Middle Tennessee State: A New Era for Blue Raider Football Begins

The year was 2005. The Andy McCollum era was on the way out and the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders were looking for a new head coach. The team had under-achieved for another season, this time with a 4-7 record.

Two men came to Murfreesboro promising change. Enter Chris Massaro and Rick Stockstill.

Chris Massaro brought Middle Tennessee athletics out of the dark ages. With his leadership the astroturf was finally replaced, along with a new video board, the "blue tube."

Middle Tennessee was looking to be a higher profile football team, and it was time for the impact to show on the field.

Rick Stockstill inherited a team in scholarship hot water. The previous regime had higher-risk athletes, creating a loss of future scholarships for the Blue Raiders. Stockstill took over in 2006, and in his first year MTSU went to its first-ever bowl game as a Division I school.

The Blue Raiders' only sour note in 2006 was their last conference game against Troy. Leading 20-7, the Raiders gave up 14 points in the final 2:19 of the game to lose and eventually receive an at-large bid to the Motor City Bowl.

In 2007 the Blue Raiders played tough against No. 8 Louisville in a 58-42 shootout, and later beat Memphis 21-7 in the Liberty Bowl. They also hosted their first BCS opponent, the Virginia Cavaliers, that year. Virginia won by a last-second field goal, but the Blue Raiders knew that if they could start getting their young players ready, a special season was on the horizon

But with those successes, MTSU still finished a disappointing 5-7.

In 2008 MTSU earned its first non-Vanderbilt BCS win in a 24-14 victory over Maryland. The Blue Raiders were also within one yard of upsetting Kentucky the following week.

MTSU played a memorable game against the Florida Atlantic Owls that season, also, which aired on ESPN. In what has become known as the "Murfreesboro Miracle," quarterback Joe Craddock hit Malcolm Beyah with no time left on the clock to tie the game. Alan Gendreau kicked the PAT for the Blue Raider comeback.

Despite those two noteworthy victories, the Blue Raiders underperformed, finishing 5-7 and missing out on a bowl berth.

This year the Raiders have finally gotten it together. After losing to Clemson, a game that was closer than the score shows, the Raiders beat Memphis and Maryland in back-to-back games. Going in to this weekend's big game against North Texas the Raiders are 2-1.

MTSU is still in its infancy when it comes to major college football. This is only the team's 10th year and already the Raiders have an impressive resume:

• 5-1 against Division I programs in Tennessee
• five BCS wins
• one bowl game appearance

The team has gotten enough publicity around the nation that ESPN has considered picking up its next home game against Mississippi State.

Is MTSU the best team in Tennessee? Maybe not, but it certainly is not the fourth best, as many would assume.

Chris Massaro and Rick Stockstill have given the Blue Raiders the opportunity to win every football game on their schedule.

The creation of the 12-game schedule has allowed teams the ability to get BCS opponents to leave the comfort zone of home games against cupcakes. If you want to play these "lower tier" teams, you'll have to come to their place.

Next year Minnesota will play at Johnny "Red" Floyd stadium, and the Raiders will play on the road against Ball State, Memphis, and Georgia Tech. This schedule will give the Raiders the chance to win three OOC games.

In 2011 the Blue Raiders will return to Knoxville for the first time since 2002. The team will be different two years from now, but it will certainly allow the Blue Raiders a chance to measure up against Tennessee's "best."