Official Tigers vs Blue Raiders Game Thread

LSU - 49
MTSU - 3

MTSU doesn't have as potent of an offense as one might think... Yeah they scored 40+ on Louisville but that won't matter... LSU will hault them in their tracks (the 3 coming late while our cheerleaders are playing), thus exposing Louisville in the process for having a sieve-like defense.

 

The newspaper in Nashville is a good source for MTSU homer news. I hope this link is helpful. Lots of article for you to read.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=SPORTS0603

 

Actually, www.DNJ.com is a better paper to read. It is the local paper. The Tennessean picks up some of the stories, but not all of them.

 

Thanks for the welcome. I'll do my best to answer your questions and hopefully you won't consider this post too long. I have actually attended both of our first games and I am the publisher of the Blue Raider Scout site, www.BlueRaiderZone.com, so I have some knowledge, but I certainly don't have all the answers.

First of all, a lot of people don't know this, but Middle Tennessee has the largest undergrad enrollment in the state of Tennessee. Yes, even more than our Orange wearing neighbors in Knoxville.

I wish I had the answer about the huge turnaround from game one to game two. We also accomplished it on a short week. To me that's nothing more than amazing. Last year we were co-champions of the Sun Belt based on a very conservative offense and a dominating defense. Our defense was supposed to be our strength again this year, but so far that hasn't happened. We tried the same style of play in our first game. Unfortunately, due to a couple of mishaps Florida Atlantic had 3 possessions before we ever touched the ball. After holding them to 3 and out they had to punt. It was a very bad punt, but it hit one of our players and FAU recovered. They ended up scoring. We then fumbled the ensuing kickoff. I think a combination of being on the field too long in the 1st quarter and the Florida heat/humidity really hurt us in that game.

We appeared to have a different game plan against Louisville. We went to more of a spread offense. We moved one of our biggest playmakers, Desmond Gee (pronounced "G") from running back to wide receiver. DeMarco McNair is our starting tailback. He runs a 4.35 forty. He is complimented by back-up Phillip Tanner. Tanner is a little bit bulkier, but he ran a leg on our track relay team. He has explosive speed as well. Joe Craddock, our QB, is a first year starter. He has a good arm and he has mobility.

We are hurting on the O-line. One reason why we went to the spread is because of a major lack of depth on the O-line. We have had numerous injuries at that position and we only had 7 scholarship O-linemen available for the Louisville game. I look for us to continue the spread offense because there is no way we can line up with the Tigers D-line.

Our defensive line is supposed to be our strength. We return basically all our 2-deep players from last year. We have not looked very good this year so far, but there is some real talent on the D-line. Our secondary is not bad. # 24 Bradley Robinson has really been hitting hard this year. If you saw the Louisville game you might remember he was the one who stuck Douglas on the goal line. Roy Polite has been laying the hits on as well. Our secondary might be the hardest hitting one you have faced this year.

Our linebackers are young, but talented.

This is going to be an extremely tough test for the Blue Raiders. If we play like we did the first game then it will be over in the 1st quarter. If we play like we did against Louisville, I look for some Tiger fans to be somewhat nervous at halftime, then your depth will take over.

I was very proud of the way we played at Louisville (even though I'm never happy with a loss). I think we showed flashes of the talent we have. We are nowhere close to being on the same level as a LSU, but this is college football and as fans we can always pull for our team, no matter the odds.

I'm not sure who you could compare our play to in the SEC. Our Head Coach is Rick Stockstill. He played Quarterback under Bobby Bowden. He has also coached under Bowden, Spurrier, and Lou Holtz. Our offensive coordinator is G.A. Mangus. I think he played under Spurrier. I do know his style is like Spurriers. Many even call him Spurrier Jr. I think he really wants to open up the offense, but I think Stockstill has been hesitant until last week.

If you have any more question just post them and I will see if I can't answer them

FYI, as a side note, I think you have a much better team that USC.

 

Thanks for the info, BRZ.

IMO this info is important and should be in its own thread, but I do not know how to do that. If someone who has the knowledge to do it agrees with me, let's geterdun!!!!

 

I copied it and started a new thread.

 

One day you will get old and stupid and a young pup will come along and help you out. Thanks, BRZ. You are a welcomed guest to this forum. I know that Tiger fans will have a lot of questions for you.

As for me, I want to apologize in advance for the whoopin' that your team will incur on Saturday. In a way it just does not seem fair, but, then again, most in life is not. I am sure it will be a huge payday for MTSU and will bring many smiles to us Tiger Fans. Let's pray that no one gets hurt.
:geauxtige

 

I hope its not Taylor.:hihi:

 

Thanks for the info. I was trying to find a local paper out of Chattanooga. Only found the Free Press. Not very good.

 

If this LSU team evens shows up it will beat MTSU 63 to 0 it has to to keep it's ranking of #2 48 points will not keep LSU in #2 after this week ! That is a fact. You know that they want OKLA to play USC and not LSU ,