2010 Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders Football Preview

2009 Results: 10-3 (7-1 Sun Belt), Won New Orleans Bowl vs. S. Mississippi

Head Coach: Rick Stockstill (5th year @ MTSU, 27-23 Overall)

Home Venue: Red Floyd Stadium (30,788), Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Middle Tennessee had a breakout campaign in 2009, winning ten games for the first time in school history, capped off by their first bowl win that served as a national showcase for QB Dwight Dasher. However, a mid-season loss at Troy cost the Blue Raiders their first outright Sun Belt title. With most of the key contributors back from last year’s team, can MTSU repeat their ten win success while claiming that elusive conference crown?

OFFENSE

Everything revolves around senior QB Dwight Dasher in the MTSU offense. Dasher ran for 1,154 yards last season while passing for 2,789 yards, giving him 36 total TDs on the season! He’s the most dynamic player in the entire league and should be downright dangerous in 2010.

He’ll have plenty of skill around him as well. Senior tailback Phillip Tanner (857 yards, 3 TDs) is a strong ball carrier in his own right and provides Dasher room to operate. At receiver, two of the top three from 2009 are gone but the ball is distributed so much in the passing game that the returning wideouts, led by senior Garret Anderson (35 catches, 530 yards, 4 TDs), should be very productive.

Finally, four starters are back on from one of the conference’s top O-Lines, though they will dearly miss four year starting center Mark Thompson, who was an all-league choice in 2009. However, this is still going to be a very strong line that should be versatile enough to allow the explosive skill players to put up points. Middle Tennessee State averaged 32 points per game last season but it wouldn’t surprise me whatsoever if they bested that number in 2010 thanks to the huge talents of their starting quarterback.

DEFENSE

No team wins ten games without a strong defense and the Blue Raiders were no exception last year. In fact, departed DE Chris McCoy was actually named the co-Defensive Player of the Year for the conference, leaving a large production gap this season. However, the D-Line is far from ravaged as senior DE Jamari Lattimore (47 tackles, 5.5 sacks) is the top returning player up front and he should anchor a pretty solid unit. Behind them, the linebackers are undergoing a rebuilding job, though senior Antonio Davis is one of the team’s top returning tacklers. There should be enough pieces in place to have a serviceable run defense.

In the secondary, Middle Tennessee is the class of the conference with 1st Team All-Sun Belt safety Jeremy Kellem (72 tackles) and 2nd Team All-Sun Belt safety Kevin Brown (63 tackles, 4 INT) leading the way. The third returning senior starter is cornerback Rod Isaac (72 tackles), who has been a contributor for his entire career. Expect MTSU to have a very good pass defense in 2010.

Overall, the defense looks like it will be strong this fall. While there is a bit of a concern with the linebacker rebuilding job and the loss of the Sun Belt Co-Defensive POY, there is still a lot of talent on hand and I think the run defense will turn out to be more than serviceable. The secondary is so solid that MTSU can cheat up and with a run-based offense this unit won’t have to spend two thirds of the game on the field. This is definitely one of the top defenses in the Sun Belt.

> Buy Middle Tennessee State clothing & apparel and find a great selection of college Fathead helmets online through College Sports Fans!

SCHEDULE

Middle Tennessee State also has a very good schedule. They’re one of the only teams in the conference to have six home games and they have one of the easiest non-conference schedules in the league. They host Minnesota of the Big Ten on a Thursday night to start off the season and their other non-conference games include a visit from D-1AA Austin Peay and trips to Memphis and defending ACC Champion Georgia Tech. They also host the all-important game with Troy on a weeknight in early October and that is the cherry on top of a very navigable schedule.

OUTLOOK

The Blue Raiders appear to be loaded for a championship run in 2010. They have the best player in the entire conference in QB Dwight Dasher, they have a great O-Line and the best secondary in the entire league. Furthermore, their schedule sets up perfectly for a conference championship season and if they beat Minnesota on Opening Day then there is even an outside chance at an undefeated season! However, the most likely outcome is that the Blue Raiders repeat their ten win campaign and win their first outright Sun Belt Championship.

PREDICTED RESULT: 10-2 (8-0 Sun Belt)