The Day After Rundown
Middle Tennessee State was skunked Saturday afternoon by the Army Black Knights. They were throttled by 42 against Army. There is no skating around it, the Blue Raiders simply got boat raced and annihilated.
Here are Matt Dossett's thoughts on the game.
***MTSU wasn't ready and it showed***
It can be a daunting task to prepare for the triple option, which Army runs consistently. Middle Tennessee State had very little time to prepare for the triple option, and the lack of familiarization with the Army offense was apparent Saturday. Army did whatever they wanted Saturday with the triple option rushing attack. They ran it right down MT's throat. Army signal caller Christian Anderson only threw the ball four times. By contrast, Army ran the ball 62, yes, 62 times!
Obviously in football you want to avoid mistakes and bonehead moves. The Blue Raiders coughed up the ball on their first possession, an unacceptable play giving Army the rock with a very short field to go. A key to managing the triple option is for the defense, especially the defensive ends, to stay in their lanes and maintain the edge. MT was gashed play after play. There was no remedy for Army's rushing attack.
***Quarterback controversy?***
If you told me a week ago that Asher O'Hara would throw the ball for 46 yards against Army, I would have called you crazy.
O'Hara was way off, at times looking like a deer in the headlights. He completed nine balls on 14 passes, again, for 46 yards. To compound matters, O'Hara was intercepted twice on just awful throws.
Chase Cunningham was in the same boat as O'Hara, minus the picks. He completed seven passes on 10 attempts for 63 yards.
MT has two weeks to lick their wounds, rally and hopefully rebound against Troy. You can bet there will be plenty of quarterback reps to go around in practice. O'Hara could certainly right the ship and start playing better, but until that occurs MT should be having opening auditions each day at the practice field.
***Not good exposure***
Saturday was an embarrassment of epic proportions. Given that the big boy conferences haven't started playing yet, a lot more eyes were watching MT play Army on a nationally televised game on CBS sports network.
It was a prime opportunity to make a statement and bring positive exposure and attention from the masses. Instead, the exact opposite happened.
The MT football image is now tainted and the program took a massive hit when it comes to a PR standpoint.
Middle Tennessee was getting hammered on Twitter and was the center of many jokes because of their play.
When it comes to a program like MT, you only get so many chances to make a point on the national stage.
Even if MT was to start rattling off a few victories, many will remember them as the team that got drilled by Army. It is hard to erase that negative perception given that many don't follow the program religiously, and all they remember is the 42-0 beatdown.
***Injuries could derail the season***
Early on in the game, guys for MT were dropping like flies. If this keeps up, it could become a disaster for the team and the program. Just look at the two deep and you see a ton of youth and lack of experience. Many guys in the two deep are freshmen or junior college guys without a ton of D1 experience to write home about.
Specifically on offense, the margin for error is razor thin. Having transfer tailbacks Martell Pettaway and Amir Rasul opt out of the 2020 season was a huge body blow to the Blue Raiders. With that in mind it makes sense why there is big time concern when looking at the running backs. Against Army, MT ran the ball 24 times, and 10 of those times were by Asher O'Hara.
***Will MT rebound?***
The primary question to ask now is will Middle Tennessee State rebound and get off of the mat. Saturday was certainly a blow to the psyche.
Although it will be difficult, the Blue Raiders need to somehow put this in the rearview mirror.
They have a week off to shake off the cobwebs and get ready for the home opener against a stout Troy team.
The September 19 contest against the Troy Trojans will be a very telling one. In other words, we will learn a lot about what the Blue Raiders are made of.
There is a possibility they could mail it in and get dominated once again. Blue Raider faithful hope that the Army game was an aberration and that MT can rebound and get back on track.