Blue Raider Podcast | 09.11.2026

[00:00:00] We're the Good Neighbor Network, FM 101.9 and AM 1450, Murfreesboro, FM 100.5, Smyrna, audio and video, streaming at WGNSRadio.com This is the Blue Raider Podcast on WGNS. It's your all-access pass to everything Middle Tennessee sports. Game recaps, player spotlights, and the latest from the heart of Blue Raider Nation.

[00:00:27] Now, here's your host, Jake Bolden. Welcome back to the Blue Raider Podcast. We've got a lot in store for you today. Football season kicked off last weekend. We're going to be recapping what an eventful Saturday that was, particularly for those of us in the media that stuck around for that late night affair. We'll recap that matchup and then, of course, look ahead to tomorrow's first road contest out in Huntington

[00:00:56] when the football team travels up to Marshall. And then, as always, in our first segment, we will catch up with all of our fall sports in our weekly recap. But before we do that, I want to remind you to make sure you're following us on social media, at Blue Raider Pod. We're on X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and, of course, today's live stream, as it is every Friday between 5 and 6 p.m. on WGNS. It is live streamed at Blue Raider Podcast on YouTube. So make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss another one of our weekly episodes.

[00:01:26] And if you missed us on Saturday, we do a live post-game press conference. I guess, more correctly, if you missed us Sunday morning at 1.30 in the morning, that's when we streamed that post-game press conference. But for all the home games this season, for both football and weekend basketball games, we will have those press conferences streamed live from YouTube and, of course, on all those social media accounts as well. And if you do want to join into our episode today here at the studio, the phone line is open.

[00:01:55] It is 615-893-1450. And our producer here will take your call. Before we get into the football recap, let's talk a little bit about all things Blue Raider Athletics. Fall sports are in full swing right now. Women's volleyball wrapped up last weekend up in Nashville at part of the Belmont Invitational. They picked up a win on Friday against Samford 3-0. Then Saturday, they defeated South Alabama by a score of 3-1.

[00:02:25] Freshman Mary Ann Garcia recorded her first career double-double with 11 assists and 17 digs. And Gabrielle Klinkscale also recorded a career-high 20 kills along with Logan Carr setting a season-high 14 kills. And then they did escape from getting a perfect weekend. They lost to the host school Belmont on Sunday by a score of 2-3. Michaela Luo got a career-high 17 kills. And Jocelyn Reed recorded a career-high 13 kills.

[00:02:53] And I think the biggest note from that matchup on Sunday is starting setter Veronica Searzant, who was off to a fantastic start for the volleyball team this season, is actually tore her ACL in that game. And we saw a switch back over to Caroline McHander, who really, I mean, if there was ever a position that you felt comfortable with your backup, it's going to be the setter position with Caroline, who is now going into her fifth season here in Murfreesboro and nearly led that team to a victory in five sets. But they did fall to the host school Belmont 2-3.

[00:03:25] Then the latest for them is actually today's action. They played at 12-30 against Georgia State and lost in four sets there. Just really out of sorts today. And it's disheartening it being the home opener. Had their second-worst hit percentage this year, just below 20%. But there is a positive. It was their fewest service errors in a game this season with just four. The previous low was six. So one of their areas that has hurt them earlier this year is those service errors,

[00:03:54] and they turned that around today. But the hit percentage just wasn't in their favor. But they've still got plenty more action up this weekend, hosting Northern Colorado tomorrow. So there's a lot to keep up with there. Following along in the recap, cross-country had their season started last Saturday as well. In the Memphis Twilight Classic, the men's four-mile, the team placed first behind Alan Kipligott's back-to-back championship at the Memphis Twilight Classic, claiming first place.

[00:04:21] You've got Moses Lukake, Solomon Seau, and Kevin Tainu all getting top ten finishes. And then the women placed second overall, with Evelyn Wambu, the sophomore, getting first place for the women. Elizabeth Magoma got second. And then Privilege Shakara, the graduate, finishing in sixth place. And then actually today, more cross-country acts. And the men got another win up at the Tennessee Invitational. Big win for them, beating out the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Kentucky, getting first place.

[00:04:50] Alan Kipligott getting another first-place finish. Other top ten finishers were Lukake, Seau, and Tainu again. And the women's three-mile result, the team finished in third place, with Wimbayu, the sophomore, getting fourth place. Magoma getting sixth place. And then Odelia Jepchumba, the junior, finishing up in seventh. And then our final fall sport, women's soccer, they continue their historic season,

[00:05:16] picking up a win on Sunday on the road down in Huntsville against Alabama A&M. Anaya Denham got her fourth goal of the year. And we're going to be hearing a lot more from her from last night's matchup. But also getting goals is Luisa Jr. Dos Santos. Hannah Murphy picked up her third of the year. Tori Gouch, Peyton Pittman each picked up their first goal of the season. And then last night they continue their historic stretch, picking up their sixth non-conference win. It's the most in program history since 2018,

[00:05:46] and they've got plenty more non-conference games upcoming to top that feat. But that is their sixth non-conference win. They've improved to 6-1-2 in their first nine matches thus far. But Haley Phillips picked up two goals last night, and Anaya Denham scored her team-leading fifth goal and her fourth game-winning goal of the season in the 67th minute last night. And more impressively, like I said, Denham has five goals as a freshman, but four of them have been game winners.

