Middle Tennessee 2012 Recruiting

2012 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders ... Head Coach: Rick Stockstill

Middle Tennessee
Blue Raiders

2011 Record:  2-6

Sep. 3 at Purdue L 27-24
Sep. 10 Georgia Tech L 49-21
Sep. 17 OPEN DATE
Sep. 24 at Troy L 38-35
Oct. 1 Memphis W 38-31
Oct. 6 WKU L 36-33 2OT
Oct. 15 OPEN DATE
Oct. 22 at Florida Atlantic W 38-14
Oct. 29 Louisiana L 45-20
Nov. 5 at Tennessee L 24-0
Nov. 12 at ULM
Nov. 19 Arkansas State
Nov. 26 FIU
Dec. 3 at North Texas

2010 CFN Prediction: 9-3
2010 Record: 6-7

Sept. 2 Minnesota L 24-17
Sept. 11 Austin Peay W 56-33
Sept. 18 at Memphis L 24-17
Sept. 25 at Louisiana W 34-14
Oct. 5 Troy L 42-13
Oct. 9 OPEN DATE
Oct. 16 at Georgia Tech L 42-14
Oct. 23 ULM W 38-10
Oct. 30 OPEN DATE
Nov. 2 at Arkansas St L 51-24
Nov. 13 North Texas L 23-17
Nov. 20 at WKU W 27-26
Nov. 27 Florida Atlantic W 38-14
Dec. 4 at FIU W 28-27
GoDaddy Bowl
Jan. 7 Miami Univ. L 35-21
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Middle Tennessee | The Entire 2012 Recruiting Class

Top 5 Middle Tennessee Recruits To Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. S Anfornee Stewart
6-1, 190, Scout.com 77th ranked, three-star safety.

2. WR Marcus Henry
6-1, 190, Scout.com two-star JUCO transfer

3. C Nick Nunez
6-4, 290, Scout.com two-star JUCO transfer

4. QB Austin Grammer
6-2, 200, Scout.com 163rd ranked, two-star quarterback. The Class 2A All-State quarterback completed 146-of-198 for 2,553 yards in 2010 with 32 touchdowns and only one interception. He added 102 rushes for 574 yards with eight touchdowns.

5. RB Jordan Parker
6-2, 190

The 2012 Class Was Heavy On... Receivers. The Blue Raiders haven’t been shy about going after skill players over the last few classes, and last year was about beefing up the lines, but the offense needs more pop for the near future. There’s no receiver depth to count on going into the year, so the JUCO route might be important to help out right away.

Team Concerns For 2012: Defensive back is the biggest issue with all four starters gone. After going JUCO for some instant impact players over the last few years, it would be nice to find a shutdown corner to rely on. Linebacker is also a must to work on. There are some nice prospects waiting in the wings, and they’ll need to step up and shine right away with Darin Davis and Gorby Loreus gone.

Looking Ahead To The 2012 Season: After a disastrous 2011, the Blue Raiders should be stronger with QB Jeff Murphy leading an offense that moved the ball, but didn’t score. Benny Cunningham and William Pratcher will handle the running game behind a decent-looking line, while the passing attack gets three key targets back including leading receiver Tavarres Jefferson. The defense that was such a nightmare last season will be experienced up front with all four starters returning, but the linebackers have to be better even though Roderic Blunt is the only returning starter. The big problem is a secondary that loses all four starters.

The 2011 Class Was Heavy On … Offensive linemen. After getting a bit of instant help from the JUCO ranks and the skill players over the last few seasons, the coaching staff is forming more of a foundation for the offensive front with a few solid prospects with 6-4, 300-pound JUCO transfer Micah James ready to step in and start tomorrow. J.D. Jones is a good, big center prospect who could play guard, and Darius Johnson will be a decent tackle once he hits the weight room.

