Kyle Griswould comes down with a catch. (Top) Tavarres Jefferson in action vs. Navy.
The MTSU Blue Raiders fell to the Midshipmen of Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl, held Dec. 30 in Ft. Worth, Texas; at the final gun, Navy came out on top 24-6.
Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds only had to complete three passes in the entire game, a physical, violent contest. Rather Reynolds, who hails from Nashville and played his high school ball at Goodpasture, relied on his legs, and the triple-option offense that had given the Naval Academy so much success this season.
Reynolds set the single-season record for most rushing TDs by an NCAA quarterback this year, and added two more on the ground in the Armed Forces Bowl, to finish the year with 31 rushing touchdowns. He has thrown the ball very little overall, with Navy’s offense averaging 322 yards rushing per game for the season as they kept it on the ground a great deal in their 9-4 season.
With the bowl game loss, MTSU finished the 2013 football season, its first in Conference USA, at 8-5.
Basketball Just Warming Up
In basketball news, the MTSU men closed 2013 with the four-team Dr. Pepper Classic in Chattanooga Dec. 29-30. The Blue Raiders took a loss to Maine and won against Grand Canyon University in the event that also included host Chattanooga.
Sitting at 9-5, MTSU heads to Nashville for a Jan. 7 showdown with Tennessee State before cranking up the meat of Conference USA 2013-14 play.
The Lady Raiders closed 2013 with a 10-3 record, finishing the year with a big victory on the road at Clemson, 76-51. They take on the Tennessee Tech Golden Eaglettes in the ’Boro on Jan. 2 before their Conference USA schedule cranks up in earnest as well.
Ebony Rowe is leading the MTSU squad in both scoring and rebounds, averaging over 22 points per game, and over 11 rebounds per game. This places her 12th in the nation in both categories at year’s end, coincidentally.
On the hard-court in January:
MTSU Men
Jan 7 @ Tennessee State 7 p.m.
Jan 11 UAB 5 p.m.
Jan 16 UTEP 7 p.m.
Jan 18 UTSA 5 p.m.
Jan 23 @ Tulsa 8 p.m.
Jan 25 @ North Texas 7 p.m.
Jan 30 East Carolina 7 p.m.
Feb 1 Old Dominion 5 p.m.
MTSU Women
Jan 2 Tennessee Tech 7 p.m.
Jan 8 North Texas 7 p.m.
Jan 11 @ LA Tech 5 p.m.
Jan 15 UTEP 7 p.m.
Jan 18 @ UAB 2 p.m.
Jan 22 UTSA 7 p.m.
Jan 25 Old Dominion 4 p.m.
Jan 29 @ Southern Miss 7 p.m.
Feb 1 @ Tulsa
Neiko Hunter put up 18 in a loss to Ole Miss. Photo by Joshua McCoy.
