Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
10/28/2026 7:00:00 AM | Football
Wednesday, Oct. 28 | 6:02 p.m. | Floyd Stadium (27,303) | Murfreesboro, Tenn. |
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MIDDLE TENNESSEE BLUE RAIDERS 4-3, 2-1 CUSA |
VS | KENNESAW STATE OWLS 1-6, 0-3 CUSA |
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| WATCH: CBS Sports Network | STATS: LINK | RADIO: WGNS (LINK) | ||||
GAME 8
» Wednesday, October 28 - 6:02 p.m. CT
» Floyd Stadium
» Murfreesboro, Tenn.
SERIES HISTORY
» The Blue Raiders and the Owls will be meeting for just the third time in football with the series tied 1-1. The first-ever game between the two schools came in 2024 in Murfreesboro where the Blue Raiders took a 14-5 decision. The Owls returned the favor last year in Kennesaw with a 24-16 win.
BLUE RAIDER NOTES
» MTSU's 2-1 CUSA start is its best since the 2018 team went 7-1
» Cam Lacy's next reception will give him 100 for his career.
» A win over KSU would give MTSU a 5-3 record. The last time MTSU had five wins through the first eight games of the year was in 2018 when it played for the CUSA Championship.
» Middle Tennessee has had at least 200 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in five straight games against conference opponents, the second-longest active streak in the FBS (North Texas – 11).
» The Blue Raiders' average of 5.1 yards per carry is on track to be their highest since 2019 (5.1). Their improvement from 4.0 yards per carry last season to 5.1 this season is the second biggest of any CUSA team behind New Mexico State (+1.9).
» The 38 points scored against Murray State is the most put up in the Derek Mason era.
» The Blue Raider offense has committed just four turnovers in its last 10 games combined.
» MTSU's weather delay was 4:13 in win over Murray State and marked the third straight year the Blue Raiders have had a home game interrupted for weather. They had 2:40 delay in 2024 against TTU and a 2:12 delay against Marshall last year. That totals 9:05 in delays or right at 3 games.
» An emphasis for the Blue Raider offense in 2026 will be to increase the amount of explosive plays (20 or more yards). In 2024 and 2025 combined, the offense had just 89 explosive plays with 45 coming last season. In 2026 they have 25 (8 vs Murray State, 5 vs FIU).
» MTSU has six coaches who have either played or coached at the NFL level (Derek Mason, Brian Stewart, Calvin Lowry, Louie Cioffi, and Josh Smith).
» Consecutive Starts: Korey Smith 11, Roman Gagliano 10, Cam Lacy 8
» MTSU's last 1,000-yard rusher was Asher O'Hara in 2019 and he was a quarterback. The last running back to top 1,000 yards was I'Tavius Mathers in 2016.
» MTSU is one of just 12 schools in FBS to have a candidate on the Lou Groza and Ray Guy Watch Lists and the only Group of 6 team.
» The 2026 season for MTSU is the 112th for Blue Raider football and the 28th at the FBS level.
» Cam Lacy's next reception will give him 100 for his career.
» A win over KSU would give MTSU a 5-3 record. The last time MTSU had five wins through the first eight games of the year was in 2018 when it played for the CUSA Championship.
» Middle Tennessee has had at least 200 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in five straight games against conference opponents, the second-longest active streak in the FBS (North Texas – 11).
» The Blue Raiders' average of 5.1 yards per carry is on track to be their highest since 2019 (5.1). Their improvement from 4.0 yards per carry last season to 5.1 this season is the second biggest of any CUSA team behind New Mexico State (+1.9).
» The 38 points scored against Murray State is the most put up in the Derek Mason era.
» The Blue Raider offense has committed just four turnovers in its last 10 games combined.
» MTSU's weather delay was 4:13 in win over Murray State and marked the third straight year the Blue Raiders have had a home game interrupted for weather. They had 2:40 delay in 2024 against TTU and a 2:12 delay against Marshall last year. That totals 9:05 in delays or right at 3 games.
» An emphasis for the Blue Raider offense in 2026 will be to increase the amount of explosive plays (20 or more yards). In 2024 and 2025 combined, the offense had just 89 explosive plays with 45 coming last season. In 2026 they have 25 (8 vs Murray State, 5 vs FIU).
» MTSU has six coaches who have either played or coached at the NFL level (Derek Mason, Brian Stewart, Calvin Lowry, Louie Cioffi, and Josh Smith).
» Consecutive Starts: Korey Smith 11, Roman Gagliano 10, Cam Lacy 8
» MTSU's last 1,000-yard rusher was Asher O'Hara in 2019 and he was a quarterback. The last running back to top 1,000 yards was I'Tavius Mathers in 2016.
