TOLEDO VERSUS MIDDLE TENNESSEE
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Thomas A. Robinson Stadium
Nassau, Bahamas
ESPN
Riding a three-game win streak, the Toledo Rockets will try to end their 1921 campaign with a Bahamas Bowl trophy Friday when they meet Middle Tennessee.
The Blue Raiders needed a 27-17 victory over Florida Atlantic in their regular season finale to reach .500, bringing a 6-6 overall mark to the bowl matchup. They went 4-4 in Conference-USA play and finished middle-of-the-pack in many C-USA stats.
Head coach Rick Stockstill has been with MT since 2006, when the Blue Raiders won the Sun Belt title with a 6-1 league mark. They went to the Motor City Bowl that year and fell to Central Michigan 31-14.
Overall, Middle Tennessee previously played eight bowl games under Stockstill, with three pitting the Blue Raiders against MAC teams. The latter have won all three meetings, so MT hopes to break through this time against favored Toledo. This is the first meeting between UT and MTSU.
Here is more on the two teams . . .
MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE BLUE RAIDERS (6-6, 4-4 C-USA)
• Middle Tennessee's last outing gave the Blue Raiders with bowl elegibilty and provided Stockstill with his 100th win at the school.. He also became the 30th active coach in the FBS ranks with at least 100 wins and is one of seven active coaches to have at least triple digit wins and all of them residing at the same school.
• Defense has provided MT with some key plays. Since ending the 2020 season last November, Scott Shafer’s defense made a point of emphasizing turnovers and creating more havoc in the backfield. Well, the players took it to heart and it has shown up in impressive numbers this season. The Blue Raiders rank as follows nationally:
Turnovers Gained: 1st (31)
Defensive TDs: 1st (6)
Fumbles Recovered: 1st (15)
Interceptions: 5th (16)
Tackles for Loss: 22nd (6.8)
Passing Efficiency Defense: 27th (120.97)
Rushing Defense: 32nd (128.2)
• Through 12 games, MT has gained 31 turnovers to lead the nation with 15 fumble recoveries and 16 interceptions. MT forced six turnovers against Marshall, which went down as the most since the Blue Raiders forced seven against Charlotte in 2015, and also turned USM over five times (23 total in the last seven games). The 31 turnovers are the most since 2013 when the Blue Raiders had 33 (also had 33 in 2009)
• The Blue Raider defense has scored six times this year to lead the nation with three interceptions for scores and three fumble returns. The six scores are the most by a Blue Raider defense in the FBS era which started in 1999.
• Middle Tennessee owns four blocked kicks this season to rank ninth nationally and the four blocks are the most by the Blue Raiders since they had five rejections in 2014. The Blue Raiders have two blocked punts and two blocked field goals with three of the four credited to defensive linemen.
• Junior defensive end Jordan Ferguson has enjoyed a career year in 2021 and has been highly disruptive. Ferguson leads the team with 8.0 sacks (ranks 1st in C-USA, 36th nationally) and 14 hurries while sharing the team lead with 15.5 TFLs (T1st in C-USA, 16th nationally). He has also added three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
• The Blue Raiders have scored in all three phases -- offense, defense and special teams --this
season two different times, which equals Iowa for the most of any team in the FBS this year.
• Senior Reed Blankenship became the alltime tackles leader at Middle Tennessee when he registered 13 stops against Charlotte to break Roosevelt Colvard’s mark of 344 tackles set from 1983-86. The record had stood for 34 years, 10 months and 2 days. The senior enters play against Toledo with 415 total stops to rank fourth nationally among active NCAA players.
• Dating back to 2019, Middle Tennessee has scored 80 times in its last 92 red zone appearances. The Blue Raiders ended 2019 with 25 straight red zone scores before failing in their lone appearance at Army in the 2020 season opener. MT is 33-for-40 in 2021.
• In his last three starts, true freshman Nick Vattiato has been extremely efficient throwing the football. In the three games he is a combined 66-for-93 for 71.0 percent. Against ODU he set personal highs with 34 completions and 49 attempts for 304 yards. The 34 completions are the fifth most in a single-game at MT and is the most ever by a true freshman. The 304 yards is also the most ever by a true freshman at MT. For the year, Vattiato is completing 67.6 percent of his passes which would rank fourth all-time for a single-season.
• After trailing 14-0 and 18-3 in their regular season finale against Florida Atlantic, Middle Tennessee scored the game's final 24 points. The final touchdown was a 71-yard fumble recovery by Jordan Ferguson.
• Quarterbacks Mike DiLiello and Nick Vittiato combined to complete 24 of 39 passes for 236 yards and one TD aginst the Owls. MT added 127 yards rushing, led by Martell Pettaway's five carries for 75 yards. DiLiello accounted for 12 of the team's 31 carries, netting 43 yards and a score.
• Florida Atlantic registered four sacks and six TFL against the Blue Raiders.
• Punter Kyle Ulbrich had eight boots against FAU, averaging 46.8 yards per kick.
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• The Rockets (7-5, 5-3 MAC) will be playing in their 19th bowl game in program history and their sixth in the last eight seasons.
• UT has a strong core of players that earned 11 All-MAC honors, including five first-team selections: senior offensive lineman Bryce Harris, senior defensive backs Tycen Anderson and Samuel Womack, junior running back Bryant Koback, and junior outside linebacker Jamal Hines.
• The Rockets fell short of a MAC Western Division title largely due to a 22-20 loss to eventual champ Northern Illinois Oct. 9. It's only other conference losses were also close affairs, with UT coming up short against Central Michigan (26-23 - OT) and Eastern Michigan (52-49).
• Toledo finished first among MAC teams in both scoring offense (34.2 ppg) and scoring defense (21.0 ppg).
• Bryant Koback was second among MAC rushers, averaging 106.2 yards per game (6.2 ypc). He was tied for first (MAC) with 15 rushing TDs and added three more on receiving scores.
• No team in the country takes care of the ball as well as the Rockets: they lead the country in fewest turnovers (six in 12 games) and fewest interceptions thrown (two in 12 games).
• Senior cornerback Samuel Womack has 15 pass breakups, third in the country. He has 40 PBUs for his career, the most in Toledo history.
• Toledo has scored 182 points in its last four games, an average of 45.5 per contest.
• Redshirt freshman quarterback Dequan Finn’s big game vs. Eastern Michigan on Nov. 2 ranks among the all-time most productive in Toledo history. Finn completed 30-of-45 passes for 461 yards and three touchdowns, all career highs. The 461-yard total ranks tied for second on Toledo’s all-time list with Bruce Gradkowski’s game vs. Pittsburgh in 2003. The all-time mark record is 505 yards by Logan Woodside vs. BYU in 2016.
• Devin Maddox and Isaiah Winstead have combined for 72 receptions, 1051 yards and five TDs. Matt Landers and Koback have contributed 45 catches, 710 yards and seven TDs.
• Three Rockets have at least 82 tackles: Jonathan Jones (89), Maxen Hook (89) and Jamal Hines (82). Hines owns a team-high 10 sacks.
• PK Thomas Cluckey has connected on all 49 PAT kicks. He has made 13 of 21 field goals, with a long of 50 yards.