I guess this game is a win-win for you lol.


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[gsutiger]

Quote: Originally Posted by rhs_rizzo

Makes sense. Well I guess this game is a win-win for you lol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

always..As a follower I always want the user team to win but if a Louisiana team (Not UL Monroe, because my 2nd college was UL Lafayette) wins its a win-win

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[R1zzo23]

After starting the season 0-2, this looks like a game that the Blue Raiders could use to get their season kick started in the right direction. Not only was it the first conference game of the season but it was Coach Potter's first home game as the coach at MTSU. This was a perfect opportunity to show the fans the type of potential he had as a coach and perhaps the heights that he could bring this program to in the future.

Coach Skip Holtz saw what Vanderbilt did to Potter and the MTSU defense by pounding the rock, so Louisiana Tech started the game running a lot of read option plays. Halfback Jarrad Craft and quarterback Ryan Higgins were gashing the defense play after play with the read option with Higgins seemingly unable to make a mistake.



To cap off the first drive of the game, Higgins fired a fast all through the middle of MTSU's zone defense and found his true freshman receiver Rhashid Bonnette wide open over the middle for the opening points of the game. In the post-game interview, MTSU's defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix was nervous how this game started. "Not only couldn't we get a stop, we couldn't even force a 3rd down. They moved methodically down the field and no matter what we did - drop into zone, play man, bump at the line, send the house, nothing! - was stopping them on that drive.



Finally, the defense had a breakthrough. After the offense sputtered and punted, Tech's offense was back on the field. While Higgins continued to be perfect through the air on his passed, senior end Chris Hale ripped pass the tackle and brought Higgins down to the turf. There was life...for now!



The sack against the Bulldog offense was a minor setback as they righted the ship and proceeded to push the ball down field both through the air and on the ground. Missed tackles would become a bugaboo in the first half as sophomore linebacker Chris Melton missed a tackle on sophomore halfback Jaqwis Dancy at the three-yard line and allowed the Bulldogs to trot into the end zone again, making it an early 14-0 lead for the visiting team.



As the offense continued to disappoint, unable to find any room to operate and settling for just a field goal, Higgins and Tech's offense went back to work. The play calling LTU offensive coordinator Todd Fitch kept the MTSU defense off balance, not knowing if they were going to be defending the pass, a straight run or a read option. Higgins and the offense found themselves in the red zone again. Higgins' perfect game continued as he froze the defensive end by holding the mesh point so long, forcing the end to crash down on the back and snuck out to the right side. Another missed tackle by the MTSU defense and Louisiana Tech was up 21-3 early in the game.

The next two drives yielded no points for either teams but a big sack Peter Bailey for MTSU on Higgins would change the entire momentum of the game. On the sack, LTU's quarterback Ryan Higgins would leave the game with a shoulder injury, never to return. We weren't lying when we said Higgins called a perfect game before his departure, leaving the game after completing all 11 of his passes for 131 yards and a TD while also carrying the rock 11 times for 36 yards and another score. A collective sigh of relief could be seen on the Blue Raider sideline when he left the game.



Coach Potter and offensive coordinator Tony Franklin needed to get Brent Stockstill settled down and into a rhythm. On the ensuing drive, a couple quick passes to start moving the ball led to a call for a screen pass. It takes special touch by the QB and trust in the HB to find the ball through the traffic. Stock put the ball in a perfect spot for I'Tavius Mathers to grab it and rip it off 67 yards before getting dropped at the one.



With Mathers doing a lot of work and working all the way down the field on the big play, he tapped out of the game to get a quick blow to catch his breath. Backup RB Desmond Anderson checked into the game and on the first play from scrimmage in a goal line package, took the stretch play left and dropped his shoulder into the oncoming defensive back, bodying him down to the ground before finding the end zone. The Blue Raiders were finally showing some life!

With Higgins out of the game, true freshman QB Jack Abraham took over for the Bulldogs and he struggled mightily closing out the first half. The Blue Raiders forced a three-and-out as Abraham had a few errant throws and never gained a yard on their drive. With Brent Stockstill finally settled down after managing a touchdown drive the last time out, it was time for him to find his #1 playmaker - Richie James. Noticing the defense came out with a single high safety, which was already shading to the right side of the field, James looked as if he had single coverage on the left side. Stockstill took his 5-step drop, the offensive line held their blocks and James had two steps on his defender.



