Middle Tennessee moves one step closer to a bowl, beating Charlotte 35-21

Ever since starting quarterback Brent Stockstill has returned for the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, this team has continued to prove what they were capable of doing with their leader on the field. In a situation where the Raiders needed a win for their bowl chances, the MTSU offense rattled off four straight touchdowns in the first half to take control of the game, leading to a 35-21 win over the Charlotte 49ers.

On the day, Brent Stockstill threw for 255 yards and three touchdowns, breaking Middle Tennessee’s all-time passing yards record in the process. On top of making this offense consistent, Stockstill brought back the explosive plays Middle Tennessee has been missing in his absence. His ability to scan the field quickly and set up large plays is what this offense is built to do and you saw that on display Saturday afternoon.

Another huge part to the Blue Raiders success has been the emergence of Tarves Thomas as the new work-horse for this Blue Raider team. What started as a short yardage wrinkle of this offense, Thomas’s looks to the lead back going forward. Thomas finished with 195 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. He wore down this Charlotte defense and allowed the Raiders do what they wanted all day on offense.

Photo by Mike Comer/Getty Images

Charlotte’s Hasaan Klugh had a huge game, throwing for 258 yards and two touchdowns in a losing effort. He connected with Mark Quattlebaum for 94 yards and one of those touchdowns.

Middle Tennessee (5-5, 3-3) is now .500 on the year and travels to Western Kentucky this Friday to renew the 100 Miles of Hate rivalry. Charlotte (1-9, 1-5) travels next week to Hattiesburg to face the Golden Eagles of Southern Miss.