Middle Tennessee Blue
Raiders
Preview 2009
By
Pete Fiutak
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2009 CFN Middle
Tennessee Preview |
2009 MT Offense
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2009 MT Defense |
2009 MT Depth
Chart
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2008 MT Preview |
2007 MT Preview |
2006 MT
Preview
Now there are no excuses.
A lousy academic progress report
cost the program a few scholarships over the last few years, but now
the talent level is high, there’s depth, there’s experience, and
there’s no reason whatsoever for the Blue Raiders to not get over
the hump and finally, finally
come up with another winning season and pull off the Sun Belt
title.
Head coach: Rick Stockstill
4th year: 17-20
Returning Lettermen:
Off. 20, Def. 22, ST 4
Lettermen Lost: 11 |
Ten
Best MT Players
1. LB Danny Carmichael, Sr.
2. S Jeremy
Kellem, Jr.
3. CB Alex Suber, Sr.
4. RB Phillip Tanner,
Jr.
5. OT Mark Fisher, Jr.
6. WR Malcolm Beyah, Soph.
7. DT Dwight Smith, Jr.
8. WR Eldred King, Sr.
9. QB
Dwight Dasher, Jr.
10. RB/WR Desmond Gee, Sr. |
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2009 Schedule
CFN
Prediction: 6-6
2009 Record: 0-0
9/5 at Clemson
9/12 Memphis
9/19 at Maryland
9/26
at North Texas
10/6 at Troy
10/17 Miss State
10/24 Western Kentucky
10/31 at Florida Atlantic
11/7 FIU
11/14 UL Lafayette
11/21 Arkansas State
11/28 at ULM
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2008 Schedule
CFN
Prediction: 5-7
2008Record: 5-7
8/28
Troy L 31-17
9/6 Maryland W 24-14
9/13 at Kentucky L 20-14
9/20 at Arkansas St L 31-14
9/30 Fla Atlantic W 14-13
10/4
OPEN DATE
10/11 at FIU L 31-21
10/18 at Louisville L 42-23
10/25 at Miss State L 31-22
11/1
OPEN DATE
11/8 UL Monroe W 24-21
11/15 at WKU W 21-10
11/22 North Texas W
52-13
12/3 at UL Laf
L 42-28 |
This will be one of the Sun Belt’s most interesting teams with ten
starters returning, and that doesn’t count QB Dwight Dasher, one of the
stars of the 2007 team, and seven starters return to the defense. Yes,
there are concerns at outside linebacker and Dasher needs to prove he
can handle being the full-time leader, but those are minor issues.
Everything is in place to win the title.
The special teams got a
boost with the addition of coach Steve Ellis, but the real noise was
made on the offensive side with Tony Franklin coming in to run his
offense after struggling at Auburn last year. The Blue Raiders have the
personnel in place to not just take to the tweak in style quickly, but
to blow up if Dasher and his speed and quickness are able to combine
with more efficient passing.
The receiving corps should be the
best in the Sun Belt, the O line is fantastic, the backfield is loaded
with speed, the secondary will be among the league’s best, and the pass
rush will be improved. It’s all there to go on the best run in the Rick
Stockstill era, but that also means the program has to fight its past.
Every time Middle Tennessee appears to be ready to make a big jump,
something goes wrong or there’s another Sun Belt team that turns into a
star. North Texas became the league’s juggernaut when the Blue Raiders
first got into the league in 2001. Troy took over the role, and then
Florida Atlantic rose up. Middle Tennessee has been close, it had the
2006 title there for the taking before collapsing at home in the season
finale against Troy, but now with so much veteran talent and the upgrade
among the assistants, this needs to be the year the program wins the
title.
What to watch for on
offense: The spread. It’s not a night-and-day difference from what
the Blue Raiders did in the past, but the offense will undergo a change
with Franklin’s spread attack. With so much returning experience, the
learning curve might not be all that steep, but the experience and the
strengths of the team, like the solid receiving corps and the speedy
running backs, has to translate into a bigger offensive year.
What to watch for on defense: Even more of a pass rush. The
defensive front has been great at getting into the backfield and has
been among the best in the Sun Belt at making tackles for loss. Now it
has to do more when it comes to getting to the quarterback, and it will.
With a talented, veteran secondary to rely on, the defense can take a
few more chances to come up with the big play.
The team will
be far better if … the running game improves. There’s no reason the
ground attack should be so mediocre with speedsters at running back, a
veteran line, and now, Dasher at quarterback. The passing game isn’t
going to be as strong as it was last year, even though the receiving
corps is loaded, so if the Blue Raiders aren’t running for close to 200
yards per game, there will be a problem.
The Schedule:
The Sun Belt slate has a bad break with the two toughest games, Florida
Atlantic and Troy, on the road. The Blue Raiders need to at least split
those two to have a shot at winning the Sun Belt title. The bigger
problem could be a nasty finishing kick with three road games in four
weeks going to FAU, ULM and Troy wrapped around a home date against UL
Lafayette. The non-conference schedule, as always, is tough with road
trips to Clemson and Maryland, a revenge game for the Terps, along with
home games against Memphis and Mississippi State. On the plus side,
there’s a nice three game home stretch in October.
Best Offensive Player:
Senior RB Phillip Tanner. The only question mark over his career has
been durability. He didn’t get a ton of work last year, even though he
led the team with 188 carries, but he finished with 16 total touchdowns
and he showed off his home-run hitting ability enough times to keep
feeding him the ball. While Tanner might be the best offensive player
going into the season, it could be QB Dwight Dasher if everything goes
well.
Best Defensive Player:
Junior FS Jeremy Kellem. LB Danny Carmichael will be the team's leading
tackler and CB Alex Suber should be considered in the talk of the team’s
best defensive player, but it’s Kellem who does a little of everything
for the defense with great range, big-time tackling ability, and good
ball skills. He’s the all-star the veteran secondary will work around.
Key player to a successful season:
Junior QB Dwight Dasher. With everyone back on offense, a fantastic
receiving corps, speed to burn at receiver, and one of the Sun Belt’s
best lines, all that’s missing is steady play from the quarterback.
Dasher has the potential to either be a superstar in the new offense who
carries the team to a huge season, or an inconsistent problem who needs
time to get his feet wet handling the attack.
The season will be a success if
... the Blue Raiders win the Sun Belt title. Getting to a bowl game and
coming up with a winning record would be a great step overall, but with
all the returning experience and all the potential for greatness on both
sides of the ball, it’s not a bad thing to think big. The program was
close to getting over the hump a few years ago before blowing it late.
This year’s team won’t have much of an excuse.
Key game:
October 31 at Florida Atlantic. The Blue Raiders have to go to Troy in
late November in what might be a make-or-break battle for the Sun Belt
title, but they have to beat the Owls first. If all is going according
to plan, the veteran team should be jelling in the new offense, and
solid defensively, by Halloween. Also, if all is going well, the Sun
Belt record should be 3-0 going into the showdown.
2008 Fun Stats:
- Sacks: Middle Tennessee 25 for 147 yards – Opponents 15 for 141 yards
- Average rushing yards per game: Opponents 153.5 – Middle Tennessee
106.9
- Punt returns: Opponents 38 for 384 yards – Middle Tennessee
13 for 81 yards
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2009 CFN Middle
Tennessee Preview |
2009 MT Offense
-
2009 MT Defense |
2009 MT Depth
Chart
-
2008 MT Preview |
2007 MT Preview |
2006 MT
Preview