By the time Stock had released the pass, the entire LTU secondary knew they were playing catchup and took their pursuit angles. James fought the glare of the lights to snatch the ball in stride and took it down the sideline. A TD-saving tackle by Tech spotted the ball down at the one-yard line, allowing I'Tavius Mathers to punch it in for his first score of the game. After trailing 21-3, MTSU had scored 14 unanswered points to push the score to 21-17.



Looking to score one more time before the end of the half, the Blue Raiders found themselves in the red zone one last time. Stockstill was dissecting the Tech defense on the drive and dropped back to pass once again. This time, Richie James had beaten his defender on the route and Stock loaded up his left arm to fire it in to him. On the throw, the QB was hit and the ball fluttered softly, landing in the hands of lineback Devin Hamilton for an interception.



Though the half didn't end on a high note, Coach Kris Potter was still pumped up about how the Blue Raiders had rallied from an early 18-point deficit to make it a 4-point game going into the break. Sure, MTSU caught a huge break when Higgins left the game but injuries are a part of the game of football and it is "next man up" time. With the passing game getting hot in the 2nd quarter and finishing with 209 yards through the air, could the Blue Raiders put it all together in the second half to close this out for Potter's first win?



The defense came out ready to play in the second half as on a 2nd and 10 play, two MTSU defenders came crashing down on Abraham, sacking him to force a 3rd and long. A screen pass that netted less than the necessary yardage forced a quick 3-and-out for the Bulldogs and the suddenly hot Blue Raider offense was back on the field. While they wouldn't find the endzone again, the would manage three points to cut LTU's lead to one point at 21-20.



The momentum would stay in MTSU's favor as senior corner Jeremy Cutrer was able to jump his receiver's route and step in front of a weak Abraham pass on the out route. The turnover set the Blue Raiders up on LTU's side of the field for a short field.



The turnover would yield seven points for the home team as I'Tavius Mathers would find pay dirt for the second time of the game. He rumbled into the endzone untouched as the offensive line did a tremendous job imposing their will on the defensive line of Tech to keep the ground game churning out yards. The Blue Raiders had taken the lead on the run, bringing the score to 27-21 in favor of the home team.



The Bulldogs would answer back. A long, extended drive to soak up the rest of the 3rd quarter saw LTU knocking at the door for a touchdown. Sophomore safety Jovante Moffatt made a TD-saving tackle to end the 3rd quarter on Tech’s HB Boston Scott. Facing a 3rd and goal to open the fourth quarter, Abraham kept it on a read-option play and scampered for a score giving Tech a one-point lead yet again. From that moment on, it was all MTSU.


The offense took the field yet again and saw Mathers score for his third time of the game! This was yet another 1-yard TD run as he took the toss left and there wasn’t a defender within five yards of him. The entire front seven of LTU crashed down in the middle expected a plunge up the gut and allowed Mathers to walk in unabated. A 2-point conversion failed as Stockstill couldn’t complete a pass to his big tight end Terry Pettis. A slim 33-28 lead meant LTU needed to score a TD to take the lead.

On the ensuing drive, Abraham got hot and was connecting with his receivers all of the field. It looked like the opening two drives yet again as he did his best Higgins impersonation. The MTSU offense stood on the sideline praying for a turnover since a stop didn’t look likely. On a 3rd down in MTSU territory, Abraham his Scott for a short pass out of the backfield that netted them a first down but on the tackle, the ball had popped out. Jeremy Cutrer had came out of nowhere, scooped up the fumble and rumbled all the way to the end zone! The place was going crazy as the Blue Raiders had just wrapped up their first win of the season!

Wait, hold on a minute! The booth is buzzing down to the refs saying we need to take a look at this. The replay was close. Some MTSU fans were screaming it was inconclusive and would need to stick with the call on the field. As the referee trotted back on the field, he concluded that the receiver’s knee was down before the fumble. First down Bulldogs! A deflated look came across the entire MTSU sideline.

The defense took to the field and knew they needed to get four stops without giving up first downs since a field goal did LTU no good. After a bad read by Abraham on a read option play led to a loss of three yards, a couple bad passes later forced a 4th and 13. Abraham dropped, scanned the field and searched for an open target. With nobody getting free, he put it up to give his receiver a chance at making a play. Running stride for stride with the receiver, 6-1 corner Dontavious Heard lept up and slapped the ball away and watched it fall helplessly to the ground. MTSU would take over on downs!



