MTSU quarterback Brent Stockstill tossed 4 touchdowns in the Blue Raiders 2015 season opener. Photos courtesy goblueraiders.com.

The Blue Raiders opened the 2015 season on Saturday, Sept. 5, with a bitter taste in their mouths. A promising start to the 2014 season sadly became an underwhelming finish for such a talented group, as MT lost four of their last six games. However, the bitter end to 2014 created a stellar beginning to the 2015 campaign, and that bitter taste turned syrupy sweet in a hurry.

Brent Stockstill received the starting nod under center for MTSU when they opened the season against FCS foe Jackson State, and he did not disappoint. In his first NCAA start, Brent was 23-29 with 336 yards passing and four touchdowns. Brent did throw one interception, but that came on what should have been a free play when the JSU defense got away with an uncalled, yet obvious, offsides penalty.

Stockstill wasn’ t the only player to come up big in his first NCAA start. Redshirt freshman receiver Richie James showed a lot of promise for the future of the MT receiving corps. James proved to be versatile, catching several balls in the backfield on highly effective shuffle passes, and gaining 16 yards on a reverse play.

Not only did the future look bright for the Blue Raiders Saturday, but so did the present. Redshirt senior receiver Ed Batties had a career day, tying his single game high in receptions (8) while topping his career high in receiving yards (123). Batties also pulled down two touchdown catches.

Ed Batties and Lucas Hamilton celebrate an MTSU score.

The veteran stable of running backs also contributed heavily to the Blue Raiders’ success, as MTSU rushed for 282 yards as a team. Four different running backs went up against the JSU defense, and each one found the end zone either rushing or receiving with Jeremiah Bryson leading the way with two touchdowns.

When it was all over, Middle won the game in a rout, 70-14. However, such a one-sided score can lead to some misconceptions. First, do not discount this win by assuming Jackson State was a weak opponent. This is a team that knocked on the door of the FCS pre-season top 25, and one that includes several of the top players in FCS. If you want to call it a “warm-up” game, Coach Stockstill wants you to think twice, “We don’t get warm-up games. Every game counts, every game is critical. When you are a coach or a player you look at every game as the most important game on our schedule.”

Second, understand that score does not mean it was a flawless performance by MT. There were miscues. The two JSU touchdowns came on big plays. A touchdown was called back by a senseless penalty. A bad snap led to a turnover that put JSU in great scoring position, and indecision on part of the returner led to a near muffed punt. While it may be easy for the Blue Zoo to overlook the few flawed plays from Saturday, Coach Stock certainly isn’t going to do that.

Coach Stockstill

“When you win, and you win the wrong way and you don’t get (the mistakes) corrected, that’s the kiss of death,” Stockstill stated, “If you don’t get certain things corrected, but you turn the ball over five times and you won, be glad you won, but you’ve got to look at yourself and say ‘If we don’t get those things corrected, we won’t win the next time.’ But I think this was a win where we played well enough and deserved to win. But any time you make mistakes in a game you’ve got to get them corrected.”

And correcting those few miscues is exactly what the Blue Raiders will need to do if they hope to pull off an upset this Saturday over juggernaut Alabama. The Crimson Tide come into this week ranked second nationally after a decisive victory over Wisconsin. While the Blue Raiders have largely been written off in this one, Coach Stock isn’t trying to hear it.

“We don’t listen to the media. Why go down there and play if (the media) says we don’t have a chance? I don’t listen to all that stuff, our players don’t listen to all that stuff. We know what kind of team we are. We know what kind of players we have . . . We’ll be ready to play, I promise you that. We’re not going to back down from anybody.”

Safety Kevin Byard relishes the underdog role.

“I think it’s one of the best feelings in the world, just being the underdog. I feel like I’ve been an underdog my whole life, so it’s nothing new to me,” he said. “It’s going to be a great feeling going into a stadium with over 100,000 people who are counting you out, and going out there to prove them wrong.”

If you think the Blue Raiders are intimidated in any way, you are dead wrong. Linebacker T.T. Barber says, “They put on their pads the same way we do. They are the same human beings that we are. They go to a different school, that’s about all I can distinguish from us and them.”

And Jeremiah Bryson dropped the mic during Monday’s press conference when asked if he’d be interested in shaking Alabama coach Nick Saban’s hand. “I feel like the Alabama players should want to come shake Coach Stock’s hand,” Bryson said.

It is safe to say that MT has not counted themselves out of this one, even if everyone else has. You can watch the game on the SEC Network Saturday, Sept. 12, at 3 p.m. or listen at FM 89.5.

KB

Byard Tracker
Safety Kevin Byard is the star of the MT defense. Now in his senior season at MT, KB already holds the school record for most career interception return yardage and touchdowns. He is currently tied for first with the most career interceptions amongst active players nationally, and needs only three interceptions to break the MTSU career mark. Byard also needs only 175 more interception return yards to break Terrell Buckley’s NCAA record of 501. Each week this season boropulse.com will check in on KB’s progress toward these milestones, as well as get his own personal thoughts on his achievements.

Jackson State gave Byard little chance to increase those numbers last Saturday, as they avoided his side of the field as much as possible. It was a tactic with which Byard was very cognizant.

“It’s something that I’m going to have to look forward to this season. I can’t let it affect me. I’m just going to try to run around and get to the ball and make some plays.”

While the box score may not show his influence on the game, it was certainly prevalent. KB is one of the vocal leaders of the defense, and he took it upon himself to keep his teammates engaged against JSU. His mere presence alone cut the field in half.

Byard said he doesn’t anticipate Alabama to avoid him this Saturday the way Jackson State did. If MT can manage to force Alabama to throw the ball, then KB may get some opportunities against whichever unproven quarterback Saban puts out there.