By Josh Fann
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team kicked
off its annual Blue-White game on April 20 at Johnny "Red" Floyd
Stadium, impressing their fans and getting them ready for the 2013 football
season.
The Blue team was on offense during the scrimmage, while the white team
remained on defense. The Blue team was very impressive by scoring 52 points on
the defense. Despite the defense giving up so many points, it was able to put
40 points on the scoreboard.
Quarterback Logan Kilgore had a good game, but he threw an interception giving
the defense six points. This reminded many fans of his 2011 season when he
threw an interception in every single game except one.
Kilgore went nine for 11 on completions for 118 yards. The quarterback also
threw one touchdown along with one interception. His longest drive was a
65-yard touchdown drive, and Kilgore did not play in the second half of the
game.
While some fans worried, Kilgore felt like the game went
pretty well. After the game he spoke with the media.
"I thought it was a good game with no injuries, which
is always a plus,” said Kilgore. “I thought we executed well offensively and
were able to put the ball in the end zone several times."
The offense looked very good in the spring game, especially running back
William Pratcher, who is looking to be more involved in the games this season
than he was in the 2011 season. Pratcher gave many fans at the spring game a
reason to remember his name by his powerful runs. He may be what the Blue
Raiders offense needs to replace graduating running back Benny Cunningham.
Pratcher had some very impressive stats in the scrimmage. He had 107 yards on
11 carries. Pratcher scored two touchdowns during the game. The running back
has a lot of work to do if he plans on replacing graduating running back Benny
Cunningham, who had 600 yards and 11 touchdowns last season.
Derrick Griggs, a columnist for GoMiddle.com, was impressed with the offense,
but not so much with the defense.
“This team has a lot of talent on it,” said Griggs “The defense didn’t show
their full potential at the Blue-White Game. Hopefully, they can get it all
together, or the move to Conference USA will be difficult on this team.”
Despite the defense playing a bad game, some of the young talent showed spots
of brightness that they can improve on. While the defense was pushed around the
field, it was able to cause the offense some trouble throughout the scrimmage.
However, Blue Raider fans were not impressed with their play.
“It was great to see the team back in action,” Blue Raiders fan DJ Hughes
said. “The defense has a lot to improve on, and if they don’t, this team could
have a 2-9 season like they did in 2011.”
The defense gave fans a scare by allowing the offense to score on every single
possession of the scrimmage. Although this defense is young, the players have a
lot to improve on after their showing. Fans are just hoping all the
improvements happen before the season starts instead of in the middle of it.
The stats for the defense aren’t very impressive either. Defensive players only
managed seven tackles for a loss in the scrimmage. They also had six sacks and
only forced one turnover in the game. This defense has a lot of work to do this
off season to improve on before the season starts.
The Blue Raiders 2013 schedule isn’t a very friendly one for the team. They play
some very tough teams like BYU, North Texas and UTEP. This team can end the
season with a 6-6 record or be playing in the Conference USA championship game
with an 8-5 record. This spring game leaves a lot of questions for the coaches
and fans unanswered. They all will have to wait till the 2013 season to kick
off to find the answers to their questions.
For
more information on the schedule, go to Middle Tennessee’s official athletic
site at www.goblueraiders.com.
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