MTSU football (2-9, 1-6 CUSA) snapped its seven-game losing streak and won its first home game in over a year in a 31-17 victory over Sam Houston State University (2-9, 1-6 CUSA) on senior day at Floyd Stadium.
After trailing 10-0 at the end of the first quarter, the Blue Raiders scored 31 unanswered points to earn their first home win of the 2025 season.
“I want to say thank you to our seniors,” head coach Derek Mason said. “It’s been a long ride, but those guys showed some resilience this week talking to our young guys and talking about their experiences here.”
The Bearkats outgained the Blue Raiders 157-13 in the first quarter, before Middle Tennessee gained control and finished with 447 yards to Sam Houston’s 203. MTSU’s offense scored its most points of the season on Saturday and finally looked how it was supposed to all year, Mason said.
“I felt good for those guys coming in the locker room,” Mason said. “I felt good for those guys being able to sing the fight song … all that is what you want, and you want it every week, but we hadn’t quite gotten ourselves there.”
Sam Houston received the ball first and quickly jumped out to a two-score lead. The Bearkats kicked a field goal on the game’s opening drive and found paydirt after forcing MTSU to punt.
On SHSU’s second possession, true freshman quarterback Landyn Locke hit wide receiver Chris Reed deep down the right sideline for 54 yards to cap a six-play, 93-yard touchdown march.
Middle Tennessee’s offense struggled mightily early on, finishing the first quarter with just 13 total yards. The Blue Raiders finally got going in the second quarter when redshirt freshman quarterback Roman Gagliano scrambled for 23 yards on a busted play. Running back Rickey Hunt Jr. finished the drive five plays later as he walked into the endzone for a one-yard touchdown, his first score as a Blue Raider.
Right before halftime, Gagliano led Middle Tennessee down the field with two completions of 20-plus yards before the drive stalled in the low red zone. Kicker Jacob Hathaway converted a 27-yard field goal to tie the game, and Sam Houston’s offense kneeled to go into halftime at 10-10.
The game remained tied until the 5:26 mark of the third quarter when the Blue Raiders took their first lead of the game. Gagliano pumped right and fired down the left sideline to a wide-open Jekail Middlebrook for a 19-yard touchdown. Middlebrook’s catch capped a seven-play, 82-yard MTSU scoring drive.
Gagliano gave the Blue Raiders their largest lead of the season to that point with 12:55 to go in the fourth quarter as the redshirt freshman took off on third-and-10 for a 33-yard touchdown.
MTSU’s new QB added another rushing score late, as he scooted in from two yards out to put the Blue Raiders up 31-10 with 2:10 to play. Gagliano finished the game with nine carries for 67 yards and two touchdowns in his first victory as a starter.
Middle Tennessee held on for the rest of the fourth quarter and celebrated its seniors with one last win at Floyd Stadium.
“It’s big man, it’s huge,” senior corner De’Arre McDonald said of the win. “It’s great for confidence for the next game even going into the offseason. I was happy that we got to bring it in, we got to finish it up and do what we had to do here.”
MTSU will hit the road for its 2025 season finale against New Mexico State University (4-7, 2-5 CUSA) on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. CDT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with radio play-by-play available on WGNS Radio.
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