Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
2016 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team
First season	1911
Athletic director	Chris Massaro
Head coach	Rick Stockstill 11th year, 72–65 (.526)
Stadium	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium
Seating capacity	30,788
Field surface	Sportexe PowerBlade turf
Location	Murfreesboro, Tennessee
NCAA division	Division I FBS
Conference	C-USA
Division	East
All-time record	551–410–28 (.571)
Bowl record	2–5 (.286)
Colors	Royal Blue and White[1]
Fight song	MTSU Fight Song
Mascot	Lightning
Marching band	Band of Blue
Rivals	Western Kentucky Hilltoppers North Texas Mean Green Troy Trojans
Website	GoBlueRaiders.com

The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team represents Middle Tennessee State University in NCAA Division I FBS football competition. The Blue Raiders are members of Conference USA and play their home games at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Rick Stockstill is the head coach of the team.

History

Early History (1911-1925)

Middle Tennessee State University first fielded a football team in 1911 under the direction of head coach L. T. "Mutt" Weber. From 1913-1923, Alfred B. Miles lead the Blue Raiders football program. The 1914 football season led by Miles was its first undefeated season, with five straight victories after a tie with Cumberland.^[2][3]

The First Fifty Years: A History of Middle Tennessee State College recalls this story of Jess Neely's days playing for Middle Tennessee State Normal and coach Miles: "Jess Neely, a brilliant half-back and a handsome man on the campus, is remembered for his popularity among members of the opposite sex and for an incident that occurred just prior to a football game with Southern Presbyterian in Clarksville. Miles had done an exceptionally good job in mentally preparing his team for the game. He climaxed the pre-game, locker-room exhortation with a soaring call for courage and deathless allegiance to "dear Ol' Normal." Neely was greatly affected by the words of his coach for he leaped to his feet and, roaring like an angry bull, led the team in a rush to the doorway opening to the field. He misjudged the extremely low entrance, and his head received the full impact of the strip of wall above the doorway. He was revived shortly before the kickoff, but he never quite knew where he was, frequently huddling and aligning himself with the enemy."^[4] This was said to occur at a point near the 1917 season.

Frank Faulkinberry era (1926-1932)

Frank Faulkinberry was hired as MTSU's head coach after Miles' departure. During his tenure, the Blue Raiders compiled a record of 33–26–4. Faulkinberry was found shot to death in his garage on May 13, 1933, a suspected suicide being the cause.^[5]

E. M. Waller era (1933-1934)

E. M. Waller led the Blue Raiders for two seasons and compiled a 3–14–1 record.^[6] Waller resigned due to the team's struggles after two seasons.

Johnny Floyd era (1935-1938)

Johnny Floyd returned to MTSU in 1935 and led the Blue Raiders for four seasons.^[7] Under his tutelage, the Blue Raiders compiled a record of 30–8–1. Floyd's 1935 team went a perfect 8–0.^[8] However, a 2–6 campaign in 1938 ended his time in Murfreesboro.^[7]

Ernest Alley era (1939)

Ernest Alley was named the next head coach of MTSU football, and in his one season, the Blue Raiders compiled a 1–6–1 record.^[8]

E. W. Midgett era (1940-1946)

E. W. Midgett led the Blue Raiders for four seasons (MTSU did not field a football team from 1943-1945 because of World War II. In 1940, Midgett led the Blue Raiders to a 4–4 mark.^[9] In 1941, the Blue Raiders posted a 4–3–1 campaign,^[9] followed by 4–2–1 in 1942,^[9] and 6–2–1 in 1946.^[10]

Charles Murphy era (1947-1968)

Charles Murphy is the longest-tenured and winningest head coach in MTSU, football history, with a 155–63–8 record in 22 seasons as MTSU's head coach. Under Murphy's tutelage, the Blue Raiders posted four undefeated seasons (1949, 1957, 1959 and 1965) along with 17 winning seasons and three bowl appearances.^[11] Murphy was asked to resign at MTSU after a 2–8 campaign in 1968.^[12]

Donald Fuoss era (1969)

Succeeding Murphy as the Blue Raiders head coach was Donald Fuoss, who only lasted for one season, a 1–9 campaign in 1969^[13] that resulted in his firing.

