SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Middle Tennessee outscored Syracuse 21-10 during a dominant second half to secure a 30-23 road upset here Saturday, giving the Blue Raiders their fifth win against a Power-5 team under Head Coach Rick Stockstill.
The Blue Raiders (1-1) scored the game-winner when quarterback Brent Stockstill connected with Shane Tucker for a 10-yard touchdown pass to stake Middle Tennessee to a 30-23 lead with 6:46 remaining. It was the third touchdown of the game for Stockstill, who finished the game 22-of-36 for 269 yards. He also rushed for 41 yards.
The big story was the play of the Middle Tennessee defense under first-year coordinator Scott Shafer. The Blue Raiders allowed just two touchdowns – one in each half – and slowed the high-octane Syracuse offense. Middle Tennessee held Syracuse (1-1) to 308 yards total offense, with 182 coming through the air and 126 on the ground.
The defense also came up with two turnovers, collecting a fumble and an interception. Linebacker Khalil Brooks had a huge game with a career-high eight tackles, one for loss and he assisted on three tackles for loss. Safety Jovante Moffatt also had eight tackles, including one for loss. Corner Darryl Randolph added seven tackles, including one for loss.
The Blue-clad stop squad was in the Syracuse offensive backfield throughout the game and totaled six sacks. Brooks, DJ Sanders, Walter Brady and Malik Manciel all had solo sacks. Brooks assisted on another. Freshman Reed Blankenship earned his first career start and responded with a fourth-quarter interception.
Richie James had another strong all-around game with eight catches for 96 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown, and Ty Lee also was a multi-purpose performer with seven receptions for 76 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown grab. He added a team-high 50 yards on the ground, including a 14-yard scoring jaunt.
POSTGAME NOTES:
CAPTAINS: Today's game captains were WR Richie James, OL Chandler Brewer, and DL Malik Manciel.
'POWER'FUL WINS: Middle Tennessee notched its fifth win vs. Power-5 teams under HC Rick Stockstill. The Blue Raiders have wins vs. Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Missouri and Maryland twice.
SOLID DEFENSE: Middle Tennessee's defense was strong against a high-powered Syracuse offense. The Blue Raiders limited Cuse to 308 yards total offense on 93 plays for a 3.31-yard per play average. Syracuse piled up 586 yards last week and averaged 440.8 yards in 2016. The Blue Raiders piled up six sacks, hauled in an interception and recovered a fumble under first-year defensive coordinator Scott Shafer. Most important, the defense came up huge on key third- and fourth-down conversions throughout the game.
RARE SAFETY: Middle Tennessee recorded a first quarter safety when the Syracuse punter was forced to step out of the back of the endzone. It marked the first safety by MT since Sept. 26, 2015 at Illinois.
SACK ATTACK: Middle Tennessee recorded three quarterback sacks in the first half against Syracuse and went on to have six for the game. The three first half sacks went down as the most in a single game since they had four against North Texas last year - a span of 10 games.
JAMES MOVES UP C-USA LIST: With eight receptions today, WR Richie James moved past WKU's Taywan Taylor for 14th place on Conference USA's all-time receptions list. James now has 231 career receptions.
JAMES TIES NEWSON: WR Richie James' third quarter touchdown reception was the 22nd of his career. That total ties Kendall Newson (1998-01) for Middle Tennessee's all-time record.
STREAK INTACT: Brent Stockstill's 28-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to Richie James kept his streak intact for consecutive games with a TD pass. The junior has now recorded one in 18 straight games which is the second longest streak in the country.
FIRST DOWN … RAIDERS: It took nearly seven quarters but the Blue Raiders picked the right time to finally connect on their first third down conversion of the season. MT was 0-20 on third down until Brent Stockstillhit Richie James on a 28-yard TD on 3rd and 10 with 3:38 left in the third quarter.
NICE FIRST START: True freshman Reed Blankenship made the most of his first career start against Syracuse. The Athens, AL product finished with five tackles and had a huge interception late to stop a potential score tying drive by Syracuse.