[00:06:14] So can't ask for a better start to your season than that. And more impressively, that offense really, say if you have a hangover after putting up five goals against Alabama A&M on Sunday, really felt like that offensive push last night was what they needed. Just to feel a little bit of confidence in there after last week's disappointment against Purdue. But they had 12 shots on goal last night to Evansville's four. So the defensive effort maintains.

[00:06:42] The offense continues to pour that pressure on us. So we're going to be getting a lot more of what they've got in their non-conference slate in our final and third segment. So a great start for that team. But the game that we're all looking forward to talking about, and I'm excited that the season is finally underway, was football on Saturday. And it just can't go right, it seems, for Coach Mason, particularly when it comes to early season games.

[00:07:10] And these games mean a lot for a lot of different reasons, and we'll certainly touch on those. The one that I just can't help but mention is how difficult it is to get some momentum with the fan base, how hard it is to feel good about, I guess, this team turning a corner. That's the term I've been using a lot. I've been using all offseason, really, is turning a corner. It's hard to get the wind under your wings, if you will,

[00:07:38] when you get hit with lightning delays. If you go back to two years ago in Coach Mason's very first game here in Murfreesboro, the home opener against Tennessee Tech, it has similar to what we had on Saturday, a lightning delay. Then there was just a torrential downpour, and I believe it was an hour and a half of rain delays before they finally picked up, and we finished that game super late in the night. But luckily we got to finish that game. But I do remember in that home opener, we were even discussing if they would finish that game much, and we thought maybe the outcome would be like what it was on Saturday

[00:08:08] against Murray State, but you can never just seem to get that momentum with the fan base because you want to have a great showing. It is the home opener. You're going to have some new kids starting. You're going to have some new faces that fans are going to want to see. Particularly, you showcased one of your more prolific offensive games in the Derek Mason era, and you get thwarted by a 50-minute delayed start with lightning, and then you have another two-hour delay in the middle of the game,

[00:08:37] and then, of course, you have everyone on standby for almost three hours over midnight, and then you finally call the game at 1 o'clock. And even if you were to return to action at 1, 1.30 in the morning, I wouldn't imagine fans would be there. But I think the running joke in the press box is that the Vegas degenerates would still be out waiting on the outcome of that game because the line closed at 22.5 points, and the Blue Raiders led by 24.

[00:09:05] So I am surprised that the powers that be in Vegas didn't encourage the Blue Raiders to finish that game, and I'm not a gambling man, so I'm not familiar with what Vegas would do if they paid back all those bets or not. But definitely an interesting end to the first game of the Derrick Mason 2026 season, but I can't help but note just how difficult it is for a coach who,

[00:09:30] in some ways, is probably trying to convince the fan base, convince the community that the football team is turning a corner, that the football team is improved, and any opportunity at creating a great environment or creating a good atmosphere just gets thwarted, like I said, with just things that are completely out of your control. However, I will say, and I only experienced the game from the press box,

[00:10:00] but I will say that it appears that the party at the Grove and the live music that they do pre-game, and then even we saw them debut some live music during halftime, was, I think they do a great job with the game day atmosphere, and they did the best they could. Again, you had a lightning delay before the first kick even started, so there was certainly an opportunity there that I think that they seized as the marketing department to win a lot of people over,

[00:10:27] and as I'm previewing this week's Marshall matchup, I get to talk to Marshall fans that were here last year when they made the trip, and they also complimented that game day atmosphere, and that was early on last year, and that Marshall game also had a rain delay, a lightning delay amidst it as well, so they also had to live through something similar to Saturday, but again, being complimentary of the game day atmosphere I think does take a good step in the right direction,

[00:10:55] just unfortunately you can't have good enough weather to see it all come together. You get through the game in one fell swoop, and again, people leave the stadium feeling good about themselves, they saw a good football team play, they had a good outcome, and they're looking to come back to that Nevada home game that's in week three, but luckily, I would say the bigger picture is that it was a crisis averted, not that there was ever a crisis,

[00:11:22] but they won against the FCS opponent like they should have, and now this is Derek Mason's second win against an FCS opponent, but we all know how the Tennessee Tech game turned out, it took a late game winning drive in the final five minutes to win that game, and we all know how it ended last year losing at home to Austin Peay, but this one was a different sorts, and I would say I took a breath of fresh air

