This Saturday the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State travel to Memphis for their second road contest of the 2024 season. MT will square off with the Tigers of Memphis, a team that currently has a 3-1 record after dropping a shocker to Navy last Saturday.

All this week there will be coverage on the game from our end at GoMiddle. Even though that is the case, now is the time to cross enemy lines with Memphis insider John Maddox.

1. The line is -24.5 for Memphis. Too high? Too low? About right?

- Seeing where the two teams are right now, this feels about right. Memphis certainly has better players and is more athletic than MTSU. The challenge comes with Memphis’ state of mind after the loss to Navy. An angry Memphis team will be tough to keep up with. If there is a hangover, then MTSU may be able to keep it close.

2. Give me a few guys on both sides of the ball MT fans may not know about.

- Let’s start on offense. With Memphis banged up at running back, look for the Memphis passing game to be more involved. Navy virtually shutdown the tight ends (Anthony Landphere & Brendan Doyle) so I think Seth Henigan will look to get them involved early. A player to watch at the WR position will be Jyaire Shorter a transfer for Auburn. Shorter had his first catch as a Tiger on Saturday (actually 3 catches for 53 yards). If Shorter can step up, then that allows guys like Roc Taylor to get free more often.

On defense, Chandler Martin gets a lot of the attention, but William Whitlow, Jr. is a disruptive player up front at the DE position. Matt Hudson the linebacker transfer from Harvard has been solid as well.

3. Were you surprised that Navy beat Memphis? How will the loss affect them heading into MTSU game?

- I'm not really surprised- it felt like a trap game following the emotional game at Florida State. When you couple that with having a total unknown in what the Navy offense was going to do and it was a recipe for a challenge. Your second question is the big unknown. Memphis got outclassed, outcoached, and outplayed on Saturday (especially on the defensive side of the ball). Usually, Memphis comes out angry following tough losses like this…but we will see on Saturday.

4. What are some weaknesses MT can exploit?

-Navy certainly gave other teams the blueprint to expose the Memphis defense- lots of misdirection and window dressing…and let the Tigers run themselves out of plays. Memphis was very undisciplined on Saturday and missed containment too many times.

As far as offensively, Memphis doesn’t have many weaknesses- but I am extra curious to see if the running game can really get going again.

5. How does game go? Score?

This feels very much like the Troy game earlier this year (Memphis won 38-17). I’m concerned that the Memphis defense will be a little shell-shocked, and I expect offensive play calling to be more on the vanilla side. There is a bit of the “little brother” messaging at work from Coach Mason I’m sure, so there’s no doubt Middle will be ready to go. That said, I just think Memphis is better all around.

Memphis 38, MTSU 14