MTSU, a brief look

Middle Tennessee State (2-10, 1-7)--The Blue Raiders came into the 2011 season with 2 consecutive bowl games for the first time in school history. 2011 immediately turned into a disaster with a 2-10 record that ended with a 6-game losing streak. MTSU was 37th ranked nationally in passing yards with just over 250 yards and were respectable in the running game with 146.8 yards per game. The perplexing part for the Blue Raiders was that with a respectable offense in yards gained, MTSU was 96th nationally with only 22.3 points scored per game. Returning quarterback Logan Kilgore must improve his play and make sure that it doesn't drop off as the season progresses. The Blue Raiders used a 2-back rotation with Pratcher and Cunningham both collecting over 500 yards on the season. MTSU scored 35 touchdowns on the season and must improve that total to compete at all in the Sun Belt in 2012.

Defensively, the Blue Raiders were horrible. MTSU was 110th in the nation in scoring defense allowing just over 38 points per game in 2011. The Blue Raiders gave up a staggering 37 rushing touchdowns which was 2 more than their offense scored last season. MTSU was better at pass defense only giving up just over 140 yards per game in the air. Some of that was due to good pass defense and some of that was due to the inability to stop anyone's rushing game. The Blue Raiders lose 5 of their top 8 tacklers from the 2011 season but have some young players that improved significantly as the season ended. There is alot of work to be done for the Blue Raider defense but on the positive side, things cannot get much worse than they were in 2011.

Coach Rick Stockstill enters his 7th year as the MTSU head coach after several assistant coaching jobs following his playing career at Florida State. Until last season, the Blue Raiders had won at least 5 games in every season under Stockstill including 3 bowl trip and 1 bowl win. Stockstill has a 35-40 overall coaching record which was over .500 until the disaster of 2011. The 2011 season seems like an aberration for Stockstill and many think he will rebound in 2012.

Overall, an offense that generated yards but not points and a defense that was just pitiful resulted in the Blue Raiders having one of their worst seasons in team history. There must be a long look in the mirror from all of the players and coaches if this slide is going to be fixed. It is possible to fix the problems and make a huge improvement but the ingredients don't seem to be there for a quick fix. Expect another disappointing season for the Blue Raiders as they reassess their team and make some long team fixes to be a viable team in the Sun Belt future.