Saturday’s inclement weather caused several first week games to go into a delay. Savannah State at Middle Tennessee State was one of them. The rain never stopped and the Blue Raiders never stopped scoring in their 61-7 home opening thrashing of the Tigers.
MTSU would total 519 yards of offense and newly appointed starting quarterback Austin Grammer looked very impressive.
Of course, it’s Savannah State, a poor defense even by FCS standards. A team who has won only 4 games in 4 years but Grammer was accurate even with defenders draped all over his receivers. The sophomore was 15 of 17 for 250 yards and a touchdown. Basically, Rick Stockstill has found his quarterback.
“I thought Austin did a nice job. He didn’t force a lot of throws.” Said Stockstill. “He went to the right guy a lot of the time, he scrambled out a couple times and made some plays with his feet.”
The Blue Raiders defense forced three turnovers and didn’t allow a point until the 4th quarter when they let off the gas and then some.
The game was never meant to be a challenge but a tune up for what would be a huge win next week if MTSU can upset the Golden Gophers in Minnesota.
“Every time you go on the road it’s tough. And going up there to the Big 10 especially. Stockstill said when asked about next week’s game.
“They’ve got a loud stadium. So we’ve got to do a great job communicating to our players. We’ve got to improve on a lot of areas from tonight, but like I said all along, we’re hungry and I look forward to coaching this team this week to prepare for Minnesota”
The Golden Gophers also beat an FCS team this week, albeit a really good one in EIU.
I called tonight’s game a glorified practice. That’s what it looked like for the most part. Still, 61 points is impressive and fun to watch.
If the rain kept you away or had you looking for dryer land early in the contest, take a look at the highlights with commentary above.
