2011 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team

2011 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football
Conference Sun Belt Conference
2011 record 2–10 (1–7 Sun Belt)
Head coach Rick Stockstill (6th year)
Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner (1st year)
Offensive scheme Spread
Defensive coordinator Steve Ellis (1st year)
Base defense 4–3
Home stadium Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium
(Capacity: 30,788)
2011 Sun Belt football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Arkansas State †   8 – 0         10 – 3  
WKU   7 – 1         7 – 5  
Louisiana–Lafayette   6 – 2         9 – 4  
FIU   5 – 3         8 – 5  
North Texas   4 – 4         5 – 7  
Louisiana–Monroe   3 – 5         4 – 8  
Troy   2 – 6         3 – 9  
Middle Tennessee   1 – 7         2 – 10  
Florida Atlantic   0 – 8         1 – 11  
† – Conference champion
As of January 9, 2012; Rankings from AP Poll

The 2011 Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders team represented Middle Tennessee State University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Blue Raiders were led by sixth year head coach Rick Stockstill and played their home games at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium. They are members of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 2–10, 1–7 in Sun Belt play to finish the season in eighth place.

During the Off Season

On January 13, 2011, it was announced that both coordinators, Mike Schultz (Offensive) and Randall McCray (Defensive), would not return for the 2011 football season. After a very successful 2009 season, when the team went 10–3 and won the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, during the 2010 season the team fell in several statistical categories. The team's turnover margin went from being ranked 8th in the nation to being 120th in the nation. Middle Tennessee's total offense fell from 27th in the nation to 69th in the nation, while their total defense fell from 50th in the nation to 72nd in the nation. Both coordinators only served for one season at Middle Tennessee.[1]

On January 24, 2011, Rick Stockstill announced that he promoted cornerbacks coach Steve Ellis to defensive coordinator and running backs coach Willie Simmons to offensive coordinator.[2] Two days later, Coach Stockstill completed his staff by hiring Joe Cauthen to coach the linebackers and serve as the special team's coordinator, and Buster Faulkner to coach the quarterbacks and be the passing game coordinator.[3]

During the season, on October 14, 2011, Willie Simmons abruptly resigned from his job as offensive coordinator following his arrest on aggravated assault charges. On October 17, Buster Faulkner was named MTSU's offensive coordinator.[4]

Schedule

Date Time Opponent Site TV Result Attendance
April 9 1:00 PM Blue-White Spring Game Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN  Blue 67–60   3,409
Regular Season
September 3 11:00 AM at Purdue* Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN BTN L 24–27   42,110
September 10 6:00 PM Georgia Tech* Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN ESPN3 L 21–49   30,502
September 24 3:30 PM at Troy Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL (Battle for the Palladium) ESPN3 L 35–38   20,185
October 1 6:00 PM Memphis*dagger Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN ESPN3 W 38–31   20,098
October 6 6:30 PM Western Kentucky Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN (100 Miles of Hate) ESPNU L 33–36 2OT  23,307
October 22 7:00 PM at Florida Atlantic FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL Sun Belt Network W 38–14   16,344
October 29 6:30 PM Louisiana-Lafayette Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN Sun Belt Network L 20–45   13,500
November 5 6:00 PM at Tennessee* Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN FS South L 0–24   88,211
November 12 2:30 PM at Louisiana-Monroe Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA ESPN3 L 14–42   11,987
November 19 2:00 PM Arkansas State Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN ESPN3 L 19–45   12,806
November 26 2:30 PM Florida International Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN L 18–31   10,227
December 3 3:00 PM at North Texas Apogee Stadium • Denton, TX L 7–59   15,962
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from Coaches Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time.

[5]

Roster

Quarterbacks
  • 6 Timmy Byerly (Fr.)
  • 10 Logan Kilgore (r-So.)
  • 11 Shaun White (Fr.)
  • 12 Jeff Murphy (r-Jr.)
  • 19 Andrew Banks (r-Sr.)
  • Luke Hayes
  • Spencer Wise (r-So.)

Running Backs

  • 2 Benjamin Cunningham (Jr.)
  • 21 Drayton Allen-Calhoun (r-So.)
  • 23 D.D. Kyles (r-Sr.)
  • 25 Reggie Whatley (r-Fr.)
  • 29 William Pratcher (r-So.)
  • 34 Marquise Branton (r-Sr.)
  • Jeremiah Bryson (Fr.)
  • Kennedy McGruder (r-Jr.)
  • Kevin Mix (Jr.)
  • Chase Pennycuff (Fr.)
  • Tony Rowland
  • Evan Ward (Fr.)

Wide Receivers

  • 3 Tavarres Jefferson (Jr.)
  • 4 Malcolm Beyah (Sr.)
  • 9 Kyle Griswould (r-So.)
  • 13 Tyler Mason (Sr.)
  • 15 Sancho McDonald (Sr.)
  • 16 Shane Blissard (r-Sr.)
  • 17 Jamar Brown (Sr.)
  • 37 Harold Turner Jr. (r-Jr.)
  • 80 Jamal Gray (Jr.)
  • 81 Christian Collis (Fr.)
  • 82 Arthur Williams (r-So.)
  • 84 Richard Drake (r-So.)
  • 86 Anthony Amos (r-Jr.)
  • 87 Vincent Van Horne (Sr.)
  • 88 Marcus Thurmond (r-Jr.)
  • Chris Lampkins (Fr.)