[00:11:49] because it felt relief to see a team dominate, I would say a lesser opponent in Murray State on Saturday, and at times it certainly got hairy, and even there late, that's part of the reason why Murray State wanted to stick around, was because they felt that they had an opportunity there late to cut the deficit down to 16, that I would presume they would have gone for two to keep it a two possession game, but there was still opportunity for Murray State there late to get back into that football game,

[00:12:17] and we'll get certainly more into that, but the offense came out, they were as good as advertised, I really have no issue with the offense, and they put up 38 points, considering one of those touchdowns was a defensive touchdown, but 31 points from the offense, the special teams unit looked great, Dominique Bourgeois kicked a 45-yard field goal that was probably going to be good from 55 yards, so your scoring side of the ball did an excellent job, I thought.

[00:12:47] There are certainly some downs that I thought that they could have been better on, but collectively as an offense, I thought it was an A-plus day. Learning about the Anthony Selfo offense, what does that team, what is that group capable of, what does an Anthony Selfo offense look like at the FBS level? We learned a lot, and we're certainly going to be breaking down that a lot more in the second segment, but what things went bad was that defensive effort, and also, too, we will dive a lot more into that.

[00:13:16] So I think, where do we begin? We've already touched on a little bit of the atmosphere and having to handle that, but how did Mason handle, I guess, the noise, if you will? Because we touched on that two weeks ago when we had, or excuse me, last week when we talked with Roman Gagliano. How did this team handle the noise? And in that post-game press conference, and again, it was a shortened one. We were doing it at 1.30 in the morning, but I think Mason, I mean, he answered it by not,

[00:13:44] I would say not acknowledging it in a good way. I think it's good that he doesn't acknowledge it. I think it's good that they're there just to get a job done. He did admit that he thought the team played well, but they still have a lot to improve on, and they certainly do have a lot to improve on, because this Marshall game coming up this week is going to be a much better opponent, but there's a lot at stake for both of these programs. Marshall losing last week, bad 45-0 up in Happy Valley to Penn State, where they look like a ranked team for once

[00:14:14] in their first week. So both of these programs, if you're MTSU, if you have an opportunity to go 2-0, and Marshall looking to avoid going 0-2, there's a lot for both of these coaching programs, and we certainly are going to be talking about that and so much more when we come back from this break. We're going to be breaking down more of this Saturday's Murray State game and that Marshall game. You're not going to miss it. You're listening to the Blue Raider Podcast. This is the Blue Raider Podcast on FM 101.9 and AM 1450 Murfreesboro,

[00:14:43] 100.5 Smyrna, WGNSRadio.com, and the Blue Raider Podcast YouTube channel. Now, back to your host, Jake Bolden. Welcome back into the Blue Raider Podcast. We're talking all things Blue Raider football after that first week win, abbreviated win, over the Murray State Racers, and we're going to be looking ahead at the end of this segment to this Saturday's matchup on the road

[00:15:12] out in Huntington when the Blue Raiders face Marshall in their first FBS competition, but before we do that, I want to remind you to make sure you're following the Blue Raider Podcast on all of our social media accounts at Blue Raider Pod. That's X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and of course, our live stream today as we do every Friday at 5 p.m. is at Blue Raider Podcast, and then on Saturday, home games, we also have a live stream of the post-game press conference, so you have to make sure you're following there so you don't miss any of those, and if you do want to call into our show today,

[00:15:42] our phone line is open. It's 615-893-1450. Now, Blue Raiders a winner, 38-14 over Murray State. What do we take away from that matchup? I touched on a little bit last segment. I already got into the atmosphere game day kind of stuff, really avoiding the unavoidable for always in 11 personnel or 12 personnel. He ran out two running backs there numerous times, early and even late.

[00:16:11] I was very impressed overall with the outlook of the offense. It felt like we were still tinkering with some things. Obviously, you don't want to give your whole playbook in a week one matchup against the FCS opponent. I expect to see us kind of really dive in more into that playbook this next week against Marshall, but it was, again, nice to see a change of pace and a lot of guys getting action. The tight end group was one that I was really particular about seeing how they're utilized,

[00:16:40] and they were, as I expected, not like the Bodie Reader offense that likes to use their tight ends more in a passing scheme. They use them a lot more in the run game. We saw Roshon Prince lay out a great block for one of Terrence Brown's touchdowns. I was super impressed by that. Tavion Galloway did have a pair of short catches, so they're going to utilize his P4 abilities that he showed out of high school as a four-star. So I'm not saying he's not utilizing the tight end at all in the passing game, but certainly there's a lot more focus

[00:17:08] on being dominant in the run game. And it was 196 yards on the ground. Going back to last season, that would have been the second most rushing yards in a game in last year's season. But again, take that with a grain of salt because this game was only played in three quarters. So really, I would argue that this was the best rushing game we've seen in the Derrick Mason era, nearly eclipsing 200 yards, which by the way, they never eclipsed 200 yards in a game last season.

