The Blue Raiders make their 3rd appearance in the Fiesta Bowl, this time against SEC foe Florida. MTSU would strike first on a 9 yard pass to TE Richard Mason from Lance Williams. late in the 2nd quarter, MTSU would add another TD to their score with a 59 yard pass to Brandon Banks from Lance Williams. 14-0 lead. Florida put together a great 2-minute drill, driving down the field and eventually getting into the end zone with a 2 yard pass to Landry from Matthews. 14-7 halftime.

Florida had turnover issue all game, mostly in the redzone. MTSU would take advantage of it late in the third to extend the lead to 10 point with a FG. 17-7 MTSU. Florida would make a run for it late in the 4th, put together a great drive and UF's QB Matthews would punch it in on the ground from 1 yard out. 17-14. Florida would not be able to get the onside kicks, and MTSU would run the clock out to win 17-14.

Middle Tennessee State (12-1) at Florida (11-2)
January 4, 2019 1 2 3 4 F #3 Middle Tennessee State 7 7 3 0 17 #6 Florida 0 7 0 7 14 TOP PERFORMERS Middle Tennessee State Lance Williams - 12/22 160 pass yards, 23 rush yards Brandon Banks - 73 receive yards 1 TD Tony Griffin - 9 tackles Florida Jacob Matthews - 31/43 316 pass yards 1 TD, 8 rush yards 1 rush TD Tim Randle - 11 tackles Trae Whitaker - 82 receive yards	TEAM STAT COMPARISON MTSU UF First Downs 17 22 3rd Down Efficiency 6-13 3-7 4th Down Efficiency 0-0 1-1 Total Yards 397 441 Passing Yards 160 316 Rushing Yards 187 25 Penalties-Penalty Yards 2-30 1-1 Turnovers 0 4 Possession Time 17:08 12:09
SCORING SUMMARY FIRST QUARTER MTSU UF MTSU 4:18 TD MTSU: R. Mason, 9 Yd pass from L. Williams (D. Fowler kick) 7 0 SECOND QUARTER MTSU UF MTSU 1:32 TD MTSU: B. Banks, 59 Yd pass from L. Williams (D. Fowler kick) 14 0 UF 0:14 TD UF: R. Landry, 2 Yd pass from J. Matthews (S. Butler kick) 14 7 THIRD QUARTER MTSU UF MTSU 1:26 FG MTSU: D. Fowler, 51 Yd FG 17 7 FOURTH QUARTER MTSU UF UF 1:42 TD UF: J. Mathews, 1 Yd run (S. Butler kick) 17 14
Middle Tennessee State Boxscore PASSING C/ATT YDS TD INT Lance Williams 12/22 160 2 0 RUSHING CAR YDS AVG TD Jonathan Smith 16 78 4.8 0 Mario Rogers 15 86 5.7 0 Lance Williams 7 23 3.2 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Richard Mason 4 45 11.2 1 Brandon Banks 3 73 24.3 1 Steven Triplett 2 24 12.0 0 Tyler Nelson 2 23 11.5 0 Jonathan Smith 1 -5 -5.0 0 DEFENSE TKL SCK INT TD Tony Griffin 9 0 0 0 Keith Givens 7 0 0 0 Ross Davis 6 0 0 0 Corey Morgan 6 0 0 0 Mike Smith 6 0 0 0 Mario Griffin 5 1 0 0 Mike Mansfield 4 0 0 0 Aaron Hines 4 0 0 0 Allen Winston 3 0 0 0 Blake Davis 3 0 1 0 Thomas Morris 2 0 0 0 KICK RETURNING NO. YDS TD LG Morris Allen 1 19 0 19 Jarrett Denman 1 26 0 26 PUNT RETURNING NO. YDS TD LG JArrett Denman 2 3 0 2 KICKING FGM/A XPM/A PTS LG Dallas Fowler 1/1 2/2 5 51 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG IN20 Dallas Fowler 5 179 35.8 2	Florida Boxscore PASSING C/ATT YDS TD INT Jacob Matthews 31/43 316 1 1 RUSHING CAR YDS AVG TD Dan Livingston 6 20 3.3 0 Jacob Matthews 9 8 0.8 1 Trae Whitaker 2 -3 -1.5 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Trae Whitaker 7 82 11.7 0 Johnny Larsen 6 51 8.5 0 Rodney Clifford 4 53 13.2 0 Coutney Brewer 4 55 13.7 0 Ron Landry 4 24 6.0 1 DEFENSE TKL SCK INT TD Tim Randle 11 0 0 0 Maurice Herron 10 0 0 0 Jason Schneider 8 0 0 0 David McCoy 5 0 0 0 Curtis Leonard 5 0 0 0 Cody Parker 5 0 0 0 Derek Maxwell 4 0 0 0 Norris Kennedy 4 0 0 0 Matt Hand 4 0 0 0 Jeff Kirby 3 0 0 0 Marcus Anthony 2 0 0 0 KICK RETURNING NO. YDS TD LG Johnny LArsen 4 96 0 26 PUNT RETURNING NO. YDS TD LG Dan Livingston 2 4 0 3 KICKING FGM/A XPM/A PTS LG Sean Butler 0/0 2/2 2 0 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG IN20 Sean Butler 3 139 46.3 3

Virginia Tech blows out Houston in the FedEx Orange Bowl 41-3

Miami beat Cincinnati in the Allstate Sugar Bowl 24-17

Michigan beat Oregon in the Rose Bowl 20-13

Oklahoma beat LSU in the National Championship 14-13

after the end of the 2019 season, The SEC officials offered an invitation to MTSU to join the conference. Kentucky had recently been removed and the SEC needed a good replacement. MTSU accepted the offer. MTSU ended the season ranked #2 in the final polls.