Mississippi State-Middle Tennessee: First Look

In today’s Daily Journal, you’ll find an MSU rewind that looks back at Saturday’s 31-24 loss to Houston, which moved MSU back into the rankings at No. 23 in both polls. Now, we look ahead to Middle Tennessee State (3-2), which has been off since Tuesday.

• Game info: Floyd Stadium, Murfreesboro, 11:30 a.m., ESPNU/ESPN360.com

• Last meeting: MSU 31, MTSU 22 (Oct. 5, 2008, in Starkville)

• Series: MSU leads 3-0

• Last week: MTSU lost 31-7 to Troy; MSU lost 31-24 to Houston

• Middle Tennessee on the Web: goblueraiders.com

• Middle Tennessee blog to follow: Adam Sparks, The Daily News Journal

• Middle Tennessee on Twitter: AdamSparks

• Middle Tennessee coach: Rick Stockstill (fourth year, 20-22)

• 3 Middle Tennessee players to watch: QB Dwight Dasher, WR Chris McClover, LB Cam Robinson

• Premature review: In my Premature Preview of the Blue Raiders, we examined the fact that they can hang with the big boys. Why, MTSU has already beaten Maryland, for the second consecutive year. It helps that 10 offensive starters return, including the versatile Dasher, a 5'10", 200-pound junior.

He leads the team with 304 yards and three touchdowns rushing, and he’s passed for 1,273 yards (second in the Sun Belt Conference) and eight TDs with five interceptions. He leads the league in total offense (1,577 yards) and accounts for 79.5 percent of MTSU’s offensive output. However, he has been sacked 12 times.

Middle Tennessee currently ranks third in the SBC in scoring (24.2 ppg) and second in total offense (396.6 ypg). Great, but what about the defense?

It’s not bad, by mid-major standards. The Raiders are second in scoring defense (26.8 ppg) and fifth in total defense (390.2 ypg). Robinson’s eight tackles per game are tied for eighth in the league.

And here’s a key stat: MTSU has a league-best plus-six turnover margin. MSU, as you know, has been giving away the football left and right, with a turnover margin of minus eight, 11th in the SEC. That stat alone is why MSU (2-4) could lose this game.

Something that could hurt MTSU: WR Patrick Honeycutt and two other players were arrested over the weekend. No word yet on if they'll play Saturday. Honeycutt is the Blue Raiders' leading receiver (20 catches, 220 yards).