[00:17:38] The most was 199 in that season finale against New Mexico State. So take that with what it is. Antonio Martin, Terrence Brown, the two running back duo that we talked about all offseason, we were excited to see, they lived up to the hype. I was honestly, as much as I like Antonio Martin, who was the Southeastern Louisiana transfer, the Walter Payton Award finalist two years ago with offensive coordinator Selfo when he was at Southeastern Louisiana,

[00:18:06] but Terrence Brown, the Division II transfer, talked a lot about his versatility, catching the ball out of the backfield. Obviously, he's a great runner, has great speed, great open field speed, as we saw this week. But I was very impressed with Terrence Brown's game in particular. He had 66 rushing yards on just four carries. That's 16.5 yards a carry. He also had three grabs for six yards,

[00:18:35] 72 all-purpose yards by him. And then Antonio Martin on the flip side, someone who we thought was going to be exclusively a running back, as in running the ball, not getting a lot of touches through the air, he added 15 carries for 103 yards, just about seven yards a carry. And he broke off a run about 25, 26 yards, and he also added a pair of catches. So five catches collectively from your running back group. Again, utilizing all the athleticism

[00:19:04] that you have at your disposal, it was Anthony Selfo. And I don't know if that's something that we can look forward to every week. And again, maybe the opposition lended itself to running an offense with that much versatility or that much diversity. But I think that knowing that you have those playmakers that have that versatility is key for the success of this offense, the success of Roman Gagliano. Roman himself, really, he had one big run for 22 yards.

[00:19:34] Forgive me, it was a late night. I don't believe that was a designed run, but it was a 22-yard touchdown, no less. And then he passed for a pair of touchdowns over 200 yards. And someone that I've been highlighting for a very long time, not just this offseason, not just last offseason, but since he's been on campus, was Cam Lacey. And I couldn't be happier with my prediction. And as I've tried to tell everyone, when I broke down this season with the G5 Hive, with our Conference USA Roundtable,

[00:20:03] this is a guy you've got to watch. And with eight catches, 118 yards, almost 15 yards a catch, and a touchdown, Cam Lacey lived up to that hype that I had been giving him for some time. And the next closest in receptions was Terrence Brown with three. Your other receivers, Neo Clifton, two. The D2 All-American Hogan Wasson got two. And then Mississippi State transfer Marcus Allen also added one. But Cam Lacey is an obvious target,

[00:20:33] favorite for Roman Gagliano. And I guess I sort of already knew that. However, for him to get that much attention, one, it's well-deserved. But I would have liked to have seen more from the rest of the receiving group. See what we have there. Now, Neo Clifton was the first touchdown score of the season for the Blue Raiders. And hit a nice over-the-shoulder back corner fade from Gagliano to the redshirt freshman,

[00:21:03] someone who he highlighted last week as someone that might be flying under the radar. It was great hands. Two catches for 37 yards for him. And like I said, that 27-yard touchdown to open up the season. He got the start. And someone who, over Marcus Allen, who, mind you, is an SEC transfer this year, that was one of the big surprises on the depth chart that I saw, was that you started the redshirt freshman over the senior transfer from Mississippi State. But when he's in there, he's shifty. He's got great hands.

[00:21:33] He's got elusives to beat. He can get to the outside edge. And he can break open a defense. So, he's an All-Americans. I mean, he's got the athleticism to compete at this level. So, I'm not necessarily too surprised with what we saw from him. But that group collectively, all the athletes collectively were great. DJ Taylor got some snaps too. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the Riverdale sophomore got some reps this last week. But it's going to be a tight room there in that running back group.

[00:22:01] I don't see, you know, barring injury, Antonio Martin, Terrence Brown, those two are going to be tough to shake off. I like DJ Taylor as much as the next guy. But those two, I really, and again, take it with a grain of salt. They are playing Murray State. And I did say last week that they would beat Murray State handily. And it could lead us to have, you know, too high of expectations for this team. And maybe I'm getting ahead of myself here. But I do believe Antonio Martin and Terrence Brown

[00:22:31] could be the two best running back duo, if not the best running back duo, in Conference USA. Because the team giving them the biggest run for their money, just by the way the offense looks, was Jacksonville State. And they looked pedestrian in week zero. They still didn't necessarily look great in week one when they got their first win as well. So I really like, again, comparing what we've seen so far in Conference USA, I like this Antonio Martin, or excuse me, Antonio Martin,

