MTSU/WKU Staff Predictions

The GoMiddle staff is back at it again, this time they bring the predictions for MTSU's home game against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers!

Here are the predictions:

Rickey Fuquay Jr. (3-0 on the season)

Middle Tennessee Redshirt Junior Asher O'Hara put on a show in the second half with three touchdowns through the air along with 372 yards on 31-of-47 passing; however it wasn't enough as Texas-San Antonio held on for a 37 to 35 win over the Blue Raiders.It's Homecoming Week and "The 100 Miles of Hate" rivalry is in town. Western Kentucky comes into matchup ranked dead last in Conference USA in total YPG on offense while MT is fourth in C-USA in total YPG on defense.

The key for this matchup will be can the Blue Raiders contain Senior Graduate Student Quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome who is 10th in C-USA in rushing yards and ninth in C-USA in passing yards.MT showed resilience with a zero turnover performance in the second half Friday night.The Blue Raider offense will once again come through alive; however I think Pigrome will come through clutch in regulation.

WKU: 38

Middle Tennessee: 35

Matthew Dossett (3-0 on the season)

This is a game that I think is very winnable for the boys in blue. It seems to me at this juncture that both teams are evenly matched.

Look for this game to be wild, frenetic and a game that goes down to the wire in crunch time.

As is tradition this season, MT quarterback Asher O'Hara will likely be running for his life most of the game. I still expect O'Hara to conjure up some magic and do some damage with his arm and his legs.

Western Kentucky brings a pretty balanced offensive attack to the table. They have thrown the ball an average of 24 times a game and have 63 rushing attempts on the year through two outings.

Look for some wackiness and zaniness with this game. Maybe a blocked punt or a fake field goal score for one of the teams?

I am going to branch out and predict a Middle victory. This will be the first time I've done that this season when it comes to the staff predictions.

Look for both teams to trade blows, but ultimately, MT gets the job done and gets on the board with a W. Barely.

MT: 31

WKU: 30

Tyler Pellom (3-0 on the season)

The Middle Tennessee offense finally showed some life this season in the close loss to UTSA. When the game was scheduled, I, and others, believed the short turn-around time would lead to a gassed MT team throwing in the towel - but the opposite happened.

Rick Stockstill and the staff did a good job to not "lose" the team after two blowout losses, and the team fought admirably.

All this leads me to believe this game will be close. Both sides are begging for anything to go right - and this is the biggest rivalry game of the season (and homecoming for the Blue Raiders.

I really wanted to pick MT - but when Matt and I were bouncing around ideas for this week, he let me know he'd be picking Middle, and I'm nothing if not a hipster. I'll let him go out on the limb this weekend.

Vegas has the line at WKU -7 and I think that's pretty close.

WKU: 34

MT: 28