Bill Peck era (1970-1974)

Coach Bill Peck took over in 1970 and instantly brought improvement to Murfreesboro. In his first season, the Blue Raiders posted a 6–3–1 record.^[14] In 1971, MTSU posted a record of 7–4.^[14] That was followed by a 7–3–1 mark in 1972,^[14] a 4–7 mark in 1973 and a 3–8 campaign in 1974.^[14] Peck was asked to resign after back to back losing seasons to end his tenure.^[15]

Ben Hurt era (1975-1978)

Ben Hurt took over the Blue Raiders in 1975. Under his tutelage, in 1975, MTSU posted a 4–7 mark.^[16] That was followed by another 4–7 campaign in 1976.^[16] In 1977, Hurt's Blue Raiders posted a 3–8 record that was followed by a 1–9–1 1978 season,^[16] after which Hurt was fired.

James Donnelly era (1979-1998)

Austin Peay head coach James Donnelly was hired as MTSU's head coach in 1979. Under his leadership, the MTSU football program compiled a record of 133–80–1.^[17] Donnelly is the second winningest football coach in MTSU history. Of his 20 seasons at the helm, 15 of them were winning seasons (including 12 in a row) and four of them were seasons of at least 10 wins. Donnelly resigned after a 5–5 season in 1998.

Andy McCollum era (1999-2005)

Andy McCollum took over for Donnelly in 1999.^[18] McCollum led the Blue Raiders to a 6–5 record in 2000, their first as an FBS program. In 2001, MTSU finished 8–3, won the Sun Belt Conference championship and oversaw an offense that ranked fifth nationally. In 2005, MTSU's defense ranked ninth nationally. McCollum was fired after the 2005 season.^[19]

Rick Stockstill era (2006-present)

In 2006, South Carolina tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Rick Stockstill got the head coaching job at Middle Tennessee State.^[20] In his first season, Stockstill led the Blue Raiders to the program's second bowl game as well as a share of the Sun Belt Conference title. He was later that year named the conference coach of the year. The 2007 and 2008 seasons saw the Blue Raiders take a small step back with back-to-back 5–7 seasons. However, in 2009, Stockstill and the Blue Raiders went 10–3 and won the New Orleans Bowl, which was the second bowl victory in school history. Again, Stockstill was named conference coach of the year for the 2009 season. The Blue Raiders went to another bowl in 2010, and they finished the season 6–7 after losing the GoDaddy.com Bowl.

After the successful 2009 season, he turned down several offers from other schools, including Conference USA's East Carolina^[21] and Memphis,^[22] citing that it was not the right time to leave the Blue Raiders.^[23] Stockstill has led MTSU to five bowl games in 11 years.

Nickname

The nickname of the Middle Tennessee athletic teams is the Blue Raiders. Female teams were long known as the Lady Raiders, but adopted the Blue Raiders name in 2007. The nickname's origin goes back to a 1934 newspaper contest. An MT football player, Charles Sarver, won $5 from Murfreesboro's The Daily News Journal with his winning entry "Blue Raiders", which he later admitted borrowing from Colgate University, whose teams were known as "Raiders" at the time. No official nickname existed prior to 1934, when teams were called "Normalites", "Teachers", and "Pedagogues".^[24]

Colors and mascot

MT is represented by the colors white and royal blue, described as PMS 301 by the university.^[25]

Lightning is the mascot of both the Middle Tennessee men and women's sports teams.^[24]

Bowl games

MT appeared twice in the Tangerine Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl). The first game, played January 1, 1960, against Presbyterian College, resulted in a 21-12 win. The second game, against Lamar University on December 29, 1961, was a 21-14 loss.

The Blue Raiders were invited to the Motor City Bowl in 2006 after a shared conference title with Troy University. Troy had won the conference with a tie-breaker, but MT was invited due to the Big Ten having two teams in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and thus being unable to fulfill their bowl contract for the Motor City Bowl. MT played Central Michigan University in the game and were defeated 31-14.

MT finished the 2009 regular season with a 9-3 record and was invited to play in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on December 20, 2009. The team played against the University of Southern Mississippi, defeating them 42-32. This was MT's second bowl game since joining the FBS. Quarterback Dwight Dasher was named as the game's MVP after rushing and passing for two touchdowns each.^[26]

MT was defeated in the 2011 GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Alabama by the Miami University RedHawks.

Division I-AA Playoffs results

The Blue Raiders have appeared in the I-AA playoffs seven times with a record of 6–7.

All-time record vs. CUSA teams

Official record (including any NCAA imposed vacates and forfeits) against all current CUSA opponents:

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of August 26, 2015

^[27]

References

External links

• Official website