Reed Blankenship
Courtesy goblueraiders.com / Sam Doughton
The MTSU Blue Raiders will open its 2021 football season with a 6 p.m. home game on Saturday, Sept. 4, against Monmouth, a private school out of New Jersey.
That will be the Raiders’ only home contest in September, as they then hit the road for three straight games. MTSU plays at Virginia Tech on Saturday, Sept. 11, before opening Conference-USA play at Texas-San Antonio on Saturday, Sept. 18, and closing out the month at Charlotte.
MTSU head coach Rick Stockstill announced during training camp in August the permanent captains for the Blue Raiders in 2021.
Safety Reed Blankenship, defensive end Jordan Ferguson, wide receiver Jarrin Pierce, linebacker DQ Thomas and wide receiver CJ Windham were honored as the season’s captains.
“This is the ultimate honor when your teammates make you a permanent captain for the season,” said Stockstill. “These five guys have meant a lot to this program and all are very deserving. It’s not just your play on the field but the way you conduct yourself off the field and how you lead and push your teammates . . . the way you practice every day and compete on the field and in the classroom.”
It marks Blankenship’s third straight year as a captain.
The Middle Tennessee Athletic Department reminds fans that Floyd Stadium will be open for full capacity for the 2021 football season.
Tailgating will return as well as The Family Fun Zone and The Beer Garden, popular fan amenities. Masks will not be required for entrance to the stadium.
“We are excited to have our great fans back in Floyd Stadium,” Director of Athletics Chris Massaro said. “Fans will be able to enjoy all of the game day traditions that go with football season. I’m looking forward to seeing fans tailgating in Walnut Grove, the Band of Blue, the children enjoying Family Fun Zone, patrons experiencing the Beer Garden once again and the excitement of FBS football right here in Murfreesboro.
“I know our players and coaches will be looking forward to running out to a stadium full of loud, passionate Blue Raider fans,” Massaro added.
In the south end zone, Middle Tennessee will once again partner with Hop Springs Beer Park and Steel Barrel Brewery for the return of the Blue Raider Beer Garden. The area features Steel Barrel Brewery craft beers for purchase, as well as grilled food, umbrellas and tables and games like cornhole and giant Jenga.
Also returning after a successful 2019 debut is the Family Fun Zone, located within the stadium behind Sections 1A–3A. The Family Fun Zone will feature inflatables, face painting, balloon animals and various carnival games throughout the season. New to the Family Fun Zone this season will be the inclusion of stations serving MTSU Creamery chocolate milk, a long-beloved cafeteria tradition for generations of Blue Raiders now made available inside of Floyd Stadium for the very first time.
The Blue Raiders are also excited to welcome families to full pre-game tailgating festivities in Walnut Grove and around campus, as the Raider Walk returns with the Band of Blue accompanying the team as they march toward Floyd Stadium ahead of kickoff.
MTSU will have a post-game fireworks show following the season opener vs. Monmouth on Sept. 4.
___
Kinley Approaching Season with Warrior Mindset
Richard Kinley loves his mornings.
The routine that the young MTSU defensive end established—waking up and downing the two bottles of water he keeps on his bedside table, opening his phone to the two Bible verses his app has given for him to read that day, hopping in the shower, and eating breakfast—gets his mind right for the day.
“You start in the morning,” Kinley said. “If you start off bad, your whole day is going to be bad.”
That mindset has helped turn Richard Kinley into one of the younger leaders on the Blue Raider defense this fall. That mindset, and a book that has become his personal favorite, Think Like a Warrior: Five Inner Beliefs That Make You Unstoppable by Darin Donnelly, has helped give Kinley a more focused outlook on how he pushes himself each day.
The book, structured around different lessons and anecdotes from coaches around the athletic world, gives its readers five intersecting beliefs, such as “control what you can control: your attitude and your effort” or “love what you do and attack it each day with enthusiasm” that, according to Donnelly, will give someone a “warrior mindset.”
“Every day, everybody has dreams and aspirations,” Kinley said. “I just have to remember mine and my why. I wake up and just keep it on my head, so it drives me and fuels me each and every day.”
His “why” is his family—his dad is a football coach in Memphis and his brother plays at the Naval Academy—and in the Blue Raider locker room, where he keeps his self-described “brothers” in mind too. His “why” leads him to set goals, to be relentless in pursuit of them, and to stay confident without letting fear turn the confidence to arrogance.
“If you really believe in yourself, and work hard, it will show,” Kinley reminds himself.
It has shown, head coach Rick Stockstill said. He relies on his seniors to be the first leaders on his teams, but a program needs its juniors, sophomores, freshmen and redshirt freshmen—like Kinley—to have leaders who pursue excellence.
“When your leadership doesn’t accept a bad practice, doesn’t accept a messy locker room, or doesn’t accept somebody not going to class, that’s when you have a great culture, and that’s what I feel we’ve got,” Stockstill said.
As far as Kinley’s goal for his team, his family, his “why,” that goal is obvious.
A conference championship.
___
For tickets, schedules, player profiles and more on the MTSU Blue Raiders, visit goblueraiders.com.
