Murfreesboro, TN – Middle Tennessee narrowly escaped a late comeback by Tennessee Tech on Saturday night, where the Golden Eagles hung 341 total yards en route to a 20-3 second-half run. Frank Peasant saved the day with a 30-yard touchdown run with 16 seconds remaining, leading to a 32-25 victory.
But the Blue Raiders will face a much bigger test when they travel to Oxford, MS for a week two matchup with the No. 6 Rebels. A Lane Kiffin-led offense is a problem for anybody, but this year is different and could be the best in Kiffin’s 16 years of being a play-caller.
All-SEC QB Jaxson Dart, WR Tre Harris, and TE Caden Prieskorn are back for their final year along with a veteran offensive line who have combined for over 150 starts. On Saturday, the Rebs also played an FCS team in Furman, but they took care of business and dominated offensively. Putting up 76 points and 772 yards behind Dart’s career day where he threw for 418 yards and five touchdowns. Becoming the first SEC quarterback to throw for 350 yards by halftime since Joe Burrow in 2019.
MTSU Coach Derek Mason on Dart and the Rebel offense
“I’ve seen Jaxson [Dart] since he was a young guy and he’s always had a competitive aura about himself,” Mason said. "You would usually want to pressure and confuse a quarterback but when you’re talking about him you’ve got to be careful because when you leave him with edges and the RPO game, he’ll dice you up.”
“He’s a good runner but what he’s become pronounced in is keeping his eyes downfield, he scrambles to throw. If you don’t do a good job on your man, he will hurt you. For the offense as a whole, it’s a chess match, they do a great job of finding ways to get their playmakers the ball. They love to take vertical shots, run the ball and run up-tempo. Coach Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr are two pronounced offensive minds, so we’ve got to play 11-man football.”
Avoiding Injuries
Against Tennessee Tech, starting cornerbacks De’Arre McDonald and Tyrell Raby were banged up and had to sit out for a bit. Fortunately, they weren’t injured too badly and came back into the ballgame. They will have a week to recover and become fully healthy, giving the Blue Raiders a full secondary which they will need to be able to compete with that loaded Ole Miss receiving core.
Looking at the numbers
After only one game it’s too early to look at stats but one thing to monitor is the Rebel rushing attack versus the MTSU front seven. Ole Miss rushed for 248 yards on Furman, however, Middle only gave up 67 yards and 3.4 yards per carry, so attempting to take away the run game could be an option for MTSU.
Brendon Harris missed last year with an injury but the other four defensive backs who get meaningful snaps recorded five interceptions and 14 pass breakups in 2023. So, the secondary has shown that they’re able to defend the pass when tested.
The Ole Miss offense averaged 286 passing yards a game while protecting the football with a 26-6 TD/INT ratio and two of the best weapons in the nation, Harris and Prieskorn. Making it a challenge for any defense but especially MTSU who will have to deal with the home crowd of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Both teams will kick off on Saturday at 3:15 PM CT in Oxford.