Tight Ends

  • 83 Jared Bamber (Sr.)
 Offensive Linemen
  • 50 Colin Boss (r-Sr.)
  • 57 Judd Hunt (r-Fr.)
  • 58 Jesse Grisham (r-So.)
  • 60 Brandon McLeroy (Sr.)
  • 61 Jadareius Hamlin (r-So.)
  • 63 Quinton Groves (r-Sr.)
  • 65 Alex Stuart (r-Jr.)
  • 66 Micah James (Jr.)
  • 70 Roberto Loya (Fr.)
  • 73 Isaiah Anderson (r-Fr.)
  • 74 Jason Rexroad (Fr.)
  • 75 Darius Johnson (Fr.)
  • 76 Jordon Johnson (r-So.)
  • 77 Josh Walker (r-So.)
  • 78 Mike Williams (r-Sr.)
  • 79 Preston Bailey (r-Jr.)
  • Lance Campbell (r-Fr.)
  • Matt Sprouse (r-Jr.)

Defensive Linemen

  • 43 Gorby Loreus, DE (Sr.)
  • 45 Alexandro Antoine, DE (Fr.)
  • 46 Max Ugboaja, DE (r-Fr.)
  • 51 SaCoby Carter, DT (r-Sr.)
  • 55 Shubert Bastien, DE (Fr.)
  • 72 Jesse Kirkland, DL (r-Jr.)
  • 85 Omar McLendon, DE (Jr.)
  • 89 Dearco Nolan, DE (r-So.)
  • 90 Jimmy Staten, DE (r-So.)
  • 91 J.D. Jones, DT (Fr.)
  • 92 Patrick McNeil, DT (r-Fr.)
  • 93 Marcus Robinson, DT (Fr.)
  • 94 O'Shae Bridges, DE (Fr.)
  • 95 Kevin Pope, DE (Jr.)
  • 96 Kendall Dangerfield, DT (r-Jr.)
  • 97 Jiajuan Fennell, DE (r-Fr.)
  • 98 Morris Moore, DE (r-Fr.)
  • 99 Jerrold Frazier, DT (Fr.)
 Linebackers
  • 22 David Jones (r-So.)
  • 28 Christian Henry (r-Fr.)
  • 30 Stephen Roberts (r-So.)
  • 32 Justin Jones (Jr.)
  • 33 Roderic Blunt (r-So.)
  • 35 Craig Allen (r-So.)
  • 40 Leighton Gasque (r-Fr.)
  • 48 Jonathan Brooks (r-Fr.)
  • 56 Norman Washington (r-Sr.)
  • 59 Darin Davis (Sr.)

Defensive Backs

  • 1 Eric Russell, S (Sr.)
  • 5 Arness Ikner, CB (Sr.)
  • 6 T.L. Edwards, CB (Sr.)
  • 7 Khari Burke, CB (r-Fr.)
  • 8 Sammy Seamster, S (r-So.)
  • 18 Kenneth Gilstrap, CB (r-So.)
  • 20 Kevin Byard, S (Fr.)
  • 24 Derrick Crumpton, S (Sr.)
  • 26 Marquise Dixon, CB (r-So.)
  • 27 Chris Sharpe, CB (r-Fr.)
  • 31 Denzell Guerra, S (r-Jr.)
  • 36 Jajuan Harley, CB (Jr.)
  • 39 James Roberson, S (Fr.)
  • 42 Juno Prudhomm, S (Jr.)
  • 47 Rodney O'Neal, CB (Fr.)
  • 54 Zeke Anderson, DS (r.Sr)
  • 67 Blaine Sidders, DS (Fr.)
  • Bryan Armstrong, CB (r-Jr.)
  • Brandon Grady, CB (r-So.)
  • Robert Hogg, CB (r-Jr.)
  • Greg Rein, DS (r-Fr.)
  • Lee Woods, S (r-Jr.)

Special Teams

  • 36 Josh Davis, P (r-So.)
  • 38 Alan Gendreau, PK (Sr.)
  • 39 Zachary Lopez, P (r-Fr.)
  • 49 Nathaniel Toulson, P (r-Sr.)
  • Michael Kee, P (Fr.)
  • Zack Martin, LS (r-Fr.)
  • Tyler Presley, LS (r-Fr.)
 Head Coach

Assistant Coaches

  • Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks/Passing Game Coordinator: Buster Faulkner
  • Defensive Coordinator/Cornerbacks: Steve Ellis
  • Offensive Line: Jimmy Ray Stephens
  • Safeties: David Bibee
  • Defensive Line: John Palermo
  • Wide Receivers/Recruiting Coordinator: Justin Watts
  • Inside Receivers: Brent Brock
  • Linebackers/Special Teams Coordinator: Joe Cauthen
  • LAST UPDATED 9/1/2011

References

  1. ↑ Football loses two coordinators MTSUSidelines.com, Jan. 13, 2011.
  2. ↑ Stockstill elevates Ellis, Simmons GoBlueRaiders.com, Jan. 24, 2011.
  3. ↑ Stockstill completes staff with Cauthen, Faulkner GoBlueRaiders.com, Jan. 26, 2011.
  4. ↑ Faulkner named new MTSU play caller DNJ.com, Oct. 17, 2011
  5. ↑ 2011 Schedule GoBlueRaiders.com, June 12, 2011.