AustinLewis said:

Bolded and italicized for emphasis.

The reset was really a rebuild. And I don't know why I was surprised. There are a couple of contributing factors

1) Recruiting seemed to fall off the last 3-5 years under Stock (to be sure, he seemed to land just enough guys, but the depth for his system wasn't there).
2) Mason decided to overhaul both sides of the ball. New systems needed new personnel. MT was built for the Air Raid / spread, Mason wants to run power / pro-style.
3) S&C wasn't FBS level after Spray left (compare the W/L under Spray to after Spray) and it's hard to make that up in one offseason, especially if you need bigger, stronger, more explosive guys.

What has surprised me :
1) The lack of discipline : MT continues to shot itself in the foot with turnovers and penalties.
2) Lackluster offense : Defense hasn't been terrible since conference play started, but the offense is still MIA. It's one of the lowest scoring offense (bottom 10 IIRC in FBS). Offensive struggles & turnovers have made life harder for defense
3) Defense has been good, but hasn't been as good as I thought it could be. DBs seem to be out of position and chasing more than I'd expect from a Mason / Stewart defense. Busted play? Personnel?

I've been impressed with Mason's recruiting and MT fans need to that 2025 / 2026 will bear some fruits or that seat will get REALLY hot.

Click to expand...

BlueRaiderFan said:

These guys aren’t even being taught to tackle properly. They’ll continue to lose until they deal with this and excessive penalties.

Click to expand...

JohnDavidBlue said:

Scott Walden was one that I thought would be a decent finalist for MT. He is on the struggle bus there at utep.

Click to expand...

MTLynn said:

Indiana - Curt Cignetti, 7 - 0


Duke - Manny Diaz, 6 – 1


Texas A&M - Mike Elko, 6 - 1


Syracuse - Fran Brown, 5 – 1


Louisiana-Monroe - Bryant Vincent, 5 - 1


Alabama - Kalen DeBoer, 5 – 2


James Madison - Bob Chesney, 5 - 2


Tulane - Jon Sumrall, 5 – 2


San Jose State - Ken Niumatalolo, 5 - 2


Michigan - Sherrone Moore, 5 – 3


Fresno State - Tim Skipper (interim), 5 - 3


Boston College - Bill O'Brien, 4 – 3


Michigan State - Jonathan Smith, 4 – 3


Washington - Jedd Fisch, 4 - 3


Buffalo - Pete Lembo, 4 – 3


Oregon State - Trent Bray, 4 – 3


San Diego State - Sean Lewis, 3 – 3


South Alabama - Major Applewhite, 3 - 4


New Mexico - Bronco Mendenhall, 3 - 4


Arizona - Brent Brennan, 3 - 4


Nevada- Jeff Choate, 3 – 5


Georgia State - Dell McGee, 2 - 4


Houston - Willie Fritz, 2 - 5


UCLA - DeShaun Foster, 2 - 5


New Mexico State - Tony Sanchez, 2 - 5


Middle Tennessee - Derek Mason, 2 - 6


Utah State - Nate Dreiling (interim), 1 - 6


Wyoming - Jay Sawvel, 1 - 6


Mississippi State - Jeff Lebby, 1 - 6


UTEP - Scotty Walden, 1 - 7

List of current NCAA Division I FBS football coaches - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Click to expand...

Blue Raider Lightning said:

Speaking of Gregory, I hope she is ok. From the replay I saw, when she got tripped up and went down, she wasn't able to break her fall and her head hit the floor extremely hard. After getting up and missing two free throws, they pulled her and she never came back. With protocol as it is, she very well may have a concussion and be out a bit. I was actually surprised when she stayed in to shoot the free throws as she looked dazed.

Click to expand...

MTFAN61 said:

Agree. Unfortunately MT doesn't produce box scores for exhibition games. I know a lot of the starters Boldyreva, Scott, Arike, & Blakely all had solid double digit points in the column. Probably in the 15-20 range. Gregory seemed to have an off night with about 10. She missed more free throws than I ever remember, especially after taking a tough fall in the 2nd half. She went to the bench after getting shook up, & didn't return.
Don't believe Milanovic got any time on the floor. As mentioned above saw minimum time for Munson as well.
Doubt if we get very many individual stats other than top scorer for our next exhibition as well.

Click to expand...

MidTennMtneer said:

It is disappointing, no doubt. But I still am going to hold full judgement until into next year to see if improvement is made.

We have shown little improvement as the season has gone on with the same mistakes made. Changes need made 100% during the off season. Staff and players. Just showing G5s are usually a mess the first few years of a rebuild.

