GoMiddle Predicts the Season
The long wait is coming to an end. MTSU football is fast approaching. The GoMiddle staff will provide a prediction for each and every game throughout the course of the season.
Prior to that, the staff has compiled what they think will happen in 2019.
Below is the season prediction from the staff members.
Matthew Dossett
I think that the odds are certainly stacked against the Blue Raiders this season. Do I think the team possesses talent? Yes, I do. Do I think they have the juice to be competitive? Yes, I do. I just honestly think that 2019 will prove to be a gauntlet for the Blue Raiders, especially when you look at their out-of-conference slate.
MT opens up at the big house against Michigan in what could turn into a lopsided loss. Michigan is just bigger, faster, stronger and better. The other out of conference games are: Tennessee State, Duke and Iowa. I think that the Blue Raiders will take care of business against Tennessee State, but things could get extremely dicey with the Duke and Iowa contests.
Out of those two games, I think that the Duke game is more winnable. Another thing to consider is that MT opens up the season with their four out of conference opponents. This is significant because the Blue Raiders may be trying to gain footing and work out the kinks.
I expect the Michigan Wolverines to throttle MT. After that, MT will beat TSU and they will lose to Duke and Iowa.
After that, I honestly don't have too much conviction when it comes to picking MT's Conference USA slate. I think C-USA will have a whacky, nutty year.
If I had to pin down a prediction, I would say that they will finish middle of the pack in the Conference USA East Division.
I think that Randall Johnson will emerge as the guy at the quarterback spot. He may take his lumps, but I like his upside.
Prediction for regular season: 6-6
Rickey Fuquay Jr
Middle Tennessee is coming off an 8-6 (7-1 C-USA) campaign that saw the Blue Raiders win their first Conference USA East Division title and earn a trip to the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
They will kick off the 108th season on Saturday, August 31, 2019 against No. 7/No. 14 Michigan. Kickoff at Michigan Stadium, A.K.A., “The Big House” is set for 6:30 p.m. and will air nationally on the Big Ten Network.
MT has been picked to finish fourth in the preseason C-USA Media Poll. Junior Safety Reed Blankenship was named to the Jim Thorpe Award Watch List as well as the Bednarik Award Watch List. Redshirt Senior Offensive Line Josh Fannin was named to the Rimington Award Watch List. Redshirt Senior Linebacker Khalil Brooks was named to the Wuerffel Award Watch List. Senior Wide Receiver Ty Lee was named to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List. Redshirt Junior Placekicker Crews Holt was nominated to the 2019 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. On top of all that, Blankenship and Brooks were named to Preseason All-C-USA.
All these accolades can only lead to one question: Will the Blue Raiders be going bowling for the fifth straight year. I’m going out on a limb here and saying that this will be a down year. MT will finish 5-7 (4-4 C-USA) with losses to Michigan, Duke, Iowa, Florida Atlantic, Florida International and Western Kentucky.
Prediction: 5-7
Garrett Hinners
Blue Raider football is back! Almost 3,000 uniform combinations for this MTSU football team and, honestly, that's probably the most exciting thing about them this season. I hate being the bearer of bad news, and please don't kill the messenger, but Middle Tennessee will be bad this year... like 2011 Sun Belt bad. I'm currently projecting them to start the season 0-8.
We'll do a game by game breakdown throughout the season so I won't go into specifics here, but that'll give you an idea of what kind of season I expect it to be. The out of conference schedule is incredibly difficult. Not to mention there are a lot of questions around this team. The offensive foundation of Brent Stockstill is gone and I'm still not sure who will start the season at QB for the Blue Raiders, Ty Lee is the lone bright spot on that offense for me, although it'll be interesting to see if Zack Dobson can also make some noise.
The Defense should be good, but good enough to carry the offense, that will take quite a few steps backward this season, probably not. All in all, the MTSU faithful will probably want to fast forward through this upcoming season. My final projection: 3-9.
Prediction: 3-9
Austin Lewis
Rick Stockstill enters his fourteenth year in Murfreesboro with three games against power conference opponents. It’s the fourth time in five years the Middle Tennessee head coach has faced at least three power conference opponents. And I expect the Blue Raiders to lose all three games but pull out a victory against Tennessee State.
The battered and bruised Blue Raiders will limp through the conference schedule, losing to Marshall, Florida Atlantic, and North Texas. A late season rally will see the Blue Raiders earn victories over Florida International, Charlotte, Rice, and Old Dominion before losing a heartbreaker against Western Kentucky to close the season.
Their 5-7 season won’t be enough to sneak into a bowl, but it will be enough to assure Rick Stockstill is head coach in 2020.
Prediction: 5-7
Casey Bowman
As football season draws near, I can’t help but feel a bit more optimistic about Middle Tennessee’s chances this season than my counterparts here at GoMiddle.com.
I asked my peers how they would rate MT’s chances if Brent Stockstill we’re still under center. Unsurprisingly, they all seemed to have a better outlook at that point. And that’s really where the success of this season will come down to - the quarterback play.
My take on this is that regardless if it’s Asher O’Hara or Randall Johnson under center, I think there’s more than enough talent in each of them to carry MT to a potential winning season.
And when you counter in the fact that MT’s defense may be the best in CUSA this year, things start looking much better to me.
So there’s the potential to have a pretty good offense and a really good defense. The schedule, however, is pretty damn tough, particularly the OOC portion - so that negates a few things.
I see MT starting the year 1-3 with the Duke game teetering with possibilities. Alas, I can’t give this team that win right now. They will, however, play their best ball where it matters most - in conference play. I can make a case for eight wins here, but if things go south, I could also make a case for four wins, so I’m going to play it safe and split the difference.
Prediction: 6-6