The Blue Raiders open their 2020 season in Louisville. On the first drive of the game MTSU QB Lance Williams overthrows a WR Tyler Nelson and Louisville picks it off. That would be the only turnover for the game, for either team.

After stopping the Louisville offense and forcing a punt, MTSU strikes quickly with a 1 play drive, a 55 yard pass from Lance Williams to Tyler Nelson. Louisville was able to get into FG range on the next drive and closed it to 7-3. Early in the 2nd quarter, Jarrett Denman was able to punch it in from 2 yards out to extend the lead with a 14-3 score. MTSU would score again in the 2nd right before the half, with a 12 pass from Lance Williams to Brandon Banks. 21-3 lead at the half.

Both teams' defenses played great in the 2nd half. MTSU completely shutout Louisville in the 2nd half, and MTSU was only able to get 2 FGs in the 2nd half. The Blue Raiders were able to cruise to their first victory of the season. Georgia Tech was the only top 25 team to lose in week 1, and they would drop out of the top 25 which bumps Utah up to 25th after their win against Rival Utah State.

The Blue Raiders will take on an old Sunbelt Rival of North Texas next week.

Middle Tennessee State (0-0) at Louisville (0-0)
August 30, 2020 1 2 3 4 F #5 Middle Tennessee State 7 14 3 3 27 Louisville 3 0 0 0 3 TOP PERFORMERS Middle Tennessee State Lance Williams - 19/27 264 pass yards 2 TDs, 40 rush yards Tyler Nelson - 85 receiving yards 1 TD Zach McBride - 5 tackles 2 sacks Louisville Dustin Carter - 76 rush yards Bill Dixson - 88 receiving yards Jason Williams - 9 tackles 3 sacks	TEAM STAT COMPARISON MTSU UL First Downs 22 8 3rd Down Efficiency 8-14 2-11 4th Down Efficiency 0-1 0-2 Total Yards 506 295 Passing Yards 264 126 Rushing Yards 159 37 Penalties-Penalty Yards 1-0 3-32 Turnovers 1 0 Possession Time 20:05 9:58
SCORING SUMMARY FIRST QUARTER MTSU UL MTSU 3:34 TD MTSU: T. Nelson, 55 Yd pass from L. Williams (M. Woods kick) 7 0 SECOND QUARTER MTSU UL UL 1:48 FG UL: J. Bryant, 46 Yd FG 7 3 MTSU 6:57 TD MTSU: J. Denman, 2 Yd run (M. Woods kick) 14 3 MTSU 1:11 TD MTSU: B. Banks, 12 Yd pass from L. Williams (M. Woods kick) 21 3 THIRD QUARTER MTSU UL MTSU 2:37 FG MTSU: M. Woods, 26 Yd FG 24 3 FOURTH QUARTER MTSU UL MTSU 6:45 FG MTSU: M. Woods, 26 Yd FG 27 3
Middle Tennessee State Boxscore PASSING C/ATT YDS TD INT Lance Williams 19/27 264 2 1 RUSHING CAR YDS AVG TD Jarrett Denman 16 62 3.8 1 Lance Williams 14 40 2.8 0 Jerome Wade 8 32 4.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Richard Mason 4 47 11.7 0 Austin Joseph 3 23 7.6 0 Tyler Nelson 3 85 28.3 1 Brandon Banks 2 30 15.0 1 Kevin Weldon 2 36 18.0 0 DEFENSE TKL SCK INT TD Zach McBride 5 2 0 0 Terrance Oliver 4 0 0 0 Mike Mansfield 4 2 0 0 Matthew Ross 3 0 0 0 Mike Smith 3 0 0 0 Joe Swain 3 0 0 0 Tyler Hughes 3 0 0 0 Craig McCoy 2 0 0 0 Rashad Foster 2 1 0 0 Rod Marshall 2 0 0 0 Keith Givens 2 0 0 0 KICK RETURNING NO. YDS TD LG Morris Allen 2 49 0 29 PUNT RETURNING NO. YDS TD LG Tyler Hughes 5 34 0 14 KICKING FGM/A XPM/A PTS LG Matt Woods 2/2 3/3 9 26 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG IN20 Matt Woods 2 96 48.0 0	Louisville Boxscore PASSING C/ATT YDS TD INT Dan Tyler 11/24 121 0 0 Darryl Patterson 1/6 5 0 0 RUSHING CAR YDS AVG TD Dustin Carter 9 76 8.4 0 Dan Tyler 4 -34 -8.5 0 Brandon Wilson 1 1 1.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Bill Dixson 8 88 11.0 0 David Graham 1 22 22.0 0 Brad Young 1 9 9.0 0 Demarcus Harmon 1 5 5.0 0 Jared Williams 1 2 2.0 0 DEFENSE TKL SCK INT TD Marques Smiley 14 0 0 0 Jason Williams 9 3 0 0 John Adkins 8 0 1 0 Kevin Walters 7 0 0 0 J.J. Bullock 7 0 0 0 Jason Coley 6 0 0 0 J.T. Wolfe 5 1 0 0 Tony West 5 0 0 0 Elton Stewart 5 0 0 0 Josh Brown 5 0 0 0 Brandon Rhodes 4 0 0 0 KICK RETURNING NO. YDS TD LG Elton Stewart 4 95 0 28 David Graham 1 26 0 26 PUNT RETURNING NO. YDS TD LG David Graham 2 11 0 6 KICKING FGM/A XPM/A PTS LG Jonathan Bryant 1/1 0/0 3 47 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG IN20 Jonathan Byrant 6 251 41.8 1