Middle Tennessee State University enters its 111th football season—its second under head coach Derek Mason—aiming to improve upon its 3–9 2024 campaign.
Blue Raider fans will see a very different team take the field this fall. Coach Mason and his staff have overhauled the roster, welcoming a mix of transfers and freshmen to campus, adding 65 new players and keeping only 45 from 2024.
Among those returning for the team, veteran quarterback Nicholas Vattiato will remain with MTSU for the 2025 season.
Vattiato led the Blue Raiders to a Bahamas Bowl win way back in 2021. He was able to redshirt the following year, and then the QB put up back-to-back 3,000-yard passing seasons in 2023 and 2024. He has thrown for 46 touchdowns and 30 interceptions over his career with MTSU.
Vattiato collaborates with his quarterback room counterpart Roman Gagliano on the Nick & Roman’s Empire podcast, also available on the Middle Tennessee Athletics YouTube channel. The duo of signal callers have welcomed guests to their show ranging from Heisman Trophy winner and longtime NFL starter Cam Newton to Jeff Murphy—a former MTSU quarterback himself, and current owner of Domenico’s Italian Deli on the Murfreesboro Square—as well as Coach Mason.
On the field, MTSU continues to prepare for its Aug. 30 opener, a Murfreesboro matchup against Austin Peay, rekindling a Tennessee rivalry dormant since 2010.
The Blue Raiders then hit the road, traveling to Big Ten powerhouse Wisconsin on Saturday, Sept. 6, and a game in the desert at Nevada on Saturday, Sept. 13, both of those games first-ever meetings for MTSU.
Former C-USA foe Marshall (now a member of the Sun Belt Conference) will come to Murfreesboro for a Sept. 20 clash, and MTSU will then end September with its first Conference USA game of the season, at Kennesaw State.
For the month of October, the conference will continue its “Weekday CUSA” initiative, which will see all October league matchups played on midweek evenings in an effort to gain more national TV exposure for its squads. MTSU drew all Wednesday matchups this October, kicking off the month at home against CUSA newcomer Missouri State on Wednesday, Oct. 8, traveling to the other first-year conference member, Delaware, on Wednesday, Oct. 22, and then welcoming the Jacksonville State Gamecocks to Floyd Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 29. All three of those October kickoffs are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and are set to be broadcast on ESPN2.
Games shift back to Saturday afternoons in November as the slate includes Florida International at home on Nov. 8 (both Veterans and Armed Forces Appreciation Day and the “White Out” game), a Nov. 15 trip to longtime rival Western Kentucky, a Nov. 22 game in Murfreesboro versus Sam Houston (Senior Day) and the regular season finale the final Saturday of November at New Mexico State.
The Blue Raiders will play on a new synthetic turf surface this year in Floyd Stadium. Warner Athletic, a field building company based in Smyrna, Tennessee, installed the new turf system, designed to be safer and cooler, at MTSU’s home stadium.
Beneath the new turf surface sits a Shaw NXTPlay Pad, a shock-absorbing performance pad made from recycled turf that designers say should reduce impact injuries. And rather than small black rubber beads on the turf, the new system features a infill product made from silica sand and finely ground walnut shells, a natural method to simulate dirt.
Single-game tickets for MTSU Blue Raider football games start at $22 via Ticketmaster; group discounts are available. For more on MTSU athletics, visit goblueraiders.com.
2025 Middle Tennessee State University Football Schedule
Saturday, Aug. 30
6 p.m.
Austin Peay
Saturday, Sept. 6
3 p.m.
@ Wisconsin (FS1)
Saturday, Sept. 13
4 p.m.
@ Nevada
Saturday, Sept. 20
6 p.m.
Marshall
Saturday, Sept. 27
5 p.m.
@ Kennesaw State
Wednesday, Oct. 8
6:30 p.m.
Missouri State (ESPN2)
Wednesday, Oct. 22
6:30 p.m.
@ Delaware (ESPN2)
Wednesday, Oct. 29
6:30 p.m.
Jacksonville State (ESPN2)
Saturday, Nov. 8
2 p.m.
Florida International
Saturday, Nov. 15
2:30 p.m.
@ Western Kentucky
Saturday, Nov. 22
2 p.m.
vs. Sam Houston
Saturday, Nov. 29
2 p.m.
@ New Mexico State
