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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – An upset win over Syracuse in Week 2 has the needle pointing in a positive direction for Middle Tennessee as it prepares for a Week 3 matchup at Minnesota.
The Blue Raiders (1-1) recovered from a season-opening letdown against in-state foe Vanderbilt and made a positive trip to Syracuse, New York, last week, beating the Orange in comeback fashion, 30-23.
MT will travel north with its newly found momentum Saturday against the Gophers (2-0), who looked impressive in new head coach P.J. Fleck's first two contests at the helm. They took down Buffalo 17-7 to start the season and followed with a 48-14 drumming of Oregon State in Week 2.
The two teams have met twice before, with the Golden Gophers winning both. They traveled to Murfreesboro in 2010 and won before the Raiders went to Minneapolis and lost 35-24 in 2014.
"It's a really good football team that we're playing here this week," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "Last week, nobody gave you two cents and now everybody wants to give you a quarter. So, we've got to ignore that and prepare to focus on a really good Minnesota team."
While Middle Tennessee came out with its fifth victory over a Power 5 conference opponent in the Rick Stockstill era against Syracuse, it was clear some things still need to be polished.
The Blue Raider offense seemed to finally find its stride in the second half, but before that it was not to standard. They'll have to come out with a four-quarter effort against a tough Minnesota defense that's given up just an average of 243.5 yards per game to opponents so far in 2017.
Against the Orange, redshirt junior quarterback Brent Stockstill completed just 11 of his first 22 passes for 76 yards and an interception, and in total the offense turned the ball over three times in the first half. However, after that something caught fire.
The younger Stockstill completed 11-of-14 passes for 193 yards and three touchdowns in the second half as the Blue Raiders outscored Syracuse 21-10 in the final two quarters. He finished 22-of-36 passing for 269 yards, three scores and the INT, and was named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week.
"At the tempo we play, you have to get first downs," he said. "If you can't get the first downs and get the tempo going and get the defense tired a little bit, then we aren't going to be successful. I think in the second half we got some rhythm going and got the first down, and that's what it starts with and that's what we need to do going into this week."
Not only will MT have to travel to Minnesota with a 60-minute offensive effort, but also it will have to take the same level of defensive intensity it showed in Syracuse.
New defensive coordinator Scott Shafer's squad made the most of his return to upstate New York, allowing a high-powered Orange offense just 3.3 yards per play and coming up with six sacks, the Blue Raiders' most in 32 games.
Redshirt sophomore linebacker Khalil Brooks led the way with 1.5 sacks. He also had a team-high 2.5 tackles for loss and eight total tackles, and was named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.
Middle Tennessee may not have as many sacks Saturday against the Gophers' heavy rushing attack, but getting men in the backfield will still be of upmost importance. Minnesota currently ranks 42nd in the country in team rushing (211 yards per game), while the Blue Raiders have given up an average of 98.5 yards on the ground through two games.
"I still feel like we have a lot of work to do," junior safety Jovante Moffatt said. "We're steadily progressing as the weeks go by and just doing what Coach Shafer asks us to do, going by the plan and sticking with it."
If anything was evident after the win against the Orange, it was that Rick Stockstill was thrilled with the toughness his team showed in the second-half 21-10 run, most notably his quarterback and son, who was injured in the third quarter but stayed in the game.
His team will have to show the same kind of toughness against Minnesota Saturday if it wants to escape its difficult opening three-game stretch with a winning record.
"That's what I thought won the game, our toughness, our effort," Coach Stockstill said. "When you look at it, how we competed every snap and how relentless we were in all three phases of the game, I thought our toughness was really on display."
http://www.goblueraiders.com/news/2017/9/11/football-mt-eyes-2-1-start-at-minnesota-saturday.aspx
The Blue Raiders (1-1) recovered from a season-opening letdown against in-state foe Vanderbilt and made a positive trip to Syracuse, New York, last week, beating the Orange in comeback fashion, 30-23.
MT will travel north with its newly found momentum Saturday against the Gophers (2-0), who looked impressive in new head coach P.J. Fleck's first two contests at the helm. They took down Buffalo 17-7 to start the season and followed with a 48-14 drumming of Oregon State in Week 2.
The two teams have met twice before, with the Golden Gophers winning both. They traveled to Murfreesboro in 2010 and won before the Raiders went to Minneapolis and lost 35-24 in 2014.
"It's a really good football team that we're playing here this week," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "Last week, nobody gave you two cents and now everybody wants to give you a quarter. So, we've got to ignore that and prepare to focus on a really good Minnesota team."
While Middle Tennessee came out with its fifth victory over a Power 5 conference opponent in the Rick Stockstill era against Syracuse, it was clear some things still need to be polished.
The Blue Raider offense seemed to finally find its stride in the second half, but before that it was not to standard. They'll have to come out with a four-quarter effort against a tough Minnesota defense that's given up just an average of 243.5 yards per game to opponents so far in 2017.
Against the Orange, redshirt junior quarterback Brent Stockstill completed just 11 of his first 22 passes for 76 yards and an interception, and in total the offense turned the ball over three times in the first half. However, after that something caught fire.
The younger Stockstill completed 11-of-14 passes for 193 yards and three touchdowns in the second half as the Blue Raiders outscored Syracuse 21-10 in the final two quarters. He finished 22-of-36 passing for 269 yards, three scores and the INT, and was named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week.
"At the tempo we play, you have to get first downs," he said. "If you can't get the first downs and get the tempo going and get the defense tired a little bit, then we aren't going to be successful. I think in the second half we got some rhythm going and got the first down, and that's what it starts with and that's what we need to do going into this week."
Not only will MT have to travel to Minnesota with a 60-minute offensive effort, but also it will have to take the same level of defensive intensity it showed in Syracuse.
New defensive coordinator Scott Shafer's squad made the most of his return to upstate New York, allowing a high-powered Orange offense just 3.3 yards per play and coming up with six sacks, the Blue Raiders' most in 32 games.
Redshirt sophomore linebacker Khalil Brooks led the way with 1.5 sacks. He also had a team-high 2.5 tackles for loss and eight total tackles, and was named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.
Middle Tennessee may not have as many sacks Saturday against the Gophers' heavy rushing attack, but getting men in the backfield will still be of upmost importance. Minnesota currently ranks 42nd in the country in team rushing (211 yards per game), while the Blue Raiders have given up an average of 98.5 yards on the ground through two games.
"I still feel like we have a lot of work to do," junior safety Jovante Moffatt said. "We're steadily progressing as the weeks go by and just doing what Coach Shafer asks us to do, going by the plan and sticking with it."
If anything was evident after the win against the Orange, it was that Rick Stockstill was thrilled with the toughness his team showed in the second-half 21-10 run, most notably his quarterback and son, who was injured in the third quarter but stayed in the game.
His team will have to show the same kind of toughness against Minnesota Saturday if it wants to escape its difficult opening three-game stretch with a winning record.
"That's what I thought won the game, our toughness, our effort," Coach Stockstill said. "When you look at it, how we competed every snap and how relentless we were in all three phases of the game, I thought our toughness was really on display."
http://www.goblueraiders.com/news/2017/9/11/football-mt-eyes-2-1-start-at-minnesota-saturday.aspx