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O’Hara at FIU

Asher O’Hara #10 at Rice

PHOTOS BY NATHAN WALLACH

Blue Raiders Earn a Couple of Wins at FIU, Rice

AFTER A TOUGH START TO THE 2020 FOOTBALL SEASON, the MTSU Blue Raiders got some wins in October.

The month began with the Blue Raiders dropping a close call to the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Oct. 3.

Another rivalry matchup between WKU and MTSU went down to the wire, but the Raiders couldn’t fi nd enough big plays in the second half, scoring only once after halftime and losing to the Hilltoppers 20–17.

It was the eighth time in the last 10 meetings between the teams that the fi nal was decided by less than a touchdown.

“It was a hard-fought ballgame,” MTSU head coach Rick Stockstill said. “I thought our defense played well, we just have to fi nd a way to make more plays and get the ball in the end zone.”

The game was knotted at 10 at the break, but MTSU couldn’t get anything going offensively in the second half.

The Raiders punted on their fi rst three possessions of the second half despite making it into Hilltopper territory twice. WKU added a third-quarter fi eld goal and widened the lead to 20–10 with 6:04 remaining.

Middle Tennessee added a touchdown with 2:07 left to pull within three points when quarterback Asher O’Hara hit C.J. Windham in the corner of the end zone, but the Hilltoppers recovered the subsequent onside kick and iced the game.

O’Hara completed 23 of 33 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown and added 98 more yards on the ground and another score on the game. Senior Jarrin Pierce was again O’Hara’s favorite target. He caught nine of 11 targets for 65 yards.

The following week, Oct. 10, MTSU fi nally got a win as it came back at FIU to win 31–28 comeback win in Miami.

The Blue Raiders scored a last-minute touchdown to shock the Panthers and go ahead 31–28, clinching their fi rst win of the season.

“This one had nothing to do with anything but toughness and our competitive spirit,” Stockstill said. “We didn’t start out all that hot . . . but we kept battling. I’m just really proud of our mental toughness.”

Down 28–24 with time running out, O’Hara and the MTSU offense fi nally found momentum. O’Hara hit Yusuf Ali for 17 yards to get a drive going, then connected for 13 yards to Pierce.

O’Hara later hit Pierce with an over-theshoulder throw in the end zone to snatch the late lead.

“We just had heart,” O’Hara said. “I saw the safety roll to the other side of the fi eld, so it was a really easy decision and throw for me. I just put my decision in Jarrin and of course knew he was going to come down with it. He’s a playmaker.”

All that was left to do after the touchdown was hold off FIU’s last attempt, and it was Miami native Gregory Grate Jr. who intercepted a pass to effectively end the game with 35 seconds left.

The Blue Raiders defense forced eight The Blue Raiders defense forced eight time. It was a new career long for Holt. punts in the game and got in the backfi eld Holt had a chance to extend his new cafor fi ve sacks. reer long to 50 yards on MT’s opening drive

On Oct. 17 MTSU fell victim to an of overtime, but he missed short right. onslaught from the North Texas offense, The Owls were then set up to win it falling 52–35 at Floyd Stadium. twice with fi eld goals, but the fi rst from 44

Middle Tennessee surrendered 768 total yards bounced off both uprights and the yards, including 462 rush- crossbar and missed, and ing, which was the most total yards the Blue Raiders have ever allowed in a COMING UP IN NOVEMBER FOR the second from 40 yards was blocked by redshirt freshman Jalen Jackson. single game. “Give North Texas credit, THE BLUE RAIDERS O’Hara would then end the contest with a gametheir skill on offense was winning 14-yard rushing really good,” Stockstill said. CHARLOTTE touchdown. The fi nal was “In the fi rst half, we started Saturday, Nov. 7 40–34. out and did a lot of good things on both sides of the 2:30 p.m. Murfreesboro “That was a fantastic win,” Stockstill said. “I’m ball . . . I’m just disappointed in how we played in the MARSHALL Saturday, Nov. 14 just really proud of our team for how we hung second half.” 11 a.m. in there and battled the