[00:22:59] Terrence Brown duo in the backfield. And they got, I don't know if our stats host the snap counts for those two, but I know Antonio Martin got quite a few more carries than Terrence Brown. But those two were on the field, it felt like equally as much for that entire game. And back to the personnel groupings that we saw from Anthony Selfo, even there late, we saw some 20 personnel really, again, throwing the defense off a little bit. I mean,

[00:23:29] I would imagine that wasn't on the scouting report. Maybe it was. I'm sure Murray State knows how to defend. But like, just seeing a different look. There's something we have, like with Bodie Reader's offense, it was just very 11 personnel, 12 personnel. There wasn't a lot of mixture. I do remember in the season opener last year, we saw 22 coming from him with two tight ends, two running backs. And we saw some interesting looks out of that offense, but it never returned. After that Austin Peay game, it never came back. So I don't know if that was something that they were playing with

[00:23:59] and didn't have a success with, and they just threw it in the trash. But I think now this roster lends itself to being very dynamic on that side of the ball. So I'm excited with what the offensive side of the ball brings to the table moving forward into this Marshall game. But before I get into the Marshall game, we've got to go over the ugly. I was not impressed defensively. Now I understand they gave up 14 points and only 145 passing yards,

[00:24:29] 145 rushing yards, so just under 300 yards of total offense. And I believe it was seven yards of completion, over five yards of rush. The five yards of rush is where I'm super concerned. They gave up 75 yards to their starting running back, eight carries, 75 yards, almost 10 yards a touch for that young man. Now the numbers skewed. He did have a big run for 46 yards. But Murray State had trouble running around the edges.

[00:24:59] Reggie Johnson looked great. You had Gumbo Gaskins, the safety. He did a great job setting the edge. I thought the secondary looked good. They had a few lapses, but collectively they looked okay. There's a lot of bodies changing in and out on Saturday, which I assume Mason's just trying to work in players, see what he's got out there, particularly when you're playing a team like Murray State. But back to my point, the edges were great stopping the run.

[00:25:28] The middle was extremely, extremely soft, which Murray State, by about the third quarter, started to exploit a little bit, running the ball up the middle. And even in that fourth quarter, early in the fourth quarter, before we hit our third lightning delay of the day, they had exploited that. They worked themselves all the way down to, I believe it was, the 10-yard line before there was a targeting call, and then we had the lightning delay, which, mind you, I don't know that it ever got reported on, because if there was a targeting call and it gets upheld,

[00:25:58] they would have to sit out in this first half of the Marshall game. The report we were given in the press box is that the targeting call did not, it was overturned. There was no targeting. So luckily, no suspension for one half of the Blue Raiders this Saturday, but I digress. The Murray State offense kind of figured out the soft spot of that defensive front seven. And Mason touched on that in his post-game press conference, saying that he thought that the rush defense was very soft interiorly all day on Saturday.

[00:26:28] And when you're playing a team like Marshall, who can do both, now obviously they passed the ball really well with Carlos Del Rio Wilson, but they've got a really good running back. And we'll figure out how good that offensive line is, because they're going to be facing, I would say, a more average G5 group in Middle Tennessee this Saturday. So we're going to get a test of what Marshall has too. But there's definitely a lot that can be learned from Saturday's matchup about that interior. Guys like Felix Hickson, we even saw the redshirt freshman from Blackman, Archie Roseman,

[00:26:58] get some snaps, who looks, you know, I guess a little bit more leaned out than he did in his high school days. Looks a little bit faster. But Murray State's offensive line was severely undersized when compared to Middle Tennessee's defensive line. And I thought that Murray State had their way running the ball in the A-gap. I was not impressed with middle linebackers in particular. I mean, they were able to get, the offensive line was able to get to that second level and they broke off a few runs, 10, you know, even 8, 10, 12 yards downfield,

[00:27:27] which again, when you're facing a better team in Marshall, a better team next week in week three against Nevada, who have done a good job running the football in the past, that strikes fear for me moving forward. But when we come back from the break, we are going to finally turn the page and look ahead to this road trip up in Huntington. We're going to be talking about that in so much more. You're listening to the Blue Raider podcast. Next on All Sports Talk, it's the Blue Raider Insider Report with Chip Walters of Exit Realty, Bob Lamb and Associates.

