Middle Tennessee No. 63 in Sentinel's preseason football rankings

Quote:Strengths: The Blue Raiders will be bringing back a lot of experienced players on both sides of the ball. The list includes QB Logan Kilgore, who passed for 2,571 yards and 16 touchdowns last season. It was his second season with 2,000-plus passing yards. Middle Tennessee brings back its leading rusher, in RB Jordan Parker (851 yards, 3 TD) in the backfield. Defensively the Blue Raiders bring back all of their production at linebacker, including two of the team's top returning tacklers.

Weaknesses: Middle Tennessee has to improve its secondary. Although the Blue Raiders bring three starters back from last season, there they will need to turn in a stronger performance than a unit that ranked 103rd in pass efficiency defense in 2012. The loss of WR Anthony Amos leaves a void for a featured wideout who can break open the big play, though it's a deep position with plenty of options. The loss of two all-conference defensive linemen leaves some concern up front, and injuries in spring caused some depth issues. Middle Tennessee will also need more pass rushing production (no one had more than four sacks last season).

Outlook: Bringing back so much experience and production after a solid 2012 should be a boon for the Blue Raiders, but they will face some tougher matchups after a move to Conference USA. The 2013 schedule includes nonconference games against UNC and BYU as well as conference games against C-USA title contenders East Carolina and Marshall. They must be able to take advantage of matchups with programs like FIU, FAU and UAB and prepare for the big C-USA opponents — both of those games are at home. Should the Blue Raiders pull off an upset here or there, Middle Tennessee could be headed for a bowl game.

UNC & BYU in OOC games? that's not going to be easy

(06-24-2013 12:54 AM)techdawg88 Wrote:  UNC & BYU in OOC games? that's not going to be easy

No they're not, but neither are top ten programs, and beating one would probably get attention along the lines of our beat down of Georgia Tech last season. And BYU is the front end of a home and home deal. The Cougars come to Murfreesboro in 2014.

I'm ready for football season.

(06-24-2013 05:42 AM)TG4 Wrote:  I'm ready for football season.

at this point, I think everyone is ready for the season to start