» MTSU is one of just 12 schools in FBS to have a candidate on the Lou Groza and Ray Guy Watch Lists and the only Group of 6 team.
» The 2026 season for MTSU is the 112th for Blue Raider football and the 28th at the FBS level.
BOURGEOIS GOES WILD
» PK Dominic Bourgeois, who is 14th nationally in FG made percentage (.909), keyed MTSU's road win over FIU recently with 14 points, including four made field goals and two from 50 or more yards. The 14 points scored equaled the sixth most ever recorded in a single game at MTSU and is the most in a game since Crews Holt matched the record of 17 points scored against WKU in 2018 (t16th most by a kicker in FBS this season). Bourgeois' four made three-pointers equaled the third most in a game at MTSU while his two made from beyond 50 yards was a new school record. He is also just the ninth player in CUSA history to hit two 50-yard or longer kicks in the same game.
CAREER NIGHT FOR TB
» Redshirt senior Terrence Brown turned in his best rushing performance as a collegian since his freshman year at Saginaw State (168 yards vs Winona State) when he tallied 158 yards on 18 carries at FIU. He averaged an impressive 8.8 yards a carry and had a long run of 54 yards for a TD. Brown's 158 rushing yards were the most in a game by a Blue Raider since Asher O'Hara in 2019 (159 vs. FIU) and most on the road since Tavares Thomas in 2017 (195 at Charlotte).
BACK-TO-BACK GAMES WITH A BLOCKED KICK
» After going the first 29 games of the Derek Mason era without a blocked kick, the Blue Raiders have recorded blocks in back-to-back games against Delaware and FIU. Redshirt junior outside linebacker Jayden Williams (6-6) was credited with the first blocked kick of his career when he rejected a Delaware PAT in the second quarter. It went down as the 76th blocked kick in MTSU's FBS era (since 1999) and the first blocked kick of any kind since 2023 when Jakobe Thomas rejected a PAT against LA Tech - a span of 35 games. Last week at FIU, linebacker Ashton Taylor registered his first career block when he tipped an FIU field goal before halftime. It was the first blocked FG by MTSU since the 2022 season. MTSU is 8th nationally in blocked kicks entering KSU.
GAGLIANO AMONG THE BEST
» Among all active FBS quarterbacks with at least 300 career pass attempts at the FBS level, only one has a higher touchdown-to-interception ratio than Roman Gagliano (359 career attempts). The MTSU signal-caller has a 9.50 ration (19 touchdowns to only two interceptions) which ranks second-best behind Toledo's John Alan Richter at 10.50. Third is CJ Carr (Notre Dame) at 5.71, Darian Mensah (Miami, FL) is fourth at 5.69 and Trinidad Chambliss is fifth at 5.14.
MARTIN LEADS RUNNING GAME
» Running back Antonio Martin Jr., who was grabbed out of the portal from Kansas State, has made an immediate impact on the Blue Raider running game. In seven games for MTSU, Martin has notched three 100-yard rushing games with 103 against Murray State 104 in the win over Nevada and 106 at Jax State. In 2025, MTSU had one back with two 100-yard games for the entire season. Entering the KSU game, Martin is third in CUSA in rushing yards per game (72.17) and fourth in rushing yards and third in yards per carry (5.22). Overall, MTSU has not had three 100-yard rushing games in a season since 2019 when it registered seven. The last time an individual player had four 100-yard rushing games in a season was also 2019 (QB Asher O'Hara with four).
FORCING TURNOVERS
» After seven games, the Blue Raiders have done a good job in forcing and coming away with turnovers. MTSU enters the KSU game ranked 2nd in CUSA with nine turnovers gained. The defense has registered four fumble recoveries and five interceptions. The team had 15 gained turnovers last year and are over halfway to that mark in just seven games. For the season, MTSU is +5 in turnover margin to rank 21st nationally and lead CUSA.
LOGAN IS HAVING A STRONG FINAL SEASON
» Redshirt senior Ashton Logan is quietly having a season to remember. The Ray Guy Award Watch List member is averaging 49.24 yards a punt to lead CUSA and rank 4th nationally. The 49.24 yards a boot would go down as the best in MTSU history for a single-season if the season ended today. For his career, Logan has 94 punts for a 46.5 yard average which would also be a new career mark for MTSU. Of his 94 boots, 33 have been over 50 yards and 35 have been downed inside the 20-yard line. At Kansas, he nailed a career long 76-yard punt which went down as the fifth longest in school history.
Players Mentioned
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OLB
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