Folks, these two teams don't like each other very much.

MTSU stumbles into the 100 Miles of Hate showdown with an 0-3 record and uncertainty in where that first W will come from. MTSU returns a fair amount of their production from last year, most namely quarterback Asher O'Hara, who has struggled to take care of the football this season. Below, I'll talk about what tendencies/concepts/schemes I have seen from the Blue Raiders on tape.

I can't sit here and tell you all that what I've seen on tape from MTSU offensively is pretty or innovative. It's been sloppy to say the least in the early part of the season for the Blue Raiders. But there have been some noticeable changes.

I'm also not sure if I'd label them as a pass-first or run-first offense. The main objective of the MTSU offense is to put the ball in Asher O'Hara's hands and let him work it out. Last season O'Hara compiled almost 3,700 yards of total offense and the philosophy is much of the same in terms of utilizing his athleticism as much as possible.

The evidence in that is obvious after watching the Army game. Rick Stockstill recognizes that his offense lives and dies on what O'Hara can do and he tried to get him involved as many ways as possible early. MTSU loves the zone read and teams have caught on early that when O'Hara and whatever running back in the backfield meet at the mesh point for the zone read, O'Hara is more-likely than not keeping it and taking off. Even if the end/edge rusher is squeezing to the line to take him on, he keeps it. And that has resulted in a LOT of negative plays for the offense. O'Hara has a lot of wiggle and ability to make guys miss, but this season it hasn't shown up. Part of that falls on the offensive line, because when they pull on counter plays they aren't staying tight to the line which gives unblocked guys easy opportunities to get into the backfield and make plays. The zone read is what the run game is predicated off of for running backs in this offense too. Javy McDonald was the back that popped off last Friday at UTSA for 76 yards on 7 carries so I expect the Tops to get a full dose of O'Hara/McDonald on the ground.

The passing game philosophy has changed drastically from Week 1 to now for the Blue Raiders. Against Army and Troy, the mantra seemed to be fire it outside the numbers against zone coverage towards the sideline then make O'Hara play outside of himself when making throws against man to man. For example, in the beginning of the second quarter of the Army game MTSU dialed up a shot play against cover 2 on 2nd and long that ended up in an interception (negated by an Army penalty). But on that play I could see that O'Hara doesn't have the arm strength to take the top off of a defense. His mechanics are a little sloppy from his base/footwork and hip rotation. O'Hara hop steps into his deep ball motion and that typically means it's not going to be accurate. So right off the bat I could see WKU's secondary coming out and playing physical zone defense since they won't have concerns about being beaten deep. MTSU loves using three receiver sets or "trips/trio" to beat zone coverage. One concept they use to do that is one of my personal favorites, flood. At the end of the article I will have a video showing some of the concepts that I've seen on tape that MTSU will come out and try to attack the secondary with.

In terms of throwing the ball vertically down the field, MTSU basically smokescreens defenses with their looks out of 4 and 5 wide. They'll run 4 guys vertical or 4 guys vertical with one receiver running inside as a bender to clear out space. Why clear out that space in the middle of the field? Because if they catch a defense defending them in man to man with receivers running deep, that leaves space for O'Hara to tuck it and create chunk plays with his legs since they don't do that as successfully through the air. If not that, they'll have wideouts run vertical but leak a running back into the the strong side of the formation so the receivers can set up blocks as if it were a literal screen pass. Like I said, we'll see more of what I'm talking about later.

The Middle defense isn't special either. They've been tested against some smash-mouth football teams and have failed. Army as we all know is known for running the infamous triple option, and they had their way with MTSU's front seven. MTSU shows multiple different fronts, from three man to bear fronts so that they can create pressure however they can. In terms of defending the run, all the different looks they throw at opposing offenses have proved to be unsuccessful.

The linebackers when it comes to defending the run have ended up out of place/over pursuing the ball carrier which has resulted in the Blue Raider defense giving up a lot of ground. The MTSU defense has surrendered almost 670 rushing yards and 10 TDs through three games. The Army game obviously magnifies that statistic, but it has been shown that the Blue Raiders have issues fitting the run against physical offensive lines. Credited the WKU offensive line has struggled through the early parts of the 2020 season, the MTSU front seven is ripe for the picking to get things going with Gaej Walker.

MTSU also likes to sit back and play zone coverage with two safety looks. Blue Raider safety Reed Blankenship is an unsung stud in C-USA and he has yet to come up with an interception this season. He's moved all over the field because of his ability to tackle in space and range when playing zone. It's going to be important for Tyson Helton and Co. to ensure Tyrrell Pigrome identifies where Blankenship is pre-snap. Pigrome has been susceptible to lofting some balls over the middle seam and the last thing the Tops want to do is give MTSU's best player a chance to wreck the game.

WKU has to take advantage of the MTSU run defense Saturday. Gaej Walker has been underutilized and the offensive line has underperformed, so it's only right if they got on track by establishing a balanced ground game in the 100 Miles of Hate. On the defensive side, it's gonna come down to edge guys to wreck the game. Deangelo Malone and Juwan Jones are going to have to make Asher O''Hara uncomfortable in the pocket and disrupt his timing with his receivers on the easy routine throws the MTSU offense has started to rely on.