The Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders dominated the Marshall Thundering Herd from start to finish in the season opener to go 1-0 on the season.

The defense held the Herd to just 6 first downs, and 138 total offensive yards in the game, and the Herd were just one for ten on third down conversions.

The increased speed on defense appeared to help the host Blue Raiders to cover a better portion of the field, and they were able to take advantage of a slew of quarterback mistakes, intercepting a whopping eight passes on the day. Cornerbacks Reggie Jackson and Andrew Fenner intercepted two passes apiece.

Impressive interceptions were also turned in by freshman safeties Joshua McNeil and Anthony Atkins. Atkins snuffed the only impressive Marshall drive of the day by picking off a pass in the end zone. Later, McNeil would use his impressive range to make a textbook center field snag of a pass deep over the middle of the field.

The freshman defenders weren't the only ones turning heads. Running back Heath Moss was a force to be reckoned with in his first game, showing the ability to not only run with the ball, but catch the ball as well. Moss had a 33-yard run from the shotgun formation early in the game, and that drive resulted in an eight-yard Anthony Singleton touchdown run. Moss then caught a 16-yard touchdown pass minutes later to give the Blue Raiders a 17-0 lead. Another Singleton run would make it 24-0 at halftime.

"Great for the kids to get out of the gate quick. Time will tell if we've really improved on defense or if this was just a fluke game," said Clark. "Don't go handing out the Sun Belt title just yet, but this was certainly encouraging."