Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders

Blue Raiders Close Out Special Season with Liberty Bowl Victory

December 31, 2013

Season Report Posted: April 14, 2018 21:13  

MTSU (12-2) ended arguably their best season in school history on top Tuesday, defeating Pittsburgh (8-5) to finish the year with a school record 12 wins and the program's fourth bowl win. The previous win record was held by the 2009 squad, who went 10-3.

Brent Stockstill finished the year with the most passing yards in the country with 5,231, also setting a school record. Stockstill also led the nation in passing touchdowns with 43, another school record. The Blue Raider offense was a force all season, with Terelle West rushing for over 1,000 yards and four receivers (Richie James, Patrick Smith, C.J. Windham, and Ty Lee) finishing with 1,000 yard seasons. The offense led the nation in total offense and passing offense and finished third in scoring offense.

Blue Raiders Survive UCF, Win C-USA

December 14, 2013

Season Report Posted: April 14, 2018 20:15  

The Blue Raiders (11-2) survived a tougher than expected battle from UCF (6-7) to secure the conference crown 27-21 in Murfreesboro on Saturday. With the win, MTSU also set a new school mark for wins in a season. The Golden Knights, who earned a spot by upsetting rival USF, took an early 7-0 lead but MTSU was able to pull away in the third quarter thanks to a 42 yard touchdown pass from Brent Stockstill to Patrick Smith that gave them their first lead of the game and a 26 yard Canon Rooker field goal. Stockstill finished with 362 yards and two touchdowns as he threatens to join the 5,000 yard season passing club.

Coach Rick Stockstill commented on what a phenomenal achievement the win was for the program while noting that there was still work to be done: "Obviously, it's been a great season. To set a new school record for wins, to win the conference title in a year, any year really, but especially a year where we were picked 4th or 5th in our division, I think, it's just been great. But these guys know it would be even better to finish out strong in Memphis so we're going to prepare for that."

Shortly after the game, MTSU accepted a bowl bid to the Liberty Bowl, where they will play Pittsburgh (8-4).

MTSU Takes Division Crown in Thriller Over WKU

November 30, 2013

Season Report Posted: April 14, 2018 20:10  

With 31 seconds remaining, Canon Rooker hit the biggest field goal of his life, with the kick giving the Blue Raiders a 27-24 lead and eventually the win. This year's "100 Miles of Hate" was billed as perhaps the most important matchup between MTSU (10-2) and WKU (10-2) in their history, as the winner would take home the C-USA West division title and earn a spot in the conference title game. Though the matchup was predicted to be a shootout, both offenses struggled throughout the game. The offensive struggles were largely due to the difficulties both quarterbacks faced the entire game, with MTSU QB Brent Stockstill taking six sacks from an aggressive Hilltopper defense and Western Kentucky QB Drew Eckels struggling with his accuracy, only completing 35% of his passes. However, the game was still thrilling, with neither team able to pull away.

With the win, the Blue Raiders will have their first chance at taking home a conference title since 2006, also under Rick Stockstill. MTSU will face the winner of the USF-UCF game.

Blue Raiders Secure Bowl Eligibility with Shootout Win Over Marshall

October 24, 2013

Season Report Posted: April 14, 2018 09:11  

MTSU moved to 6-2 and bowl eligibility with a 49-46 win over the Marshall Thundering Herd on Thursday night in Murfreesboro. The game was tight throughout, though MTSU held a 12 point halftime lead. However, a 23 yard touchdown pass from Marshall's Chase Litton to Hyleck Foster cut the lead to two with 1:16 remaining in the third quarter. Luckily for the Blue Raiders, their offense was able to quickly respond with a 35 yard touchdown pass to C.J. Windham from Brent Stockstill, which allowed them to survive an explosive fourth quarter in which the two teams combined for 34 points. Stockstill threw for 410 yards and a school record six touchdown passes while Litton threw for 491 yards and two TDs.

This marks the fourth time in the last five years that the Blue Raiders have earned bowl eligibility.

Stockstill was announced as a Davey O'Brien semifinalist following the game.

MTSU Picked to Finish 4th in West, 8th Overall

June 22, 2013

Season Report Posted: April 03, 2018 00:45  

MTSU was picked to finish 8th overall in the newly constructed C-USA and 4th in the West Division, behind Western Kentucky, Troy, and Marshall and ahead of South Alabama and Georgia State.

South Florida, who enters the season at #19 and the conference's only ranked team, was picked to finish 1st in the East and overall.

East:

USF (28)
UCF
ODU
FIU
FAU
ECU

West:

WKU (22)
Troy (5)
Marshall (1)
MTSU
South Alabama
Georgia State