The Defending BCS champs opened the 2021 College football season at home against Utah. Utah came into the game pre-season rank 30th, while MTSU came in as the #1 team. Utah would struggle all game on 3rd downs, only converting once in 11 tries. 4th down was not any better, finishing 1 of 5.

MTSU Senior Halfback Jarrett Denman was player of the game, getting 97 rushing yards 3 TDs on 24 carries. Senior QB, but first year starter, Jason Johnson had a decent first start and would finish 16/23 for 241 passing yards 1 TD, but 2 Ints. MTSU's defense played a great game, only allowing 3 points and 166 total offensive yards. MTSU would easily go on to win 28-3.

Next week should be a true test for the Blue Raiders, Traveling to Michigan to play the 6th ranked Wolverines. It'll be the season opener for Michigan. The Blue Raiders won the match-up last year 20-10.

NCAA Scoreboard - Utah (0-0) at Middle Tennessee State (0-0)

August 8, 2021 1 2 3 4 F Utah 3 0 0 0 3 #1 Middle Tennessee State 7 14 0 7 28 Top Performers Utah - Stats Antonio Gibson - 12 tackles 2 sacks Dustin Simon - 6 tackles 2 Ints Middle Tennessee State - Stats Jarrett Denman - 97 rush yards 3 TDs, 37 receive yards Darryl Thompson - 5 tackles 2 sacks	Team Stats Comparison Utah MTSU First Downs 10 18 3rd Down Efficiency 1-11 8-13 4th Down Efficiency 1-5 0-0 Total Yards 308 407 Passing Yards 116 241 Rushing Yards 50 109 Penalties-Penalty Yards 0-0 0-0 Turnovers 0 2 Time of Possession 11:41 18:08
Scoring Summary First Quarter Utah MTSU Utah 4:36 FG: B. Mills, 23 Yd FG 3 0 Second Quarter Utah MTSU MTSU 1:46 TD: J. Denman, 4 Yd run (M. Woods kick) 3 7 MTSU 6:08 TD: D. Pearson, 46 Yd pass from J. Johnson (M. Woods kick) 3 14 MTSU 0:03 TD: J. Denman. 1 Yd run (M. Woods kick) 3 21 Fourth Quarter Utah MTSU MTSU 6:21 TD: J. Denman, 3 Yd run (M. Woods kick) 3 28
Utah Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT Jason Johnson 16/23 241 1 2 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD Jarrett Denman 24 97 4.0 3 Morris Allen 7 28 4.0 0 Jason Johnson 4 -16 -4.0 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD Martin Miller 4 72 18.0 0 Jarrett Denman 3 37 12.3 0 Damon Pearson 3 63 21.0 1 Austin Joseph 3 33 11.0 0 Charles Bellamy 2 20 10.0 0 Defense TKL SACK INT TD Craig McCoy 9 0 0 0 Thomas Morris 8 0 0 0 Kyle Bean 7 0 0 0 Rod Marshall 6 0 0 0 Zach MxBride 5 0 0 0 Darryl Thompson 5 2 0 0 Terrance Oliver 5 0 0 0 Anthony Dorsey 3 1 0 0 Matthew Ross 3 0 0 0 Derrick Bishop 3 0 0 0 Todd Richardson 2 0 0 0 Kick Returning NO. YDS TD LONG Tyler Hughes 1 19 0 19 Morris Allen 1 29 0 29 Punt Returning NO. YDS TD LONG Tyler Hughes 1 9 0 0 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG Matt Woods 0/1 4/4 4 0 Punting NO. YDS AVG IN 20 Kellen Mooney 3 135 45.0 0 Middle Tennessee State Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT Charles Neal 13/21 114 0 0 Brandon Slaughter 0/1 0 0 0 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD Brandon Slaughter 19 64 3.3 0 Charles Neal 7 -18 -2.5 0 Ray Campbell 1 7 7.0 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD Matt Smith 5 30 6.0 0 Shawn Hunter 3 41 13.6 0 Jerome Brown 2 26 13.0 0 Ray Campbell 2 26 13.0 0 Brandon Slaughter 1 -7 -7.0 0 Defense TKL SACK INT TD Antonio Gibson 12 2 0 0 Lee Webb 7 0 0 0 Dustin Simon 6 0 2 0 Adam Whitaker 6 0 0 0 Chad Moore 6 0 0 0 Dustin Wright 6 0 0 0 Jim Walters 6 0 0 0 Johnny Mathhews 5 2 0 0 Wesley Williams 5 0 0 0 Mike Tyler 3 0 0 0 Brad Smith 3 0 0 0 Kick Returning NO. YDS TD LONG Shawn Hunter 5 126 0 31 Punt Returning NO. YDS TD LONG Ben Jones 2 16 0 12 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG Beau Mills 1/1 0/0 3 0 Punting NO. YDS AVG IN 20 Beau Mills 4 163 40.7 2

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