[00:27:59] Well, good afternoon, everybody. We're coming to you from the state of West Virginia. Brett Walker from Sidelines joins me for this afternoon's report. And Brett, let's first start off with women's soccer who played last night against Evansville and off to the best start in school history and they're scoring goals. Yeah, I mean, it's been great to see teach up just everything from them. You know, we've had reporters out for sidelines for every game. You know, it's been great to see everything from them. You know, really produce their only home loss right now. So it's like,

[00:28:29] it's really been great to see. Demi Grenauer, do not let me butcher that name, but she's been great in goal. So it's great to see the Blue Raiders start off fast like that. It really is. And for a guy like Aston Roden, who's had his nose to the grindstone for 20 plus years now, really great to see him having a great year. Yeah, it really is. I mean, he's been here forever. One of my coworkers, Jacob Burgess, has been hot on that trail. He did the 25th anniversary piece to start the season. So, you know, if you talk to Aston, he's not really a guy

[00:28:58] that likes to talk legacy, though. You know, he told Jacob at the beginning of the season, you know, he just takes it one day at a time, always focused on the present and the future. Doesn't really like to look at the past, but, you know, he's certainly got to be proud of what he's accomplished here. You know, most coaches don't make it a quarter century at one place. So, you know, he's been here for a reason. And a quick note about volleyball. They've been off to a great start this year. Alexa Keckler's second year had a good, they've been winning two out of three just about every weekend and hosting an event this weekend. Yeah, it's glad to see them at home finally.

[00:29:28] You know, we have in our room, we've got probably like 20 sports reporters now and they've just been itching to get some, you know, home volleyball action. So, we're glad to see Alexa Keckler's crew finally at home this weekend and hopefully they'll get a dub in Alumni Memorial Gymnasium. Well, the sidelines crew is on the beat here in West Virginia as we get ready for Middle Tennessee and Marshall about 24 hours from now. And I was looking at the weather forecast and there's a chance for thunderstorms

[00:29:58] and I think we're all a little gun shy after last weekend. Yeah, you know, we were talking to Coach Macy at the beginning of this week and I don't remember if it was you that asked this or Emmy or me and somebody was like, well, how does your team handle the weather or not? And he's like, well, it's kind of normal for us now. So, you don't know if Marshall has had to deal with stuff like that. So, who knows? At this point, weather might be an advantage for the Blue Raiders if we go south. Yep. You talk about the matchup now. Marshall comes in a double-digit favorite but, you know, they've yet to experience a win this year.

[00:30:31] Blue Raiders were able to get a win and outmanned a Murray State team that was getting, for certainly, they were game but, you know, there's a lot of value in just getting a win. Yeah, I mean, for MTSU, we talked about it kind of in our preview this week, is has an opportunity to do something this year that they haven't done in 25 years and that's start 2-0. Last time was 2001 which seems crazy to say but, you know, a lot of times they'll do their buy-in game the first two weeks of the season so exciting to see that opportunity and, you know, you look at Marshall

[00:31:00] a team, obviously, you know, you don't judge them based on what happened against Penn State. That's one of the best teams, best programs in the country year in and year out so, excited to see what they bring to the table especially after an exciting matchup last year. From your perspective, where does Middle have an advantage? Where should they have concerns? I would think they would have an advantage this year in their secondary. That was a year, that was a group that got torched by Marshall last year I believe their quarterback was 18 of 22 passing for about 10 yards

[00:31:29] so they've had a year to kind of grow and learn from that and that game got away from them late but it was really close. I mean, I know you remember all throughout and it just got away from them in the fourth quarter so I think that's where they have the advantage and we'll see if they can learn from it and grow from it. All right, appreciate the time today and we'll be on the air tomorrow at 4.30 kickoff at 6 o'clock central. Brett, thanks a lot. Thanks, Chip. All right, that's it for today right here on the Big G, WGNS.

[00:31:56] This is the Blue Raider Podcast on FM 101.9 and AM 1450 Murfreesboro, 100.5 Smyrna, WGNSradio.com and the Blue Raider Podcast YouTube channel. Now, back to your host, Jake Bolden. Welcome back into the final segment of the Blue Raider Podcast. You're just coming off that insider report with Chip Walters

[00:32:25] and Brett Walker talking there in Huntington, West Virginia ahead of the Blue Raiders week two matchup against Marshall, hoping to seek a little bit of revenge after last year dropping a fourth quarter lead. Before we get into that, just want to remind you to follow us on our social media at BlueRaiderPodX, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and of course, our live stream today as we do every Friday at 5 p.m. over on YouTube and those home post-game press conferences with Derek Mason and select players. You're not going to miss that, so make sure you're following along there.