Looking to burn the clock and ice this game, MTSU kept the ball on the ground. Not much clock would be burnt off as on his second carry of the series and 18th of the game, I’Tavius Mathers capped off his best game of the season by ripping a 69-yard touchdown run, his 4th score of the game! An extra point later and MTSU closed out the game for a 40-28 win. Starting the game down 21-3, the Blue Raiders outscored the Bulldogs 37-7 since the 7:28 mark in the 2nd quarter.

[BookWork123]

Nice to get that first win out of the way!


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[NewNapkin]

Good win against LA Tech.

Hopefully the WKU game won't end up how it did yesterday in real life.... ugh.

[gsutiger]

Great first win for coach not only the 1st of the career but a conference win. Those halftime adjustments paid off

[R1zzo23]

Quote: Originally Posted by BookWork123

Nice to get that first win out of the way!

You're telling me. It didn't look good at the start but we definitely settled down and made enough plays to secure the win. If we had lost this one against a very beatable opponent the loss may have lingered into the next couple of games with the pressure mounting.

Quote: Originally Posted by KGHerm

Good win against LA Tech. Hopefully the WKU game won't end up how it did yesterday in real life.... ugh.

Any win is a good win so we will take it but we have plenty of room for improvement. Hopefully we can build off this performance and get a little bit better each game.

Funny how running a dynasty makes you pay attention to the team in real life. The fact that MTSU lost a rivalry game on a missed extra point in 2OT has got to sting.

Quote: Originally Posted by gsutiger

Great first win for coach not only the 1st of the career but a conference win. Those halftime adjustments paid off

The biggest halftime adjustment was that Higgins didn't come out of the locker room to play for LTU in the 2nd half lol. We could not stop him at all and I don't even want to know what the score would have been if he had played the entire game. But injuries are a part of the game and this time we got lucky. I know a team won't feel bad for us if we were to lose Stockstill to an injury.



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[R1zzo23]

A Clemson loss to Miami, 23-21, drops the Tigers from the top spot to #10 in the newest Coaches’ Poll. The Oklahoma Sooners, who were off this week, took over the #1 rankings as the Sooners garnered 41 of the 61 first-place votes. The Ohio State Buckeyes, coming off a drubbing over an FCS opponent, got the other 20 first-place votes. Last week saw #6 Notre Dame beta their rival in #5 Michigan in South Bend. The Irish are now the #3 team in the country while the Wolverines have dropped to #11.



Despite the losing effort, Clemson’s Deshaun Watson still sits atop the Heisman rankings but newcome Jalen Hurd, the junior halfback for Tennessee, is making his presence known as he trails Watson and Christian McCaffrey in the Heisman poll. Another new face, TCU QB Kenny Hill, has shown up on the short list as well and is another player to keep an eye on as the season progresses.



Arguably the best back in the country - Florida State’s Dalvin Cook - put on a show against an FCS opponent as he racked up 151 yards and 5 TDs on just 23 carries, good enough for Offensive Player of the Week for the entire NCAA. LOLB Temario Strong terrorized Texas to the tune of 5 tackles (4 for a loss), a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

In Conference USA, Rice’s ROLB Brandon Hamilton was the best on the defensive side of the ball with his 8 total tackles, 3 for a loss including a sack, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. For the best offensive output, look no further than MTSU’s own I’Tavius Mathers. The senior totaled 137 yards on the ground on 18 carries, four of which went for touchdowns, along with four grabs for 80 yards.



Solid win is right but Kris Potter will take any win he can get to get the first one out of the way. Louisiana Tech had the Blue Raiders on the ropes early but the home team fought through adversity and played a tremendous second half to get Coach Potter his first win in the NCAA ranks.



MTSU’s main rival, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, lost to one of the worst teams in all of the country in South Alabama. The football fans of Murfreesboro are fans of two teams on Saturday: their hometown Blue Raiders and whoever is playing against the Hilltoppers. This week, they were all Jaguar fans!



FIU now holds the lead in the C-USA East by default since Southern Miss hasn’t played a conference game yet but there’s no denying that the Golden Eagles have looked the best in the entire conference. The Blue Raiders, having started the season 0-2, fly up the standings to the 2nd spot in the East by virtue of being undefeated in the conference with their win over Louisiana Tech. Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt were good games to test the barometer of this program outside of the conference, but their eyes are set on the hardware for a conference title in 2016.