Middle Tennessee bounces back; Upsets Syracuse in the Dome 30-23

After a rough game last week and a slow start today, the Blue Raider offense that fans were waiting to see finally showed up to play. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders came from behind, scoring on three of their last four drives, to top the Syracuse Orange 30-23.

The offensive improvements started up front with the line. As the game progressed, they were about to give quarterback Brent Stockstill time to throw which turned out to be huge in this one, especially after early turnovers. The Blue Raiders were able to overcome all of this adversity and find offense when it needed it most.

Quarterback Brent Stockstill ended up throwing for 269 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers: Richie James (who lead the team in receiving), Shane Tucker, and Ty Lee. Lee also added a rushing touchdown to his total for the day as he saw extended time at the running back spot all day and lead the the team in rushing.

The defense also stepped up huge in this game, slowing down the potent Syracuse offense to under 200 yards passing and under 150 yards on the ground. Eric Dungey was never really able to get a rhythm going. The MTSU secondary stepped up by eliminating big passing plays and were even able to create a turnover on a great play by freshman Reed Blankenship.

Though there are still many flaws and improvements this team needs to make in the coming weeks, I think this game showed the heart of this team. They showed great resiliency by not letting the mistakes that happened early in this game define them. They showed toughness and made plays to keep them in the game and then surge into the lead late. All around, I think this is a strong showing Blue Raider fans can get excited about.