So, I want to start this week by saying I’m not always a negative person, or someone always looking for something to bash on. This series is new and I’m relatively new to GoMiddle.com, so I’m still getting my bearings, so to speak. I can, and will, come off as a blow hard, a perfectionist and just an overall pain in the ass (can I say ass? No? Ok, then, butt.) sometimes.

I predicted a 10-2 season for MT at the beginning of the season, and many people thought I wasn’t being realistic. We’ll know the answer to that question by seasons end. Maybe I have something to learn, maybe those nay-sayers do. More than likely we’ll all fall somewhere in the middle. But, what I am being is demanding. If you’re a fan of the Blue Raiders, you should be demanding, too. With an offense loaded with talent and a defense that is ripe with playmakers, excellence should be the expectation. When that is not the case, it should be called out.

Last week, I was tough on this team – specifically Tyrone Nix and the defense. This week, I’m in a good mood, so let’s focus on good times. After all, I’m sure there will be something else I can bash next week, so everyone is entitled to some positivity every once and a while.

It’s good to come home.

Here in the South, it’s something almost everyone has heard at one point or another. Home and family are all that is important, but maybe even more so here below the Mason-Dixon line. Being a veteran, I can attest to this phrase after coming off of a long deployment. There’s nothing like coming back to a place you know so well. A place that has so much history and so many memories for you. For I’Tavious Mathers, this rings true as well.

Mathers played high school ball at Blackman high school right in the heart of Murfreesboro. Considered one of the best running backs in the nation, he received an offer from MTSU along with 17 other schools, but was set on Ole Miss and the SEC.

He spent three years with the Rebels and, while he played well, but never quite broke through on the depth chart. With his eligibility almost expired, Mathers decided to come back home and play his last season at Middle Tennessee.

On a team where the campus talk is dominated around star quarterback Brent Stockstill and his stud wide receiver Richie James, I did not think there was any more room at the table when it came to notoriety and talent. I was wrong, very wrong.

Mathers has pulled a chair right up beside both of them. No other evidence is needed than the game he had last week against Bowling Green. Mathers took 27 carries for 157 yards. That’s a 5.8 average – even more impressive when you consider the field conditions. He also showed off his hands with four receptions for 103 yards. Mathers found pay dirt four times total and was the offense for the Blue Raiders in what was absolutely terrible weather. I’m not a meteorologist, but that was a monsoon.

Side note – What’s with all this rain on game days? Like seriously, it’s September, not April.

MT discovered they have a three-down workhorse in Mathers. It is no longer on Stock and James to carry this team; Mathers is happy to throw some of the weight on his shoulders. If the Blue Raiders are a three-headed monster, that only bode well for them and can help hide some other areas where they may still be lacking.

This senior has captured this city, this campus, and to be frank, he should have captured the hearts of every Blue Raider fan by now. His story is just too good to not like him. A kid leaves home to see the bright lights and the big city, he pursued his dream in the SEC and played against all the big dogs. Now, he’s come back where it all started because he remembers what so many of us forget. It’s good to come home.