2010 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 105. That Class Was Heavy On ... Key JUCO transfers. This was a good MTSU team last year and it should be in the mix for the Sun Belt title this season, but to get over the hump and win the championship it needed a few more pieces to the puzzle. In come five JUCO transfers to provide help for the depth chart with Logan Kilgore likely to be the No. 2 QB behind Dwight Dasher, Jamar Brown and Jared Bamber sure to be key targets in the passing game, and Arness Ikner a shut-down corner who needs to see time right away.

2009 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 99. That Class Was Heavy On ... Skill players. There’s a sprinkling of new recruits here and there, but the stars are at the skills with QB Jamal Ramsey one of the league’s best prospects and running backs David Jones and William Pratcher each good enough to change around the woeful running game. The receivers have size and speed, but they’re extremely unpolished.

Nov. 19 Arkansas State 45 … at Middle Tennessee 19

Nov. 12 at ULM 42 … Middle Tennessee 14

Nov. 5 at Tennessee 24 … Middle Tennessee 0
CFN Analysis: Tennessee’s defense didn’t let the Blue Raiders do anything. On the plus side, the Middle Tennessee defense wasn’t bad, keeping the Vol running game in check and not allowing any second half points, but Logan Kilgore had his worst game of the year, completing just 4-of-10 passes for 25 yards with a pick, and the depleted backfield didn’t pick up the slack. The offense is coming off its two lowest scoring outputs of the year, but Tennessee and ULL were two of the best teams on the slate. Against ULM, the defense might have to come up with a few takeaways to give Kilgore a shorter field to work with. Either that, or the passing game has to explode with no running game to take the pressure off.

Oct. 29 Louisiana-Lafayette 45 … at Middle Tennessee 20  

Oct. 22 Middle Tennessee 38 … at Florida Atlantic 14  

Oct. 6 WKU 36 … at Middle Tennessee 33 2OT
CFN Analysis: Middle Tennessee blew the layup and now the Sun Belt dreams are over. With Benny Cunningham out, William Pratcher picked up the slack with 106 yards on 16 carries, while D.D. Kyles ran well tearing off 96 yards and a score on 19 carries. The three turnovers were too much to overcome, and the defense had too hard a time getting off the field as WKU controlled the game and the clock. Converting 3-of-12 third down chances was a big problem, and breakdowns on special teams and on the offensive line turned out to be too much to overcome. Now at 1-4 with a road trip to Florida Atlantic up next there are problems. The Blue Raiders have to be perfect to win, and they haven’t been. 

Oct. 1 Middle Tennessee 38 ... at Memphis 31
CFN Analysis: This was supposed to be the layup game for the Blue Raiders to take a breather, but instead the defense was exposed. The Tiger offense hasn’t done a thing all year, but it rolled at will early on against a Middle Tennessee defense that can’t didn’t to the quarterback and is struggling to come up with key stops against the run. Logan Kilgore saved the game with his late heroics, throwing the game-winning touchdown pass in the final seconds, and finally the team got a win after a few close calls. With Western Kentucky up next, the defensive front has to be stronger against the run after far better against short to midrange throws. 
 
Sept. 24 at Troy 38 … Middle Tennessee 35
CFN Analysis: Middle Tennessee has to be kicking itself. Logan Kilgore threw for 415 yards and five scores, and Benny Cunningham ran for 117 yards as the ground game held up its end of the bargain, but the secondary melted down in the second half and the two turnovers, especially the fumble for a touchdown, were disastrous. The team is better than 0-3, and it’ll show it at home over the next three games against Memphis, Western Kentucky, and Florida Atlantic. The bad pass defense won’t have problems with any of the three. 

Sept. 10 Georgia Tech 49 … at Middle Tennessee 21
CFN Analysis: Middle Tennessee couldn’t get off the field. Georgia Tech hung on to the ball for almost 39 minutes after converting third down after third down, and while Logan Kilgore and the Blue Raiders came up with yards, it was way too little too late. The pass protection has been fine and the offense is putting up yards, but there aren’t enough meaningful ones. With two weeks off to prepare for Troy, figuring out how to get even more out of Benny Cunningham and the ground game is a must, while coming up with more third down stops would be something to figure out. The first two losses haven’t been truly awful, but the season will be a disaster, most likely, without a win over the Trojans in the Sun Belt opener.