QUICK HITTERS:Richie James has now caught at least one pass in 28 straight games … DB Mike Minter made his team-leading 27th straight start … Shane Tucker's 64-yard kickoff return was the longest of his career … Ty Lee's second quarter rushing TD was the second of his career … True freshman DB Reed Blankenship made his first career start against Syracuse.
http://www.goblueraiders.com/news/2017/9/9/football-orange-crush-blue-raiders-upset-syracuse.aspx
The Blue Raiders (1-1) scored the game-winner when quarterback Brent Stockstill connected with Shane Tucker for a 10-yard touchdown pass to stake Middle Tennessee to a 30-23 lead with 6:46 remaining. It was the third touchdown of the game for Stockstill, who finished the game 22-of-36 for 269 yards. He also rushed for 41 yards.
The big story was the play of the Middle Tennessee defense under first-year coordinator Scott Shafer. The Blue Raiders allowed just two touchdowns – one in each half – and slowed the high-octane Syracuse offense. Middle Tennessee held Syracuse (1-1) to 308 yards total offense, with 182 coming through the air and 126 on the ground.
The defense also came up with two turnovers, collecting a fumble and an interception. Linebacker Khalil Brooks had a huge game with a career-high eight tackles, one for loss and he assisted on three tackles for loss. Safety Jovante Moffatt also had eight tackles, including one for loss. Corner Darryl Randolph added seven tackles, including one for loss.
The Blue-clad stop squad was in the Syracuse offensive backfield throughout the game and totaled six sacks. Brooks, DJ Sanders, Walter Brady and Malik Manciel all had solo sacks. Brooks assisted on another. Freshman Reed Blankenship earned his first career start and responded with a fourth-quarter interception.
Richie James had another strong all-around game with eight catches for 96 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown, and Ty Lee also was a multi-purpose performer with seven receptions for 76 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown grab. He added a team-high 50 yards on the ground, including a 14-yard scoring jaunt.
POSTGAME NOTES:
CAPTAINS: Today's game captains were WR Richie James, OL Chandler Brewer, and DL Malik Manciel.
'POWER'FUL WINS: Middle Tennessee notched its fifth win vs. Power-5 teams under HC Rick Stockstill. The Blue Raiders have wins vs. Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Missouri and Maryland twice.
SOLID DEFENSE: Middle Tennessee's defense was strong against a high-powered Syracuse offense. The Blue Raiders limited Cuse to 308 yards total offense on 93 plays for a 3.31-yard per play average. Syracuse piled up 586 yards last week and averaged 440.8 yards in 2016. The Blue Raiders piled up six sacks, hauled in an interception and recovered a fumble under first-year defensive coordinator Scott Shafer. Most important, the defense came up huge on key third- and fourth-down conversions throughout the game.
RARE SAFETY: Middle Tennessee recorded a first quarter safety when the Syracuse punter was forced to step out of the back of the endzone. It marked the first safety by MT since Sept. 26, 2015 at Illinois.
SACK ATTACK: Middle Tennessee recorded three quarterback sacks in the first half against Syracuse and went on to have six for the game. The three first half sacks went down as the most in a single game since they had four against North Texas last year - a span of 10 games.
JAMES MOVES UP C-USA LIST: With eight receptions today, WR Richie James moved past WKU's Taywan Taylor for 14th place on Conference USA's all-time receptions list. James now has 231 career receptions.
JAMES TIES NEWSON: WR Richie James' third quarter touchdown reception was the 22nd of his career. That total ties Kendall Newson (1998-01) for Middle Tennessee's all-time record.
STREAK INTACT: Brent Stockstill's 28-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to Richie James kept his streak intact for consecutive games with a TD pass. The junior has now recorded one in 18 straight games which is the second longest streak in the country.
FIRST DOWN … RAIDERS: It took nearly seven quarters but the Blue Raiders picked the right time to finally connect on their first third down conversion of the season. MT was 0-20 on third down until Brent Stockstillhit Richie James on a 28-yard TD on 3rd and 10 with 3:38 left in the third quarter.
NICE FIRST START: True freshman Reed Blankenship made the most of his first career start against Syracuse. The Athens, AL product finished with five tackles and had a huge interception late to stop a potential score tying drive by Syracuse.
QUICK HITTERS:Richie James has now caught at least one pass in 28 straight games … DB Mike Minter made his team-leading 27th straight start … Shane Tucker's 64-yard kickoff return was the longest of his career … Ty Lee's second quarter rushing TD was the second of his career … True freshman DB Reed Blankenship made his first career start against Syracuse.
http://www.goblueraiders.com/news/2017/9/9/football-orange-crush-blue-raiders-upset-syracuse.aspx
