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 Middle Tennessee's Desmond Gee struggles to find space to run near the end zone. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] |
The university has really undergone a lot of changes since I graduated in the late 1980s.
MTSU's enrollment has more than doubled and, even though it's always been known as a "suitcase college," I assume that's changed somewhat with the growth of Murfreesboro and the university.
The powers to be have attempted to create more interest and support in the program, and I believe things are headed in the right direction.
MTSU has changed to a Division I program, joined the Sun Belt Conference, upgraded facilities, scheduled quality non-conference teams as well as land some well known teams to play at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium.
They've even ventured out to play on different nights of the week instead of your traditional Saturday game day.
This year the Blue Raiders will play games on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
They opened the season Thursday night at home against conference rival Troy with the announced attendance of 22,307, the sixth largest in Floyd Stadium history. Under current head coach Rick Stockstill, the Blue Raiders have produced five of the top 11 highest-attended games.
About the only ingredient left for Middle Tennessee to help increase the attendance of home games is to start winning consistently.
There are a lot of football fans in Murfreesboro, Rutherford County and the surrounding area.
I know it will always be hard for Middle Tennessee to compete with the powers of the Southeastern Conference, but it's amazing how everybody always loves a winner.
The Blue Raiders are improving even though it might not be showing in the win and loss columns.
They played in the Motor City Bowl a few years back and currently have a very young team with two-thirds of the players being underclassmen.
Middle Tennessee only dressed out 61 players against Troy. That's unheard of for a college football team playing at home. Eight of those players made their first collegiate start, including 15 that competed in their first game as Blue Raiders.
Other than beating Vanderbilt a couple of times, Middle Tennessee is still looking for that signature win over a big-name program.
They almost got it when the took visiting Virginia to the buzzer last year.
In the postgame press conference after their loss to Troy, Stockstill said he believes that his team is closing the gap between the top teams in the conference.
With the talented number of underclassmen on the team, there's bound to be real bright days ahead for the Blue Raider football program.
Gary Johnson is a Times-Gazette sports writer. He can be contacted at gjohnson@t-g.com.
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please 
It get very old to get hyped up each year only to watch a team look like they aren't ready to play ball. Maybe MTSU needs to quit opening at home. Hit the road for the first game and work the jitters out.
Editor!
Please, start proofing your work. One of the largest complaints from the employers of MTSU grads is OUR communication skills. That said, I do empathize with you. I am currently with the Public Affairs portion of the 3rd Infantry Division here at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Yes, I am an MTSU grad and Shelbyville Central High Alumni. I am the first to admit my writing is far from perfect, so let's take the time to proof our products and reference our AP writing guides. Please don't feel under the microscope here and forgive me for using this as a forum for this. But, TG lets much of their stuff leave the building without proofing.
Bo Melson, a man I remember as a boy in Shelbyville, writing our sports sections of TG, was a real icon and inspiration for my career here in the military. He wrote some really good stuff but, the editing staff mistakenly let me and others think that it was OK to let some grammaticals go unedited. Well, that has only hurt me professionally. We owe it to not just our readers to get it right, but folks that look up to real men like Bo.
Regards,
CPT Geeting
I a huge Blue Raider fan. I had not missed a Middle home football game in over 8 years until Thursday night. I recently moved to Louisiana so I was unable to make it to the game, but I watched the game on CSS regional sports television. I've traveled to see the Blue Raiders play at Kentucky, Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss, Missouri, and Clemson in those 8 years. MT's product is getting better and better every year and someday soon will be competing with the best of the SEC!
Many folks in Shelbyville do not realize what kind of athletic program we have just a short 30 minutes up the road. I have seen Blue Raider athletic teams knock off the likes of Louisville, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Alabama, and LSU all in Murfreesboro.
A few years ago the Blue Raider football team took a ranked Missouri team into overtime and lost by 1 point. Last year they took Virginia to the last play of the game. Next Saturday, Middle will being playing Maryland, of the ACC, in Murfreesboro. It is sure to be a great game, and you can take the whole family, have great seats and eat good all for less than what you will spend on one ticket to see the Titans.
Go Blue Raiders!!! ALL IN!