Sept. 3 at Purdue 27 … Middle Tennessee 24
CFN Analysis: The Blue Raiders are going to come out of this game heartbroken, and considering they came close to beating a Big Ten opponent in last year’s opener, losing to Minnesota, they know there’s little to take from the close call. Logan Kilgore was fantastic, completing 27-of-45 passes for 330 yards with two touchdowns with a pick, and he did a great job of spreading the ball around. Alan Gendreau, though, had a rough game with a missed field goal and the blocked kick, and that proved to be the difference. With Georgia Tech up next, the defensive front will have to be even stronger after struggling with the Purdue ground game, and more than anything else, the turnovers have to be kept to a minimum. After the disaster or last year, it’s a really, really big deal that there was just one giveaway. 

2011 Recruiting Class

The 2011 Class Is Heavy On … Offensive linemen. After getting a bit of instant help from the JUCO ranks and the skill players over the last few seasons, the coaching staff is forming more of a foundation for the offensive front with a few solid prospects with 6-4, 300-pound JUCO transfer Micah James ready to step in and start tomorrow. J.D. Jones is a good, big center prospect who could play guard, and Darius Johnson will be a decent tackle once he hits the weight room.

Five Middle Tennessee Recruits You Should Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. CB Rodney O’Neal
5-11, 170, Scout.com’s 69th ranked cornerback

2. CB Jared Singletary
5-10, 175, Scout.com’s 122nd ranked cornerback

3. WR Chris Davis
5-10, 152, Scout.com’s 205th ranked receiver

4. CB Quayshun Smith
5-7, 170, Scout.com’s 159th ranked cornerback

5. OG Jason Rexroad
6-4, 265, Scout.com’s 126th ranked offensive guard

2011 Entire Recruiting Class

Drayton Allen-Calhoun RB 6-0 185 So. Clarkston, GA (Tucker HS)
Alexandro Antoine DE 6-2 230 Fr. Port a Prince, Haiti (Antioch (TN) HS)
Shubert Bastien DE 6-5 220 Fr. Riviera Beach, FL (William T. Dwyer HS)
O'Shae Bridges DE 6-3 230 Fr. Norcross, GA (Norcross HS)
Kevin Byard S 6-1 200 Fr. Lithonia, GA (M. L. King HS)
Timmy Byerly QB 6-1 218 Fr. Alpharetta, GA (Chattahoochee HS)
Christian Collis WR 6-1 195 Fr. Opelika, AL (Beauregard HS)
Marcques Dixon CB 5-11 190 Fr. Rex, GA (Southwest DeKalb HS)
Jerrold Frazier DT 6-1 280 Fr. Memphis, TN (Briarcrest Christian HS)
Tracy Hampton WR 5-10 175 Fr. Nashville, TN (Overton HS)
Jajuan Harley CB 6-1 200 Jr. Tallahassee, FL (Rickards HS)
Micah James OL 6-4 308 Jr. Landover, MD (Mill Creek HS/Georgia Military)
Darius Johnson OL 6-4 265 Fr. Orlando, FL (Dr. Phillips HS)
J.D. Jones DT 6-3 290 Fr. Cartersville, GA (Cartersville HS)
Roberto Loya OL 6-5 300 Fr. Douglas, GA (Coffee HS)
Rodney O'Neal CB 5-11 165 Fr. Dublin, GA (West Laurens HS)
Jason Rexroad OL 6-3 270 Fr. Myrtle Beach, SC (Myrtle Beach HS)
James Roberson S 6-2 190 Fr. Atlanta, GA (South Atlanta HS)
Marcus Robinson DT 6-4 250 Fr. Valdosta, GA (Creekside HS)
Jared Singletary CB 5-9 170 Fr. Green Cove Springs, FL (Clay HS)
Ykeem Wells LB 6-2 215 Fr. Buena Vista, GA (Marion County HS)
Shaun White QB 6-0 210 Fr. Pensacola, FL (Pensacola Catholic HS)