The Blue Raiders used Huntington, West Virginia whole time. I can’t tell you three Mean Green turnovers enough how much fi ght, to take a 28–14 lead in the TROY grit, determination, comgame. However, North Saturday, Nov. 21 petitiveness, toughness this Texas proceeded to score 35 2:30 p.m. team showed here tonight. unanswered points. Troy, Alabama To come back and win “We just didn’t tackle very good at all,” Stockstill said. The next week MTSU traveled to Texas for its fi rst FLORIDA ATLANTIC Saturday, Nov 28 2:30 p.m. Murfreesboro the way we did was pretty special.” Blue Raider defense forced three turnovers in ever game at Rice, and the the game and held Rice fi rst game of the season for the Owls. The out of the end zone on a critical two-point game turned out to be a double-overtime conversion attempt in the second half. thriller. Things looked dire for MTSU in Offensively, O’Hara fi nished with 333 the game’s fi nal minute, as Rice scored a yards passing and four total touchdowns miracle of a touchdown with 34 seconds left (two passing). to take a 34–31 lead. MTSU will try to build on that emotional

But O’Hara orchestrated a fi ve-play, win when it hosts Charlotte on Nov. 7. 35-yard drive to set MT up with a chance at a game-tying fi eld goal from 48 yards as For tickets, videos, news and more details time expired, and MTSU kicker Crews Holt on MTSU athletics, visit banged it home to send the game to over- goblueraiders.com.

Keep the Country Open; Can Titans Defense Get it Together and Make a Run?

THE TRAIN DADDY IS BACK with sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk. All aboard!

Before we get into the beef of this enchilada, Titans talk, let me say this: life is beautiful and, sadly, we have a good percentage of Americans so afraid of dying they have stopped living. This edition hit the press before the election results, so whatever happens I know one truth—my family and I will be fine. That is the result of being raised to think for myself and to make the best of a bad situation. You can cry about the hand that life dealt you, or play it.

With that said, one of the most important things to me and my family is keeping the country open regardless of COVID-19, even if cases rise 500% in the next month. The fact is, this virus has a more than 99% survival rate among those who get it. Real numbers! But Train Daddy, what about the elderly? Funny how so many of you feel responsible now for a group of people many happily ignored prior to COVID. The elderly obviously deserve extra attention now, and they deserved that same attention even before COVID hit. I guess it is another good thing that the survival rate for ages 70 and up is nearly 95%.

I take heart knowing that working Americans would never allow another shutdown. Let the government try again and see what happens. This isn’t a threat of violence or looting or burning one’s city, it’s just the promise of civil disobedience and not complying to any future mandates or laws hindering Americans’ rights to provide.

Its no secret that if Biden wins the election the chances of another shutdown drastically increase. Biden says moronic things like “I’m going to shut down the virus, not the country.” Please, someone explain to me what that means because it sounds like an oxymoron to me. The fact is, this virus is real, it’s spreading, and Europe proved it cannot be

ADOREE JACKSON

contained through harsh lockdowns, though European nations once again have decided to screw their economies even more with more recent lockdowns after COVID spikes.

When Trump says the solution can’t be worse than the problem, that resonates with me and with many. What do these people want? For Americans to stay locked inside for over a year until we start begging for government cheese?

One of the smartest men I know recently said he believed it was a good thing that the numbers for COVID have continued to rise, that it’s inevitable and that herd immunity was the solution. Even if we had a vaccine, , many wouldn’t take it voluntarily. We all face death eventually and life is too short to not live it to the fullest.

I hope that as we enter November and December I can focus on sports. With that said, it is announced in my opening—the same intro I have had for almost a decade writing for the Murfreesboro Pulse: “sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk.” I may specialize in talking sports, but I never claimed to be writing a one-topic article and my respect goes to the editor in chief of this great paper for allowing me that freedom.

WHERE MY TITANS PEOPLE AT? What a ride to start the season. At least we kicked the season off in the first place. We started with a summer simply not knowing if we would have football or not. We had many lobbying groups doing everything in their power to convince Americans football simply was just too dangerous to play with the COVID outbreak.

We had a small handful of NFL players decide to opt out of the season. The NFL allowed these players to opt-out and even paid them.

With that out of the way, NFL teams around the country attempted to get shortened training camps underway even though it was all very unorthodox. We had no preseason games and the Titans opened week 1 in Denver on Monday Night Football. It was an exciting two-point victory in which kicker Stephen Gostkowski was horrendous, missing four kicks for the first time in his career, though he nailed a 25-yarder for the win. The Titans followed that up with two more close victories against the Jags and Vikings.

