Boca Raton, Fl- After taking the lead into halftime, the MTSU Blue Raiders (2-4, 1-1 C-USA) offense went silent shooting blanks in an away conference loss at Florida Atlantic (4-2, 2-0 C-USA) on Saturday in Boca Raton.
It was a day to forget for Asher O’Hara as he threw three interceptions, a career high, and his firsts since the opening game at Michigan despite racking up 335 passing yards and two total touchdowns. O’Hara also fumbled the ball, but it was recovered, preventing a fourth turnover on the afternoon.
Florida Atlantic and head coach Lane Kiffin followed the blueprint given by prior Blue Raiders opponents as the Owls and freshman tailback Malcolm Davidson ran all over a porous MTSU defense to the tune of 203 yards on the ground.
Davidson finished with 149 rushing yards including a 57-yard dash that put the game out of reach for the Blue Raiders.
Bright spots for MTSU included another stellar day for newcomer Jarrin Pierce who totaled 82 yards on three catches. Jimmy Marshall had his best game of the season with 70 yards on four catches.
Junior safety Reed Blankenship led the way once again with 13 total tackles, but the Raiders defense was unable to force a turnover or register a sack in a day to forget as a unit.
What’s next:
MTSU will stay on the road and travel to Denton for a meeting with one of Conference USA’s premier quarterbacks in Mason Fine and the North Texas Mean Green. The Mean Green (2-4, 1-1 C-USA) are coming off a big loss to Southern Miss on Saturday and will look to get back on track with a win in interdivisional play.
The game will kickoff at approximately 3:00 p.m. CST.
To contact Sports Editor Elijah Campbell, email [email protected].
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