Murfreesboro, Tenn. – MTSU had a small shot of making a bowl game in Coach Derek Mason’s first year, but they would have to get through the Liberty Flames to continue that quest. The Flames would quickly end that search for bowling after a bludgeoning of Middle on their home field, 37-17
“We had some momentum early with a few turnovers, but the ability to capitalize just slipped through our fingers,” says Mason. “I told our guys afterward not to be about the peaks and valleys; you’re going to make mistakes, and we can work through those. Defensively, you’ve got to stop the run; we knew it was going to come at us, but we didn’t handle it well enough and didn’t execute enough on offense. So, the end result is what you saw today, the Blue Raiders have to be better.”
Middle Tennessee started the game hot, picking up 41 yards on the first two plays of the game before going three-and-out and punting it to the Flames. However, the defense would pick up the slack when Brandon Buckner recovered a dropped backwards pass that put them in Liberty territory.
Middle took advantage of the short field and marched inside the 10-yard line, where Hayes Sutton capped it off with an acrobatic dive to haul in his first touchdown as a Blue Raider.
“The play design was great. I had a whip route, so I ran that and made the most of my opportunity with a touchdown,” says Sutton.
Liberty would answer right back and find themselves in MTSU territory for a third and short play. Kaidon Salter would use his breakaway speed and scamper through the heart of the MT defense, going untouched for a 41-yard touchdown run to tie things up.
Middle would be forced to punt, but once again, the defense showed up and forced another turnover. This one, a fumble recovery by Xavier Williams around midfield.
Middle couldn’t do anything on offense and had to punt after three plays, and that’s when the Flames took control of the game. They were forced to punt, but after back-to-back fourth-down penalties from the Blue Raiders extended the Liberty drive. They were able to capitalize on it by going 10 more plays that ended in a touchdown run from Quinton Cooley.
Liberty would go on to dominate Middle Tennessee for the rest of the half, with two more touchdowns by Kaidon Salter and Julian Gray to punctuate a dominant half of football. Heading into halftime, leading 27-7.
The Flames would punt their first drive coming out of the half to give the Blue Raiders an opportunity to get themselves back in the ballgame. Nick Vattiato would lead a lengthy yet effective drive as MTSU entered the red zone after holding the ball for six minutes. On third down, he would find Sutton in the middle of the field, which looked to be a first down but would be marked short.
Mason elected to go for it, but Flip Credle was unable to pick it up, coming just a few inches short. Liberty would march down the field and find themselves deep in MT territory with a chance to end any Blue Raider faith. But a good play by Rickey Smith to knock the ball away on third down would force a field goal, which Colin Karhu would nail to extend the lead to 30-7.
MTSU refused to give up as Vattiato led his offense eight plays to the Liberty 17-yard line, where Terry Wilkins would catch a touchdown off a wheel route. His first receiving touchdown in his collegiate career.
On the next two drives, both teams would come up with points as Salter found Gray wide-open for his first multi-touchdown game of his career. Followed by a 48-yard Zeke Rankin field goal to cut the lead to 20 points. From there, the Flames would kneel out the rest of the clock to close out a dominant 37-17 win over the Blue Raiders.
“On the back end of these things, you’ve got to be careful about frustration. There’s always enough negative but where’s the get better, where’s the fight, I want to see us get better,” Mason said. “Let’s finish this thing the way that we can and that was truly the message to the team postgame.”
Game Balls
Offense: Quarterback Nick Vattiato
The signal caller had a solid day against a stout Liberty defense, where he completed 66% of his passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns.
Defense: Safety Xavier Williams
Williams continues to be a bright spot on what’s been a tough year defensively for the Blue Raiders. He led the team with 13 tackles on Saturday and kept Salter from hitting many deep shots.
Special Teams: Punter Grant Chadwick
The true freshman continues to shine as he punted four times for an average of 43 yards with three being downed inside the 20-yard line and one going for 50+ yards.
Looking Ahead
The Blue Raiders will get a bye week before having to take on a struggling New Mexico State for Senior Day on November 23rd. MTSU will try to finish the season out strong and improve on their win total of four from last season as they play the Aggies and FIU.
