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Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 2006 Preview

Middle Tennessee Football Preview By: Matt Fargo
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college football previews : #112 – Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Preview

by: Matt Fargo

Spring practices are in the books and fall camps will be here before you know it so that means getting an early jump on the 2006 NCAA football season. Knowing the teams now will save you time in August and Matt Fargo is here to help you get a grasp of what to expect this upcoming year. We go from worst to first in this 2006 College Football Preview.

#112 – Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 4-7 SU; 5-6 ATS

Fargo’s Take - The Blue Raiders will have a lot of new looks in 2006 – a new head coach, a new playing surface, new uniforms and hopefully a whole new attitude. Winning has not been a theme in Murfreesboro for the last four seasons and that led to the departure of head coach Andy McCollum and the hiring of Rick Stockstill to take his place. Stockstill has been around a long time and has worked under some of the best head coaches around so he does bring in a winning philosophy. Middle Tennessee brings back a lot on offense and should be improved in that area. Defensively, it was one of the best in the country last season but there are a lot of holes to fill this year due to graduation and injuries. The Blue Raiders have been huge underachievers over the past few years as they were talked about as being one of the best but never got it done. It will take some overachieving this year to make it work. Academic penalties have hurt the incoming class so depth could be a big concern.

Returning Starters on Offense – 7 Middle Tennessee averaged only 19.1 ppg last season as it was held to 10 or fewer points on five different occasions. Senior quarterback Clint Marks returns and he has the game to be the best quarterback in the conference but has yet to prove it. He threw only eight touchdown passes a season ago and with numerous question marks at the receiver position, he will have to step it up to be more productive. The running game looks good with Eugene Gross leading the way behind a very experienced line. Stockstill is considered an offensive-minded coach but he has served as high as offensive coordinator only once and that was with the 2003 East Carolina Pirates who ended up being one of the worst offenses around. The difference is that there is talent here.

Returning Starters on Defense – 5 A repeat performance from last year’s defense is not likely as there are simply too many losses to deal with. The defensive line took the biggest hit as there is not a senior around on the two-deep chart. The secondary is also without a senior as well but it has one of the best cover corners in the conference with Bradley Robinson. Experience is also prevalent at the safety spots. Similar to what Idaho is implementing on defense this year, the Blue Raiders are also going with speed to make up for some of the shortcomings. While the defense won’t be nearly as good, don’t expect a huge drop-off either as there is still enough around to remain competitive.

Schedule - Don’t expect too much success with the schedule that is on the plate of this team as it is brutal. Non-conference games at Maryland, Oklahoma and South Carolina are next to impossible as is a neutral site game with Louisville. It will come down to the Sun Belt slate and while it certainly is not a power conference, it doesn’t set up very well for the Blue Raiders. The four toughest games in the conference schedule are on the road but this team went 3-3 away from home last season (2-1 SBC) so winning on the road might not be a problem after all.

You can bet on… A win over Tennessee Tech is a guarantee unless Middle Tennessee decides to look ahead to its game at Oklahoma the following week. The Blue Raiders have not had a winning season in five years but they have won four or more games every season showing how close they were to being a very good team. They finished with a losing mark against the number and that was due to the difficulty of getting it done at home where they went 1-4 both SU and ATS. The four losses were by a combined 23 points, so reverse those and the Blue Raiders could be defending a conference title this season. They aren’t however and it won’t happen this year either.