2020 has been a tumultuous year for everyone and MT football was not excluded.
The Blue Raiders logged a nine game season, where they notched three victories against six defeats. The Blue Raiders were 2-4 in league play.
Now it's time for Matt Dossett to break down the season.
***Matt Dossett: The skinny on the season***
Prior to the season the game plan was for the Blue Raiders to play 10 ballgames. They fell one game short, competing in nine games, two of those games being against non-conference foe, the Troy Trojans.
Even before the first kick and the first whistle, I took a stab predicting the outcome for the season, and eventually landed on a 3-7 record prediction for MTSU.
If you really think about, I almost hit the nail on the head. MTSU had one game canceled, the Charlotte game, which was scheduled to take place in early November. In my opinion, it is likely that MT would have come out on the losing end of the stick against Charlotte.
There was some attrition before the first game. Highly touted transfer tailbacks, Martell Pettaway and Amir Rasul, opted out of the 2020 season. The whole situation was somewhat enigmatic when it came to the reason. Most in the know pointed to their concerns over the coronavirus.
I had high hopes that Middle would compete and go toe-to-toe with Army in week one. The opposite happened, as Army bludgeoned and skunked MT, 42-0.
The next week was ugly as well. MT was obliterated by Troy 47-14. The next two games resulted in losses, but were respectable showings at UTSA and at home against the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky.
MT finally got on the board, defeating FIU, 31-28. MT then went on to trade off wins and losses, losing to North Texas, defeating Rice, losing to Marshall, and ultimately winning the rubber match against Troy.
It is now time to divert our attention to the horizon and the future of the program. I personally feel like there is a disconnect between the team and the fanbase. It was a big year two years ago when the program was competing for the conference championship crown. And while impressive, the fanbase has been clamoring for, and still yearns for a conference championship.
No more ho-hum and the typical status quo says a portion of Blue Raiders fans.
Some folks are disgruntled, and understandably so.
It is going to be very intriguing to observe how Coach Rick Stockstill navigates the program in the coming years. Will he mix up his recruiting philosophy, maybe going to junior college route for prospects? Will he switch up offensive and defensive schemes?
When it comes to fans, I feel like it really boils down to what side of the fence you are on. In other words, how high should the bar be set and what should the expectations be?
I personally feel as if the program can and will have success going forward. To what degree, I do not know for certain. In my mind, my own measure of success is competing for the East division crown each year, and I think Stockstill will meet that expectation going forward.
There have certainly been some bumps in the road, but I do think that Stockstill can recruit and develop players well enough to consistently be in the hunt for the East crown.
