Middle Tennessee State University’s 2024 football season, the school’s first under new head coach Derek Mason, kicks off Saturday, Aug. 31, against Tennessee Tech. Renewing a former rivalry, the Blue Raiders open the season in Murfreesboro against in-state foe TTU Golden Eagles in the first meeting between the two schools since 2006. MTSU owns a 36-32-7 record against Tech in the series that began in 1917.
Mason’s first game leading MTSU on the road will come the following week, Sept. 7, as the team goes to Oxford, Mississippi, to take on Ole Miss.
The Blue Raiders will then prepare for back-to-back September home games against Western Kentucky on Sept. 14—for the rivals’ annual “100 Miles of Hate” contest—and then against Duke on Sept. 21. The Duke Blue Devils come to town with their first-year head coach Manny Diaz, who served as the Blue Raiders’ defensive coordinator from 2006 to 2009. Duke’s 2019 win in Murfreesboro marked the last time MTSU hosted a Power 5 team.
On Sept. 28, the Blue Raiders will head down I-40 to face in-state foe Memphis for the first contest between those Tennessee schools since 2014.
In October, Conference USA will continue its mid-week games, with three straight mid-week football games for MTSU.
The team begins the stretch on the road on Thursday, Oct. 10, against Louisiana Tech. After four tries, MTSU has still not defeated the Bulldogs in Ruston, Louisiana.
After only four days’ rest, the Blue Raiders will return home to host Kennesaw State on Tuesday, Oct. 15. This will mark MT’s first-ever meeting against the Kennesaw State Owls, newcomers to C-USA and the FBS.
The team will wrap up the mid-week portion of its schedule on Wednesday, Oct 23, at Jacksonville State.
November’s games will all be back on Saturdays—Nov. 2 at University of Texas at El Paso, Nov. 9 at home against defending C-USA champion Liberty, Nov. 23 against New Mexico State in Murfreesboro’s Floyd Stadium, and Nov. 30 on the road at Florida International to close out the regular season.
Many college football fans are particularly excited for this season following the July release of the EA Sports College Football 25 video game. 2024 marked the first college football video game release since NCAA Football 14, following court battles related to compensating the athletes depicted within the game.
Ahead of the new game’s release, college football players could opt into an agreement with EA Sports in which the developer paid each of the thousands of student-athletes included in the game a flat $600 payment—as well as a copy of the video game—in exchange for them allowing the game to use their name, image and likeness.
MTSU wide receiver Omari Kelly, one of the many players included in College Football 25, said he grew up playing previous versions of the popular EA games.
“It’s kind of surreal,” Kelly said in anticipation of its release, “just because I played the last game a lot.”
Kelly added he will be looking forward to the addition of Mascot Mode, expected to be included into forthcoming versions of the franchise.
EA Sports has also put great detail into the stadium environments for all 134 FBS program featured in the series revival.
MTSU Associate AD for Marketing and Fan Engagement Chelsea Floyd, who handles licensing for the university, said she’d been in communication with EA Sports since early 2021 on licensing the Blue Raiders in the game and that MTSU has sent hundreds of photos since.
This includes images of not only Johnny “Red” Floyd Stadium, but also of tailgating on campus, the Raider Walk, fan pictures during games and, of course, photos of MTSU’s mascot, Lightning. EA even requested concourse photos showing where concessions stands are specifically located.
“EA Sports is really watching,” Floyd said. “They want to make it as close to our atmosphere as possible.”
EA says the location of the band within each school’s stadium will be accurate as well, and the game will include chants led by the cheerleaders and music from each band.
Blue Raider fans playing the game can take the digital field as QB Nicholas Vattiato, and the game can update its software to reflect updates to stadiums, such as the Student Athlete Performance Center presently under construction adjacent to Floyd Stadium.
MTSU plans to update its uniforms for the 2024 season, but football fans playing the College Football 25 game will be able to play as MTSU in those uniforms before the real Blue Raiders take the field against Tennessee Tech on Aug. 31.
As far as the real squad taking the field in 2024, coaches say fans can expect a physical style of play on both sides of the ball with Coach Mason at the helm.
Mason tapped Bodie Reeder—who worked with Mason while the two were at Auburn, and who most recently served as offensive coordinator at Northern Iowa—to serve as MTSU offensive coordinator.
“I would’ve walked to Murfreesboro to work here,” Reeder said. “I have a great deal of respect for Coach Mason.”
Reeder stressed the team’s emphasis on physicality.
“We want to have a downhill, physical run game,” he said. “We’re going to run gap schemes, we’re going to run power, we’re going to run counter and . . . move people off the ball. It’s going to be less plays in space and more punching it at people.
“Once you start getting the run game going, you start getting the coverages that allow you to be explosive and throw the ball down the field.”
Find tickets to MTSU football games on Ticketmaster; learn more about the Blue Raiders at goblueraiders.com.
>>> 2024 Middle Tennessee State University Football Schedule
Saturday, Aug. 31
6 p.m.
Tennessee Tech
Saturday, Sept. 7
3:15 p.m.
@ Ole Miss
Saturday, Sept. 14
6 p.m.
Western Kentucky
Saturday, Sept. 21
6 p.m.
Duke
Saturday, Sept. 28
time TBA
@ Memphis
Thursday, Oct. 10
7 p.m.
@ Louisiana Tech
Tuesday, Oct. 15
7 p.m.
Kennesaw State
Wednesday, Oct. 23
6:30 p.m.
@ Jacksonville State
Saturday, Nov. 2
2:30 p.m.
@ University of Texas at El Paso
Saturday, Nov. 9
12 p.m.
Liberty
Saturday, Nov. 23
1:30 p.m.
New Mexico State
Saturday, Nov. 30
1 p.m.
@ Florida International
