Know the Opponent | Middle Tennessee - BleedTechBlue: Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Football & Basketball Recruiting

1. Rick Stockstill's team has had an up and down year in 2022. After a loss to James Madison to open the season, the Blue Raiders had a winning streak of three straight games followed by a losing streak of three straight games. Most recently, the Blue Raiders went on the road and defeated UTEP last week. What's been the vibe surrounding the program throughout the year?

It’s definitely been a rollercoaster of a season in Murfreesboro, with the incredible high of earning the program’s first win over an (at the time) AP Top 25 foe in Miami, which brought a ton of national and regional attention to the program, followed by quickly falling almost completely out of the C-USA title hunt with three straight losses, of which MTSU probably needed to win at least two of those three games against UTSA, UAB and WKU to feel like they had a shot to play for a title in December.

That being said, there’s been enough of a spark in certain units of the team, as well facing the weaker back half of the C-USA schedule, to give some slight confidence about finishing the year strong. After getting smacked in the team’s first game of the season at JMU, it has been impressive to see the team stay resilient and adapt week to week. But there’s a lot more work ahead of them to make this season a resounding success.

2. Chase Cunningham will make his 14th career start on Saturday afternoon. Ten of his 13 touchdown throws this season have come on throws of 20+ yards, is throwing the deep ball really the strength of his game?

To some extent, absolutely, though I think every opposing coach has seen the Miami film by now, where MTSU had scoring plays of 71, 69, and 98 yards. There’s no question slowing that part of the Blue Raiders’ offense down has been an emphasis so far through conference play for MTSU’s opponents. But when you have explosive wideouts like Jaylin Lane and DJ England-Chisolm outside, it is a little easier to take that deep shot a bit more often, and Cunningham has built up tremendous chemistry with his wideouts. Outside of the JMU game, where it was Cunningham’s first game back from an ACL tear, I don’t think I’ve seen him “miss” a deep ball, though a few have been dropped.

What impresses me most about Cunningham is his accuracy. It feels like he rarely misses his target all game, at whatever level he throws to. Some of that is scheme, of course, the Air Raid offensive coordinator Mitch Stewart runs has a heavy dose of screens and other short passes, but Cunningham is good at finding soft spots and getting his target the ball. Far easier said than done on both fronts.

3. After having a nice year in 2021, Jaylin Lane has really emerged as a premier playmaker in Conference USA in 2022. What makes the sophomore wide receiver so dangerous?

Jaylin Lane has really become a complete player this year, adding in excellent route running and catch radius to his previous skillset as a burner with elite speed and shiftiness. Those latter two traits are what got him noticed as a punt returner last year, where he was a FWAA Freshman All-American last season after finishing second nationally in punt return average.

Those traits are still able to get him open a lot of the time, particularly over the top, as well as help him turn short catches into longer gains (he had an 89-yard catch with about 80 yards of YAC against Miami). But where he’s gotten a lot better is his ability get open against the secondary as a No. 1 receiver, as well as fight for contested catches. When the offense is clicking, he’s usually a big reason why.

4. Coach Cumbie has talked about the size of the Middle Tennessee defensive line throughout the week. Is that the strength of the defensive unit? Who are a couple of other names on the defense to watch on Saturday?

The defensive line unit is, in my opinion, the best unit on either side of the ball for MTSU. A large reason of that is the group’s depth. They often rotate as many as nine players in on game days when the group is fully healthy, with at least two-thirds of those have collegiate starting experience at some point during their career. That depth helps keep everyone fresh, and more importantly effective, throughout the game.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t some standouts though. Jordan Ferguson is a name just about everyone knows in Conference USA during his sixth season as a Blue Raider: a high-energy defensive end with both power and finesse moves, leading the team with 7.0 TFLs this season. Tied for the team lead in sacks is Marley Cook and Zaylin Wood, who definitely fit that imposing size Coach Cumbie is referring to. Two excellent power rushers that cause opposing offensive lines a lot of problems.

Secondary has been a cause for concern most of the season in Murfreesboro, but the program thinks they’ve found a solution in the cornerback duo of Decorian Patterson, who already has four interceptions this season, and Teldrick Ross, who started the year at safety but move back to his natural outside corner position before the WKU game. Since moving Ross and his eight PBUs to corner, the secondary has been much improved.

5. What are the keys to the game for the Blue Raiders to win on the road on Saturday?

The team has talked a lot of late of focusing on playing their game well week-to-week, dominating in the trenches on defense, forcing turnovers and then moving the ball methodically down field with the air raid. That formula worked against UTEP.

Against the Bulldogs, the revamped secondary will need to hold up against one of underrated wide out groups in C-USA this year, while I think the offense will need to take advantage of the momentum they found on the group late against UTEP, and a more suspect LA Tech run defense, and be able to rush for at least 100 yards from a single running back, a modest but reasonable goal given how often MTSU passes.

If they can keep the ball out of the Bulldog offense’s hands, I think the Blue Raider defense will have enough depth to get some stops to win with a decent margin. If it turns into a shootout, however, things could get fun for a neutral, but nerve-racking for both fan bases in question really quickly.

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