Most of Middle Tennessee’s success was through the air with 330 passing yards.
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Illinois defensive back Clayton Fejedelem (20) recovers a blocked…
Illinois received the opening kick and quickly drove down the field. Injuries have sidelined two of quarterback Wes Lunt’s top targets, Mike Dudek (ACL tear) and Justin Hardee (broken foot). Middle Tennessee plays host to Vanderbilt next week.
Illinois can play bad. With a whole bunch of Nebraska fans going through the turnstiles at Memorial Stadium next Saturday afternoon.
Middle Tennessee quarterback Brent Stockstill (12) congratulates…
Middle Tennessee wide receiver Ed’Marques Batties (80) makes a…
Desperately needing a score to stay in the game early in the fourth quarter the Middle Tennessee offense obliged.
The Illini offense continued to find yardage, and with just over two minutes left in the game, Taylor Zaweski nailed a 55-yard field goal to regain the lead.
But to really celebrate, they had to wait.
He missed field goals from 57 and 45 yards at North Carolina last weekend. But he was confident his 51-yarder, 3 yards short of a career long, would be good from the moment he hit it.
Doesn’t matter if he knows them or not, or if they’re kicking for the opposing team, he sympathizes with their plight and with the pressures that follow them from one field goal to the next. A year ago just didn’t go well.
[MORE BIG TEN: David Blough impresses, but Purdue suffers crushing loss to Bowling Green].
“I’ve never seen an ugly win”, interim coach Bill Cubit said.
But the game raised serious questions for Illinois, and Cubit admitted “We didn’t play really well”. The Illini had a 24-12 lead in the fourth quarter helped by an eight-yard Ke’Shawn Vaughn run and a five-yard Malik Turner touchdown grab. Batties finished the game with an MTSU record 13 catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns. There were moments when Lunt saw a different diffusive scheme than his wide receivers which led to overthrown passes or wrong execution of routes. So the threat of Illinois losing its final nonconference home game of the season certainly was real Saturday afternoon, even after the Fighting Illini established a 12-point lead through three quarters. “Some of those times when the ball sails high, it’s supposed to be converted to a different route, so I think that’s where the miscommunication was”.
But against the Tar Heels, Cubit counted nine dropped passes. “More of an issue”.
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Both defenses played well and were controlling the game when a special teams breakdown cost the Blue Raiders. The blocked punt, however, was the second one for punter Trevor Owens this season that’s been returned for points. A bad snap led to a fumble in the end zone, which T.T. Barber fell on for a safety to pull the Blue Raiders to within 14-5.