[00:32:55] And of course, if you do want to call in to our final segment, our lines are open 615-893-1450. Like I said, the Blue Raiders looking to seek a little bit of revenge against the Thundering Herd following last year to the hands of the Thundering Herd and their quarterback, Carlos Del Rio Wilson, as Brett said, threw for a lot of yards last year, really didn't seem to miss a pass at all for him, and that was really his first start for the Thundering

[00:33:23] Herd since joining the program. They fought some injuries early on last year, and then when they came into Murfreesboro in week three, it was Del Rio Wilson's first start, and he absolutely torched the Blue Raiders, and it took them all the way to the fourth quarter, because the Blue Raiders held a touchdown lead going into that fourth quarter against Marshall, and despite losing that contest by two touchdowns. But that Marshall team looked pedestrian, to say the least, on Saturday against an

[00:33:56] over 300 yards passing by Rocco Beck to that new quarterback they've got up there in Happy Valley, and ran for 163 yards with three guys rushing over 38 yards apiece, really spreading the wealth there in the backfield. And then more impressively, Kobe Howard had 161 yards receiving in a touchdown, but that's not who we're previewing. We're previewing Marshall this week, and it all comes back to really, can they stop that offense? And it's hard to get a read if that offense has really improved. Carlos Del Rio Wilson only threw

[00:34:26] for 100 yards, had a good completion percentage, really low QBR, but he was their leading rusher. 13 carries for 30 yards, and I'm sure that is sack equivalent, so you know, 13 carries for your quarterback for a guy that you really don't want running the football. But past that, Joe Sean Barby had the most carries. He was on the team last year, I believe he's a McNeese State transfer a couple years ago. He's almost a 900 yard rusher for them, so they've got a talented running back.

[00:34:56] And then in the receiving group, Toby Payne, another guy that was a Virginia Tech transfer, he was on that team last year as well, but they really have no big returners from that offense last year. So it's going to be a new look Marshall team to say the least. But how much does Marshall collect themselves and play the game that they know they're capable? I mean, this is a team that preseason was one of the top teams in the Sun Belt. Now, I think they surprised a lot of teams last year and more than likely will

[00:35:25] not be surprising as many going into this year, but that Marshall team is good. I don't want last week to be jaded at all. And on the Blue Raiders side of things, I think they understand what's at stake here. And as Brett touched on in that Insider report, it's been 25 years since they've started the year 2-0. And there is nuance to that. Like you said, you have bye games early on in the year like MTSU typically does. But there's so much more to this. And again, I'll throw a plug to one of our

[00:35:55] good friends to the Blue Raider podcast is the Thundercast. They're friends with us over at the College Huddle. I filmed a pregame preview with them, obviously from MTSU's perspective, as they wanted to get to know a little bit more about MTSU in their first week matchup. But there's a lot at stake for both of these teams because the complexion changes for your season after this week. If you're Marshall, you really had a disappointing loss. I mean, you lose 45, you expect, you go into Happy Valley, you expect to lose that game. However, losing 45 to nothing, you're

[00:36:24] probably grasping at straws. You're a little bit concerned. If you go to your home opener against MTSU, a team who is preseason one of the worst, if not the worst in Conference USA, and you lose that home opener, you're probably going to be running for the hills. You've got a lot to figure out. You've got a long season ahead. But if you're MTSU, and you go 2-0 on the road at Marshall, I think a lot of us, like

[00:36:54] myself, will be eating crow going into week three when they return home for Nevada. I mean, if you beat Marshall, I thought the ceiling for this team was four wins. If you beat Marshall, I'm starting to think otherwise. I'm thinking this team has bowl game potential. I'm thinking that home game against Nevada does get a lot more interesting because Nevada looked great in week one against Western Kentucky. If we have the time, we'll be talking a little about that. But I think that there's a lot at stake for Coach

[00:37:21] Mason and his complexion. And I would even take it maybe take it a step back. Let's say you have a competitive game up at Huntington. I would feel better about this season there too. Now, it was only a two touchdown game last year. That was here at home. I think if you lose this year by two touchdowns, I'm still probably feeling good about myself. And looking at that game this week, the line opened. And again, Vegas always seems to know. It is incredible to me how good they called that line in week one.

[00:37:50] I said that that line was really, really low. And I guess they knew that they were only going to play for three quarters. I guess. I don't know how that works. But they opened the line this week at 17 and a half. Marshall was favorited. And since then, it has dropped down four points. That is just now a two touchdown deficit in favor of the Thundering Herds. So if you are MTSU, personally, I would feel great if they cover the spread. If they were inside two touchdowns of Marshall on the road, I think that it

[00:38:20] would be deemed a successful trip. Now, granted, how do you get to that margin? Like last year, you were leading in the fourth quarter and you lost by two touchdowns. I would consider that one a failure. So if that were to happen again, I guess I would have to, again, correct myself and say that it was a failure. But I think if you can go up to Huntington, which is obviously a great atmosphere, one of the better atmospheres that you're going to get in the G5. I know that a lot of Thundering Herd fans are super excited about their first tailgate of the year. They always pull together

[00:38:48] good home crowds. But I think that if you go up there and you can compete for four quarters, see this offense continue to flourish. I hope that this offense, what we saw in week one, wasn't a fluke. It wasn't just a byproduct of the competition. But we see this offense continue to flourish. I hope that the defense, again, Marshall looked pedestrian. And again, I know they played Penn State. But they offensively were out of sorts. They couldn't throw the ball effectively. Obviously, they couldn't run the ball effectively.

