Middle Tennessee College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Middle Tennessee Biggest Key: Offense
Get the downfield passing game going again. In general, the offensive line has to be better in pass protection, the running backs need to be more involved, and the offense just has to get things moving, but it all ties in to being able to stretch the field more. As good as Asher O’Hara was, he was more of an all-around playmaker than a bomber.
Whoever ends up under center has average more than seven yards per attempt. The Blue Raiders averaged just 6.7 yards per throw, but some of that has to come from the receivers cranking up more yards after the catch.
Middle Tennessee Biggest Key: Defense
Third down stops. It starts with a run defense that was hammered for 222 yards per game – it has to be stronger and can’t allow so many easy third down chances. It continues with a pass rush that wasn’t there from the front four and ended up being generated mostly from the linebacking corps.
Teams were able to convert on 54% of their third down tries, killing any and all momentum the team tried to have. By comparison, the D was under 40% from 2015 to 2017, and kept it to under 50% in 2018 and 2019.
Middle Tennessee Key Player To A Successful Season
RB Chaton Mobley, Jr.
Let’s throw the pressure on the offensive line to give the guy room to move. Former QB Asher O’Hara was the leading rusher over the last two seasons, and the offense struggled to find any positive consistency. Mobley led the team in rushing as a freshman in 2018 with 660 yards, but the ground attack struggled a bit too much.
If Mobley can get into a groove early on – again, the O line has a lot to do with this – the downfield passing game and the other parts should kick in, the pressure should be off the defense a bit, and the Blue Raiders should be able to do a better job of controlling games.
Middle Tennessee Key Game To The 2021 Season
at UTSA, Sept. 18
It was a 37-35 loss to the Roadrunners last year that seemed to mark a bad point early on. The team wasn’t ready for the blowout loss to Army, and it didn’t do anything against Troy, but it played well enough to win at UTSA and lost a close one. Another close loss to WKU the week after all but sealed the season.
It’s the Conference USA opener for the Blue Raiders, but it’s also a part of a brutal run of five road games in six dates. With a road date at Charlotte up next and Marshall to follow – and with a trip to Virginia Tech before this – a whole lot of pressure will be on the program with another loss.
– Middle Tennessee Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2020 Middle Tennessee Fun Stats
– 3rd Quarter Scoring: Opponents 110 – Middle Tennessee 44
– Average Yards Per Carry: Opponents 5.2 – Middle Tennessee 3.8
– Red Zone Scoring %: Opponents 94% – Middle Tennessee 81%