MTSU football (1-7, 0-4 CUSA) dropped its fourth straight game on Wednesday night, losing to Jacksonville State University (5-3, 4-0 CUSA) 24-21. 

The Blue Raiders entered the fourth quarter with a 14-7 lead before being outscored 17-7 by the Gamecocks in the final frame. For Middle Tennessee, the loss marks the fourth consecutive Conference USA defeat by a single possession this year and eliminates the team from bowl eligibility.  

While the postseason is out of reach for the Blue Raiders this season, head coach Derek Mason hopes the team will treat each of its next four games like its last. 

“You only get the contests that you get,” Mason said following the loss. “There’s only so many guaranteed … it’s a change in mentality, but I don’t think these guys are going to step away from a fight.” 

Wednesday night’s loss drops Mason to 4-16 in his MTSU tenure, and marks Middle Tennessee’s worst start since 1999, when the Blue Raiders transitioned into the Football Bowl Subdivision as an independent school. 

MTSU contained star Jax State running back Cam Cook for most of the game, before the nation’s leading rusher and the rest of the Gamecocks’ offense came to life late. 

JSU outgained MTSU 358-319 on the night, while Cook and the Gamecocks out rushed the Blue Raiders 143-84. After Middle Tennessee contained Cook in the first half, the junior running back more than doubled his production in the second half, finishing with 105 yards on 21 carries and a score. 

“We saw Cam Cook make a couple of guys miss,” Mason said. “We kept him bottled him up for most of the first half, but good players find ways to make good things happen.” 

Both teams traded punts to begin the game until MTSU true freshman running back DJ Taylor opened the scoring, hauling in a swing pass for his first collegiate touchdown.  

“At the moment it felt good,” Taylor said of the 10-yard score. “ … But at the end of the day I want to win the game, it would’ve felt better if we won the game.” 

The Blue Raiders fumbled the snap on the ensuing PAT attempt.  

Middle Tennessee’s defense held JSU to zero passing yards until the 8:33 mark of the second quarter, before Jax State finally got something going through the air as backup quarterback Gavin Wimsatt threw to a wide-open Deondre Johnson on a double pass for a 56-yard score. 

The Gamecocks held on to the lead and entered the half up 7-6.  

Coming out of the break, Middle Tennessee’s defense forced a Jax State punt, and the Blue Raiders responded with an 11-play, 80-yard drive culminating in a two-yard touchdown pass from Vattiato to running back Jekail Middlebrook. Vattiato hit Hunter Tipton in the back middle of the end zone on the ensuing two-point conversion to bring the lead to 14-7. 

Jax State responded with a 14-play, 45-yard drive consuming over seven minutes of game time. The Blue Raiders held strong in the red zone though, pushing the Gamecocks back 17 yards in three plays to force a 47-yard field goal from Garrison Rippa.   

Following an MTSU three-and-out, Jax State struck back to take the lead, as quarterback Cadon Creel found Johnson for a 30-yard touchdown. Officials originally called the pass incomplete as Johnson appeared to be out of bounds, but overturned the call upon review, giving Jax State a 17-14 lead.  

MTSU responded with a quick six play, 75-yard drive to take the lead back at 21-17. Middlebrook capped off the drive with two consecutive touches: a 34-yard over the shoulder catch and a six-yard rushing touchdown. 

The Gamecocks marched right back in seven plays as Cook finally broke through for a three-yard score to put JSU up 24-21 with 4:29 to go. MTSU and Jax State traded punts and the Blue Raiders’ offense got the ball back with 1:53 to go and one timeout. 

Vattiato threw short to Tipton for a one-yard loss on first down, before tossing three straight incompletions to end the game. The redshirt senior finished the night 10 of 20 through the air, completing only 51.1% of his throws. 

“I’ve got a quarterback, man, he was battling,” Mason said. “A lot of people have got a lot of things to say about how he’s playing and where he is. If he didn’t give us the best chance to go out there and win, he wouldn’t be out there.” 

With the Weekday CUSA schedule behind them, the Blue Raiders return to Floyd Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 8, to face Florida International University (3-4, 1-2 CUSA). 

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