Then COVID hit the Titans and all hell broke loose. The Steelers game was up in the air, and after what seemed like a month of never-ending new cases it ended. The Steelers game was rescheduled and, after weeks of national backlash from the media and opposing players saying the Titans broke COVID protocols, the Titans were given redemption on Oct. 13. They humiliated a Bills team that was on fire in Nashville and it was also announced that night that no Titans player or staff member willingly broke COVID protocols and that the organization would face no punishment. The team was slapped on the wrist eventually with a fine. Whatever.

We followed that up with a thrilling overtime victory versus the Texans that will go down as one of the most exciting games in the history of Titans home games. Wish I had been there! I would’ve been if it didn’t cost an arm and a leg to go see a socially distanced game!

Following that week, we had the big game: the postponed matchup with the Steelers, the battle of the undefeated teams, 5–0 versus 5–0! We saw the best defense in the NFL up against one of the most productive offenses in the NFL. Tennessee decided not to show up in the first half of that game. They trailed 27–7 at one point in the third quarter but the Titans showed they have heart and brought it to within three points only to have Gostkowski miss a 45-yarder with only 19 seconds left. A heartbreaker!

That leads us into the Bengals game—a game where you had a 5–1 team ready to have a bounceback versus a 1–5–1 team in the Bengals, who were facing major injury issues. The Titans defense decided not to show up, Gostkowski continued his slump of missing important field goals and the Titans offense didn’t hum like it had been doing all season. A rookie, Joe Burrow, led the Bengals and picked apart what has become a very apparent bad Titans defense. Joe, by all accounts, is the front runner for 2020’s rookie of the year award with only Justin Herbert in the way.

So, what are my thoughts on the current state of the Tennessee Titans after that loss?

The offense has been playing very well this season and Tannehill has earned the right to have a questionable game. The Titans offense is scoring big and fast and they are the least of my concerns.

I don’t know what to say about Gostkowski. He won some very big games for us in the beginning of the season but has been pretty unreliable. I feel like right now after this Bengals game Stephen Gostkowski, the future Hall of Famer, is on thin ice. If he doesn’t come through in the future it’s going to break and we will have to say bye-bye. I really hope he can get his groove back, and I’m rooting for him.

The Titans defense is another matter. The Titans DBs have been horrendous. They can’t cover to save their lives. They made the Bengals receiver core look like three Jerry Rices out there running routes. The Titans have invested a lot into the pass rush and, sadly, they have been more than disappointing not being able to get to the quarterback. I do not have much good to say about this defense. Frankly, it’s bad and if it’s not fixed the Titans won’t have a chance. Luckily, it’s a long season and Coach Vrabel has proved he is more than competent. It is fair to say they have shown moments. It was the defense that gave us a chance against the Steelers getting a couple much-needed turnovers in the second half of that game.

The return of star corner Adoree’ Jackson will be a major help. He has been on injured reserve since week 1 and hasn’t played a snap. Looking at the roster, I don’t see anyone Coach Vrabel can rely on. The NFL trade deadline is Nov. 3, and if the Titans don’t make some kind of move by then for help on defense, I will be a little dumbfounded. The Titans sit at 5–2 with an amazing offense. If there ever was a time to give away pieces of the future—meaning draft picks—to get help on the defensive side of the ball, that time is right now, my friends!

Thank you to all of my loyal readers, even the haters! Thank you all for the support. I do this because I love it. I love my country, I love football, and typically my articles would be a tad more humorous, because I enjoy making you, the reader laugh. But we kept a more somber tone for this article.

If I may say one last thing: no matter what happens on election night I truly pray that we as a country can accept the results. No riots, no protest, no childish tears. Act like an adult and move on. It may be too much asking for a fair election where we all play by the rules, but if we can manage that maybe we will move forward. No matter who wins, the other side will be ready to take a stand for what they believe in. I will say that if the losing side doesn’t take to the streets to terrorize law-abiding citizens with violence and destruction, maybe a dialogue actually could be opened!

That’s it. The Train Daddy is rolling into the station. Choo-choo!