The Blue Raider came out swinging at home against #4 South Carolina, scoring 14 points in the first quarter while keeping USC out of the end zone. The rest of the game, both defenses managed to play a good game, but South Carolina already dug themselves into a hole with turnover. Before the end of the 1st half, after USC's 3rd turnover, MTSU was able to extend their lead with a FG to 17-0.

The Blue Raider did get some bad news in the first half, HB Jerome Wade left the game with a sore back. After the game they would find out that he was not seriously hurt, but would miss the rest of the game and should be back for MTSU's next game in 2 weeks.

South Carolina wasted no time in the 2nd half to get their first score. On the 2nd play of the 2nd half, 69 yard TD pass to Cantrell. 17-7. on the very next drive for MTSU, QB Lance Williams would keep the ball on an option and take it 50 yard for the TD for the final score of the game to lead 24-7. the rest of the game, neither team could move the ball much at all. South Carolina did manage a good drive in the 4th quarter, but failed on a 4th and goal.

MTSU would go on to win 24-7 and move on to 5-0(2-0), defeating the 2 of the biggest threats for the SEC East(UF and USC). It seems the East could be decided later in the year at Tennessee. MTSU have the next week off before traveling to Mississippi for the next 2 weeks against Ole Miss and Miss State.

South Carolina (3-0) at Middle Tennessee State (4-0)
October 3, 2020 1 2 3 4 F #4 South Carolina 0 0 7 0 7 #1 Middle Tennessee State 14 3 7 0 24 TOP PERFORMERS South Carolina Jon Cantrell - 101 receiving yards 1 TD David Jackson - 72 rush yards Andy King - 10 tackles Middle Tennessee State Lance Williams - 13/19 152 yards 2 TDs, 100 rush yards 1 TD Tyler Nelson - 68 receiving yards 2 TDs Matthew Ross - 3 tackles 1 Int	TEAM STAT COMPARISON SCar MTSU First Downs 12 21 3rd Down Efficiency 2-9 6-10 4th Down Efficiency 2-3 0-0 Total Yards 419 469 Passing Yards 230 152 Rushing Yards 93 265 Penalties-Penalty Yards 4-40 2-15 Turnovers 3 0 Possession Time 10:35 18:24
SCORING SUMMARY FIRST QUARTER SCar MTSU MTSU 5:51 TD MTSU: T. Nelson, 10 Yd pass from L. Williams (M. Woods kick) 0 7 MTSU 1:10 TD MTSU: T. Nelson, 7 Yd pass from L. Williams (M. Woods kick) 0 14 SECOND QUARTER SCar MTSU MTSU 0:00 FG MTSU: M. Woods, 23 Yd FG 0 17 THIRD QUARTER SCar MTSU SCar 6:41 TD S Car: J. Cantrell, 69 Yd pass from M. Hopkins (V. McGrew kick) 7 17 MTSU 5:32 TD MTSU: L. Williams, 50 Yd run (M. Woods kick) 7 24
South Carolina Boxscore PASSING C/ATT YDS TD INT Michael Hopkins 17/29 230 1 1 RUSHING CAR YDS AVG TD Sean Parker 8 31 3.8 0 David Jackson 8 72 9.0 0 Michael Hopkins 2 -10 -5.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Jon Cantrell 4 101 25.2 1 Andrew Berg 3 32 10.6 0 Evan Wade 2 18 9.0 0 Martin Franklin 2 52 26.0 0 Seasn Parker 2 7 3.5 0 DEFENSE TKL SCK INT TD Andy King 10 0 0 0 Derek Rodgers 10 0 0 0 Shelton Brown 8 0 0 0 Chris Cleveland 8 0 0 0 Ray Carter 7 0 0 0 Desi Lewis 7 0 0 0 Anthony Kicks 6 0 0 0 Andy Kennedy 5 0 0 0 Rashad Kaplan 5 0 0 0 David Swanson 3 0 0 0 Jarrod Hudson 3 0 0 0 KICK RETURNING NO. YDS TD LG Martin Franklin 3 74 0 28 Jon Cantrell 1 22 0 22 KICKING FGM/A XPM/A PTS LG Victor McGrew 0/1 1/1 1 0 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG IN20 Victor McGrew 2 103 51.5 1	Middle Tennessee State Boxscore PASSING C/ATT YDS TD INT Lance Williams 13/19 152 2 0 RUSHING CAR YDS AVG TD Jarrett Denman 18 83 4.6 0 Morris Allen 16 65 4.0 0 Lance Williams 7 100 14.2 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Tyler Nelson 5 68 13.6 2 Austin Joseph 4 41 10.2 0 Kevin Weldon 2 24 12.0 0 Richard Mason 1 5 5.0 0 Brandon Banks 1 14 14.0 0 DEFENSE TKL SCK INT TD Derrick Bishop 9 0 0 0 Thomas Morris 5 0 0 0 Craig McCoy 5 0 0 0 Zach McBride 4 1 0 0 Rashad Foster 3 0 0 0 Joe Swain 3 0 0 0 Matthew Ross 3 0 1 0 Mike Smith 3 0 0 0 Mike Mansfield 2 1 0 0 Tony Griffin 2 0 0 0 Aaron Hines 2 0 0 0 KICK RETURNING NO. YDS TD LG Tyler Hughes 2 49 0 28 PUNT RETURNING NO. YDS TD LG Tyler Hughes 1 3 0 3 KICKING FGM/A XPM/A PTS LG Matt Woods 1/2 3/3 6 23 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG IN20 Kellen Mooney 3 127 42.3 2

In the top 25, Ohio State made the biggest jump by moving from 12th to 7th after Iowa, South Carolina, Florida, and Miami all lost. the new top 10: MTSU, ND, Clemson, FSU, Wisconsin, BYU, Ohio State, Miami, West Virginia, and South Carolina. all but Miami and South Carolina in the top 10 are undefeated. USC at #18 and Cincinnati at #20 are also undefeated.