The Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State are ready to go for the 2014 football season. After an 8-5 season, in which they lost to Navy 24-6 in the Armed Forces Bowl, Rick Stockstill's troops are looking to be bowl bound. Marshall will be Middle Tennessee's biggest hurdle to jump in the Eastern Division of Conference USA. There is good news from the scheduling aspect, as MT draws Southern Miss and UTEP out of division. Both of teams are predicted to be in the Western Division cellar. Head coach Rick Stockstill will have this inexperienced group ready. Only 13 starters return for the Blue Raiders. Below is the 2013 schedule of Middle Tennessee.
Offense
Quarterback Logan Kilgore must be replaced. After averaging 29 points per game on offense, that will not be an easy task. Austin Grammer will take the quarterback job and is a dual threat behind the center. Redshirt freshman AJ Erdely and true freshman Brent Stockstill (son of head coach Rick Stockstill) will likely get their shot as well.
Grammer will team up with 4 returning backs including the top four returning rushers. Those four are Jordan Parker (745 yards and 6 touchdowns), REggie Whatley (657 yards and 3 touchdowns), Jeremiah Bryson (398 yards and 3 touchdowns), and Shane Tucker (241 yards and 5 touchdowns). This is a deep corps that should help share the load to help relieve stress on a new QB.
Junior college transfer Ed’Marques Batties and redshirt freshman Shannon Smith both have great athletic ability and should make an immediate splash at wide receiver. Also returning is the second leading receiver from 2013 in Marcus Henry. Henry had 38 catches for 549 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Rebuilding offensive line will be the key to MT continuing success on the scoreboard. Both tackles return, but the interior will be a work in progress. With 56 career starts among this group, and two junior college transfers, Stockstill's success with inexperienced offensive lines should continue.
Defense
Defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix had the Blue Raiders focus on takeaways last year. It worked with a +12 turnover margin for Middle Tennessee in 2013. Without a consistent pass rush and secondary play, that will be more of a gamble this year. A third down defense that ranked 119th in the nation last year has to be improved upon for MT to go bowling again.
Up front, three of the top four return in end Jiajuan Fennell, defensive tackle Patrick McNeil, and other end Alexandro Antoine. Jimal McBride was not a starter in 2013, but he made a big impact with 27 tackles, 1 sack, and 4 tackles-for-loss as a freshman.
The defense will rely on linebacker T.T. Barber and safety Kevin Byard to lead this group that gave up 26 points a game last year. Three junior college transfers in the secondary will be asked to contribute from day one.
Special Teams
Middle Tennessee returns their kicker from 2013 in Cody Clark. As a freshman, Clark went 12 of 16 on field goals with a long of 43 yards. The Blue Raiders have to replace their punter, Josh Davis. Davis averaged 41.8 yards and 34.9 net per punt a season ago. Freshman AJ Wells appears set to takeover from Davis. As a senior in high school, Wells averaged 40.4 yards per punt. Reggie Whatley returns as one of the kick returners and he averaged 24.7 yards on 17 kick returns.
2014 Season Outlook
Middle Tennessee has become a steady program under head coach Rick Stockstill. That should continue in 2014. Circle your calendar for October 11th at Marshall will be for all the marbles in the East Division. MT will likely be heavy underdogs, but six games give the Blue Raiders a chance to get the troops experience before the showdown. The Blue Raiders should have Murfreesboro, Tennessee rocking all fall into another bowl bid come December. The entire 2014 schedule is below.
