This Saturday, the Blue Raiders (1-1) will host the Charlotte 49ers (2-0) inside Floyd Stadium as both teams will be looking to start CUSA play in the winner column. Kickoff is set for 6 PM and the game can be heard on the Blue Raider Network.

Last week, MT traveled down to Tuscaloosa to take on the Crimson Tide of Alabama in what was predicted to be a lopsided matchup. The Blue Raiders got down early, but from that point to the middle of the 2nd quarter the Blue Raiders MT showed they had plenty of fight to give the nations No. 2 ranked team. Thanks to a slew of untimely turnovers, however, MT was only be able to put three points up on the board heading into the break.

From that point on, the Tide found their groove and quickly blew their 23-3 halftime lead wide open, ultimately handing the Blue Raiders their first loss of the season, 37-10. QB Brent Stockstill finished the game passing for 174 yards with one interception, while adding 29 yards on the ground. WR Richie James had a career day, hauling in 10 receptions for 96 yards. On defense, both Jeremy Cutrer and Kevin Byard would finish the day with interceptions, and the Blue Raider defense finished the day with six QB hurries and four pass breakups to boot.

As for the 49ers, they took on the Presbyterian College Blue Hose last Saturday. UNCC started out slow, though, as it took the majority of the first quarter for QB Matt Johnson to throw his first touchdown pass of the game. The 49ers got things going much more efficiently from there, scoring two more times and adding a field goal to finish out the half leading comfortably, 24-0.

After the break, Charlotte pushed the score to 34-0 before the Blue Hose could muster any offense, but it was too late as the 49ers coasted to the finish, winning 34-10. Matt Johnson would finish the game completing 8-of-11 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns. WR Austin Duke finished with 166 receiving yards and one score. The 49er defense flexed their muscles in a big way, holding Presbyterian to just 112 yards of total offense, including limiting the Blue Hose passing game to just 3-of-17 on attempts for just nine yards.

On Offense

Through the first two games this year, Charlotte's defense has looked very stout as they have only allowed an average of 154 yards passing and 98 yards rushing per game, but you have to take that with a grain of salt given the competition that they have faced to this point. Georgia State and Presbyterian are not exactly the stoutest offensive units that the game of college football has to offer. I look at this game as the first true test for the 49er defense, and I expect MT to throw the playbook at them as they look to rebound from last week's disappointing scoring performance.

So where should Middle Tennessee attack the Charlotte defense? I think they should go back to what they did week one and attack the 49er defense with the arm of Brent Stockstill. Getting the running game going early will certainly help this cause, but I think MT should challenge the UNCC secondary early and often and truly utilize the one-two combination of WRs Ed Batties and Richie James.

Against Georgia State, Charlotte allowed 299 yards passing and two touchdowns, showing that they can be thrown on. I believe that is where the Blue Raiders will find the most success against this defense, and when they need to, they can call on Stockstill to keep Charlotte honest by pulling the ball down and making some plays with his legs, which he has shown he is capable of doing.

The major key for the Blue Raider offense Saturday, however, will revolve around doing a better job of holding on to the ball and not making momentum-killing mistakes. Middle Tennessee enters the game with a -1.5 turnover margin and if they want to start conference play off with a win, they will need to eliminate these mistakes.

On Defense

When it comes to the 49ers offense, they have put up an average of 178 rushing yards and 263 passing yards per game on the young season, but have shown that they are a very run-heavy team, averaging 50 rushing attempts per game so far. Charlotte has multiple players with over 20 carries on the season, so the Blue Raiders will need to keep an eye on who is coming and going throughout the game. RBs Andrew Buie, Kalif Phillips and QB Matt Johnson will all notch their fair share of carries against MT. Phillips has had the most success thus far, averaging over five yards per carry to date.

On the season, the Blue Raider defense has allowed an average of just 112.5 rushing yards per game, giving up a total of 225 rush yards. That said, 220 of those yards came against Alabama and early Heisman candidate RB Derrick Henry. The Blue Raider run defense will need to show that they can perform like they did in week one to shut down the rushing attack of the 49ers. If MT can do this and turn the 49ers into a more one-dimensional unit, more opportunities should present themselves for sacks and interceptions, things that MT will need to capitalize on when the time comes to keep UNCC from building momentum and finding comfort levels within their offense.

The Blue Raiders enter the game against the 49ers sitting as high as 20.5-point favorites on the betting lines, which is very doable if fans see the team that took the field in week one and early on against Alabama.

I expect QB Brent Stockstill to have a solid game and to look more like he did against Jackson State. The Blue Raider defense should be able to stand their ground against the UNCC rushing attack, which will not be anywhere near the level of play that they faced in Tuscaloosa. Look for MT to load the box early to break the 49ers from their planned attack, and once UNCC starts looking downfield to make plays, look for MTs improved secondary to force a few turnovers en route to a solid CUSA opening win.

Final Score: Middle Tennessee 38, Charlotte 17