[00:39:18] I mean, when your quarterback has three times the carry of your leading rusher, they had some trouble. And part of that is playing up against a Big Ten defensive line. But I want to see our defensive line, again, impose itself, set those edges. Hopefully we can strengthen up that interior defensive line and hold a good run defense because I think that was really my only down negative side to Saturday's matchup against Murray was just that interior defensive line and even that second level interior linebacker group

[00:39:47] just looked really soft at times. So I think that that's going to be your biggest takeaway this weekend is does the offense still look as good and can the defense fix their problems? And then secondly, you're going to face a better pass game. Now, again, what does Marshall have to offer there? They've got a really good tight end, like I said, in Toby Payne, led the team in receptions last week with eight. So you're going to be challenging your nickelback a little bit. You're going to be challenging your safeties a

[00:40:17] little bit, your linebackers a little bit to be able to defend their leading receiver in particular. I think that from what we saw week one, the cornerbacks look good. We saw a lot of rotational guys in there. I think also keep an eye out for what does that starting rotation actually look like for the defense? I don't think Coach Mason will be playing games with the depth chart like we saw this last week. And then I also want to see how the offensive line holds up against Marshall. Again, coming out of week one, healthy.

[00:40:47] That's great news. You were able to run for what would have been the most yards in the Mason era had you played four quarters at the pace you were at. Can you replicate that on Saturday? Can you replicate that tomorrow? And again, it all comes back to the bigger picture. Your complexion on the season changes entirely. And then moving into week three, getting a little ahead of myself and really trying to, I guess, draw back to what did Conference USA look like in week one. Storyline as it pertains to MTSU was that game

[00:41:17] week one in Bowling Green where Nevada just pretty much had their way with the Hilltoppers. And again, the running joke for us in the press box is, you know, maybe Bode Reeder was a problem. You know, an offense that a lot of people thought was going to look great for Coach Helton, even though I'm sure Helton is the play caller and I'm, you know, I'm just Josh and Coach Reeder. But the fact that you had this high profile offense with Rodney Tisdale Jr.

[00:41:46] taking back the reins as the CUSA freshman and only put up 14 points against a Nevada team who, you know, in my regard isn't very good. But for whatever reason, they put up 49 points. This is an offense that couldn't, Jeff Choate and the Wolfpack couldn't hardly score last year. They were one of the worst scoring offenses in the country last year. And they put up 49 against presumable Conference USA championship contender and made them look pedestrian. I mean, they came out 21, it was 21-7 at halftime, put up another two touchdowns in that third quarter.

[00:42:16] And it was off to the races from there, 35-7 entering that fourth quarter. I was super impressed. And so, just to speak to how this level of competition is going to continue to step up. You got Marshall, Nevada, then you go on the road to Lawrenceburg, or to Lawrence and face the Kansas Jayhawks. You've got to continue to get better. I don't want to get too ahead of myself because I don't want to be, but I also don't want to be too doom and gloom just going into week two. This week means a lot for a lot of reasons. And hopefully this is my

[00:42:45] pep talk to the Blue Raiders this Saturday. But if you're able to present yourself as a competitive team, obviously you want to win. But if you can present yourself as a competitive team and as though that this game on Saturday, you don't lose yourself. Push yourself to week three, have a good game against Nevada, and then keep moving forward in that Kansas game. But this is a lot. Getting to the two wins being the first time since 2001, which when Brett

[00:43:15] said it, yeah, that's a long time. First time in program since 2001 that they've been 2-0 through the first two weeks. That's a huge deal. So the betting line, 13 and a half. My score prediction that I gave over on the Thundercast, I said that the Blue Raiders would lose by 17. I actually think that that was the opening line by Vegas kind of had it right. I just, I don't, I don't see, until I have a reason to believe that this team is competitive and will be competitive in these games, I have no reason to believe that

[00:43:45] they're going to finally turn that corner. But the over-under was still sitting around the high 50s last I had checked. And so obviously they're still gracing a little bit there for the MTSU's offensive sake. So I hope that, again, Vegas always seems to know. So I hope that they continue that up. But that's going to do it for us today. I want to remind you one more time, if you're not already following us on our social medias at Blue Raider Pod, X, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

[00:44:15] And if you're tuning into our live stream over on YouTube, subscribe so you don't miss another one of our weekly episodes. We are going to be turning it over to the Friday Night Thunder pregame show ahead of the WG&S primetime game of the week. The crew is at Stewart's Creek tonight where the Red Hawks are going to be hosting Rockvale. And their pregame show will begin at 6.30pm. Thanks again to my producer Jackson Smith. You are listening to the Blue Raider Podcast.