Click to expand...

crassyblue said:

From the best I can remember. Spelling may be off. I think I had Monson wrong all the way through

Scott - 22 points 3 rb, 3 big blocks(most of them in cleanup time) she was quite like Gregory in the first half, but smooth once she got going.
Boldyreva - 21 points - 7 rb (she wasn't quite in sync the first of the game, then got moving in the middle 2 quarters.)
* Arike - 19 points - 4 rb 3 assist (The team already has a great rapport with her with inside, outside passes. She looked great at 3's and down low.
* Blakely - 19 points - 4 assist - CB was always fast, but would miss a good percentage of 3's and a few layups. She was hitting a great percentage of everything last night. When she came back, I thought we would keep a good flow with the offense, but lose some scoring punch. We are getting both.
Gregory - 10 (about right) I don't think I have ever seen her miss 2 free throws in a row until that fall. She had an ice bag on her right temple on the bench, but she was smiling)
Jada Granum - 4 points, 4 RB (Jada looked good subbing for Boldyreva - she will be one of the staples this year)
Savannah Davis - 6 points, Her shots were off a little, but she seemed more comfortable than Jada when she was out there. Savannah's defense was better than it looked when I attended an earlier practice. It seems like Savannah and Jada Harrison are the two backups for 1 and 2 guard. Defense is the separating factor now, with Savannah doing a little more than Jada Harrison.
Jada Harrison - When she came in, she hit her first (2) threes right off the bat, but didn't score a lot after that. It is close between Savannah and Jada, with Savannah on top now. He works with them both a lot in practice.
Emily Monson - I don't know if she scored. I really thought from seeing practice, she would be one of the first off the bench, but she didn't show up until late in the 2nd quarter. She looked smooth in offense and defense but didn't do anything noteworthy. She may be better in practice than in a game.
Gracie Hamby - looked quick as a small 4, and scored a basket or two
Gracie Dodgen - got in and took a few 3's, but I don't think she hit any.
Stanaslava Kabernick - played and looked rather nervous - she had several rebounds, but nothing of note
Meoishe Mason - 1-2 points - 2 rb, She got to play and looked better than she has before
Dora Van Rijs - was dressed out, but didn't play
Anna Milanovic - was in street clothes, but didn't appear hurt

Overall I think the starters from last year backed down so the newcomers could shine (Blakey - Arike) They fit like a glove. For the middle 3 subs, I was disappointed that Emily Monson didn't move up and make it 9. Davis and Harrison are going to be the top guards off the bench, with Monson chipping in later. Jada Granum is the main sub for the post.

As mentioned earlier UT Southern shot a lot of threes, but they also made a lot. Our perimeter defense was weak. We had several breakdowns on defense that allowed them to go straight to the basket. Our inside defense with Boldyreva and Arike showed that it could be super solid. These breakdowns were concerning. I am sure that Insell will address this all next week. UT Southern held in there with us for the first quarter or so. I left to go pick up my parking pass at the BRAA office with us up about 10 and by the time I came back it had expanded to almost 20. One thing that stood out is that Jaylen and Blakely didn't foul very much. Both have had issues in the past. It could have been the competition.

Starting Five

1 - Blakely
2 - Gregory
3 - Scott
4 - Arike
5 - Boldyreva

Next 3 in - depending on need

6 - Grannum
7 - Davis
8 - Harrison

Could move up to top 3 and make it 9 (Even with a deep team 8 -9 players is the most Insell will play)

9 - Monson (most likely to move up)

10 - Hamby
11 - Kabernick
12 - Milanovic (didn't play but looks to be good rebounder in practice)
13 - Dodson
14 - Mason
15 - Rijs

Click to expand...

MTFAN61 said:

Agree. Unfortunately MT doesn't produce box scores for exhibition games. I know a lot of the starters Boldyreva, Scott, Arike, & Blakely all had solid double digit points in the column. Probably in the 15-20 range. Gregory seemed to have an off night with about 10. She missed more free throws than I ever remember, especially after taking a tough fall in the 2nd half. She went to the bench after getting shook up, & didn't return.
Don't believe Milanovic got any time on the floor. As mentioned above saw minimum time for Munson as well.
Doubt if we get very many individual stats other than top scorer for our next exhibition as well.

Click to expand...

TruBluCop said:

Where can I find the individual stats. Write up left a lot to be desired.

Click to expand...

SpaceRaider said:

Blue Raiders Route UT Southern 104-66 - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders seemed pick up right where they left off a season ago, kicking off their 2024-25 preseason slate with a dominant

goblueraiders.com

Click to expand...

mtfblue said:

this isn't going to end well, there will be other lawsuits because of the unequal revenue sharing and the bill being footed by G5, 1AAA, FCS D1 schools. Not every power 5 kid is a top earner or would get NIL. This will blow it up again and they just move on and separate

Click to expand...

MidTennMtneer said:

Extremely complicated.

https://businessofcollegesports.com/legal/breaking-down-the-house-settlement-for-back-pay-and-revenue-sharing/

Click to expand...

MTFAN61 said:

Halftime
MT 54
UTS 33
Blakely offense improvement is considerable. Leads Lady Raiders with 15. Boldyreva size is dominating with 14 at the half.
Very nice crowd for an exhibition. Imagine somewhere around 2,500. Maybe more.

Click to expand...

Hop45 said:

Sloppy play tonight, but CRI using the bench a little. Savannah Davis playing quite a bit. Monson got in late 2nd qtr. Erike has 3 3 ptrs, I think. Blakely playing very well. UT-Southern may actually do pretty well in their conference.

Click to expand...