On Saturday, Aug. 31, the Golden Eagles headed west to Murfreesboro to take on their rival, the Blue Raiders, at Middle Tennessee State University in both teams’ season opener.
Following an electric second-half rally of scoring, the Golden Eagles made an unlikely 16-point comeback, pressuring the Blue Raiders to put together a perfectly schemed drive in the last 44 seconds of the game.
With just 16 seconds left on the clock, MTSU running back Frank Peasant sealed the deal for the Blue Raiders on a 30-yard rushing touchdown, giving Tech their first loss of the season.
Due to different obstacles within this game including the prolonged weather delays lasting for over two-and-a-half hours and starting TTU quarterback Dylan Laible getting injured early in the first half, the Golden Eagles were due for some fortune.
The Golden Eagles struggled through the first quarter, not scoring any points while also allowing Blue Raider Jaiden Credle to score a 10-yard rushing touchdown.
The second quarter was where the Golden Eagles seemed to catch some momentum, where freshman punter Spencer Ashby booted a 47-yarder and pinned the Blue Raiders on their own 1-yard line. This ultimately led to a safety by linebacker Aaron Swafford, giving the Golden Eagles an energy that had been missing before that play.
Subsequent to recovering the ball on their own 26 from an MTSU punt, the Golden Eagles would march down to put a field goal through the uprights to cut the deficit. The score going into halftime was 21-5, in MTSU’s favor.
To start the second half, the Golden Eagles couldn’t get anything moving and punted the ball away to the Blue Raiders 34-yard line. After the Blue Raiders were stopped in their own territory due to a holding penalty, TTU’s Caldara Williford picked off MTSU quarterback Nicholas Vattiato for a 10-yard return.
After a missed field goal, a turnover on downs for MTSU, and a three and out from both teams, Jordyn Potts and the Golden Eagle offense crafted together a very impressive 4-play, 58 drive that was capped off with a 33-yard touchdown caught by senior wide receiver Ashton Maples, but failed 2-point conversion, making the score now 11-21 in favor of the Blue Raiders to end the 3rd quarter.
The Golden Eagles’ defense would then stand firm against MTSU to run out the third quarter and flip the field. After a holding penalty on MTSU and a pick-6 by Aaron Swafford being called back due to a penalty on Tech’s defense, they were able to hold the Blue Raiders to a 33-yard field goal that would make the score 24-11 MTSU with nine minutes left in the contest.
The Golden Eagles, agitated by a defensive touchdown called back, would push downfield, puzzling together another strong 82-yard drive summarized by another 15-yard passing touchdown from Potts to Maples. The score is 18-24 Blue Raiders with just over four-and-a-half minutes left in the game.
Tech, after being down 16 at halftime, found themselves clawing their way back into the competition. After an uneventful 55-second drive from the Blue Raiders, Tech would receive the punt at their own 43-yard line, putting them in a great position to make another strong drive.
The Golden Eagles stayed composed to score, and after a solid mixture of the running attack and receivers gaining chunks of yardage, Jordyn Potts found former Georgia Tech quarterback and now wide receiver Jordan Yates on a 13-yard receiving touchdown pass in the back corner of the endzone. The score is 25-24 in favor of TTU.
With just over a minute left in the game, the Blue Raiders were forced to have a flawless drive if they wanted to add a win to their schedule. MTSU would recover the kickoff and return it to their own 25-yard line.
Vattiato would rifle a 14-yard pass to Omari Kelly, scramble for a five-yard gain, and follow that with another 26-yard pass to Kelly, putting MTSU into TTU territory. Tech was now forced to play sound and composed defense, while also trying to force an error from the MTSU offense.
After MTSU took a timeout to scheme for a short-time offensive possession, Blue Raider running back Frank Peasant would gallop into the end zone for a 30-yard rushing touchdown. With a mere 16 seconds left in the game, the score ended at 32-25 in favor of MTSU.
With just enough time for three plays that led to a four-yard gain, the Golden Eagles fell to the Blue Raiders with a final score of 32-25.
