After what should have been a little over a 13 hour drive that was driven closer to 14 thanks to a missed exit in Bloomington, Illinois and another in Murfreesboro, I finally arrived at Middle Tennessee States campus. I got to the stadium about 2 hours early, because I really didn’t know what else there was to do in Murfreesboro.
The seat was at about the 35 yard line, three rows up. I don’t think I have ever been this close to a football game, including when I was in high school. There were plenty of good seats available, as the Floyd Stadium paid attendence was 19000, though at least half of them didn’t show up. It’s almost Thanksgiving and they were playing a mediocre opponent, so I couldn’t blame them. It appeared most of the fans were locals from Murfreesboro, however, and they were rabid for their home town team.
The game itself was over pretty quick. The tone was set when Dwight Dasher found speedy running back DD Kyles on a swing pass, and Kyles ran the rest of the way for the touchdown. The Blue Raiders were up 17-0 by the end of the quarter, and the Red Wolves simply couldn’t recover. They were renowned as a defensive team coming into the game, but the Blue Raiders speed ended up being too much.
With the score 17-0, the Red Wolves finally put a drive together and were going for a field goal, which was partially blocked by Middle Tennessee State. The one good chance to make this a game was gone after that play.
Near the end of the second quarter, Arkansas State quarterback Corey Leonard went down with what looked like a leg injury. If they had looked lost before that, they looked hopeless after the injury. With Arkansas State struggling to score points or even hold onto the ball, MTSU had the ball for the majority of the game. Dasher took advantage and postes some gaudy statistics, including throwing for 4 touchdowns. The 5th came on a fumble return.
Rather than going through a recap of the whole game, which you can find online, here’s a few thoughts and observations.
– Dwight Dasher may be a prospect in next years draft, given the stats he posts, but the real prospects should be the wide receivers and Kyles, who are incredibly fast.
– Speaking of receivers, I have never seen so many white receivers in my life. It’s not a demographic thing, either, because the Dasher is black. All my stereotypes have been shattered!
– Everyone on the Blue Raiders’ sideline came and sat in their assigned spot on the bench. I sat behind the receivers. One guy, one of the rare African American wide-outs, had his own bench away from everyone else and right in front of me. His name was Sancho McDonald, and that is now one of my favorite names.
– Kelly Holcomb does color for Middle Tennessee radio.
– There is no net behind the uprights. I haven’t seen that since high school.
– Speaking of high school, given the fans, who were polite and very into the game, and the proximity to the field, it did feel more like I was at a college game than a high school game.
– It was a very sloppy game, with a lot of penalties. Any time Arkansas State would have a big play, there was always a flag. It’s not a small conference thing either. Everyone around me seemed disgusted.
– Players involved in this game included someone named Jamal Lewis, Jeff Blake and Craig Heyward.
– The
– On the way home, driving through Illinois it was made abundantly clear that it was the deer opener. I’m not sure southern Illinois has any deer left.
All in all, it was a good time. I am in the midst of buying a townhouse, so I’m not sure the second road trip of the year, to Akron right before Christmas, is going to happen. I will certainly will try, and if I can’t I will at least keep an eye on the game online.
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