The Picks are In

We are now past the halfway point of the 2019 college football season.

As you likely know by now, the GoMiddle staff chimes in with the picks for each MTSU game.

Here are the standings

- Austin Lewis: 5-1

- Rickey Fuquay Jr: 5-1

-Garrett Hinners: 4-2

-Matthew Dossett: 3-3

***Below are the picks for MTSU @ North Texas****

Redshirt Sophomore Quarterback Asher O'Hara tallied 335 yards along with one touchdown and three interceptions on 24-of-42 passing; however the Blue Raiders suffered their first Conference USA loss of the year by 15 points to Florida Atlantic.

The Blue Raiders now travel to Denton, Texas where the road meetings have been split between these two rivals.

For the second week in a row, the key for MT will be whether they can slow down the passing attack against a North Texas team led by Senior Quarterback Mason Fine. Fine leads the C-USA in passing touchdowns with 14 touchdown throws.

Meanwhile Junior Wide Receiver Jaelon Darden leads the league in receiving touchdowns with six. O'Hara will bounce back in a big way; however the QB-WR duo in Fine and Darden will prove to be too much for the Blue Raider defense to handle.

Middle Tennessee 20, North Texas 30

After a disappointing loss in south Florida last week, the Blue Raiders head to North Texas to face Seth Littrell this weekend. Littrell, 25-21 as a head coach at North Texas, is coming off two consecutive nine win seasons with the Mean Green. The 2019 campaign, however, hasn’t started well for Littrell’s team. Much like the Blue Raiders, they enter the game with a 2-4 record.

Defensively, I expect North Texas to lean on quarterback Mason Fine this weekend. He’s a solid quarterback that does a good job of protecting the football.

Offensively, O’Hara will rebound from the three interception performance last week with a few touchdowns of his own. It won’t be enough, however, and the Blue Raiders will lose the game by a final score of 34-24

This match up is hard to break down. Neither team is where they wanted to be at this point this season. Both had some difficult Power 5 games to start the season and are 1-1 in conference.

I lean on Vegas for matchups like this and when North Texas opened up at -9 favorites it made me raise an eyebrow. I thought, at first glance, these two teams were much closer to each other than 9 points. That line has since been bought down to around -7.5, but I still think it's too high.

Offensively the edge goes to North Texas but this is going to be a close game. I like North Texas to win by a FG or at best a single touchdown. Give me MTSU and the points.

NT 31 - MTSU 28

So, I am currently sitting in last place when it comes to the GoMiddle standings. There have been a couple times this season where I gambled on my picks.

I predicted the Blue Raiders to upset Duke, and we all know how that went.

I also picked MTSU to go down to Boca Raton and defeat FAU led by Lane Kiffin. And...Whiff again!.

When it comes to picking the MTSU/North Texas game I am going to remain on the cautious side.

I do not think it's going to be a lopsided affair. Both squads enter this contest with a record of 2-4. I think that MT has had a more difficult slate, though.

If this game was to be played at Floyd, I would be tempted to go out on a limb and pick the Blue Raiders. The fact of the matter is that the game will be played in Denton, Texas.

Look for North Texas to throw it all over the yard with Mason Fine. The Mean Green also boasts six receivers with over 100 yards receiving for the season.

Jaelon Darden is the bell cow of the group, coming into the ball game with 350 yards receiving to go with six touchdown snags.

MTSU will come forth with a valiant effort, showing some grit, but in the end, NT's offense will be too much to handle.