Middle Tennessee 35, Murray State 14
Associated Press
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Jaiden Credle raced 71 yards untouched for his second first-quarter touchdown, and Jekail Middlebrook had scoring runs of 18 and 25 yards as Middle Tennessee State cruised to a 35-14 win over Murray State.
After pulling in a 14-yard pass from Nicholas Vattiato to cap a seven-play, 75-yard drive for the game's first touchdown, Credle took the handoff on the first play of a drive and raced for the sideline, turned the corner and tip-toed down the sideline for the an impressive 71-yard run to make it 14-0 after one quarter.
Middlebrook took a handoff 25 yards to make it 21-0 two minutes into the second quarter, and added an 18-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Vattiato capped the scoring with a 40-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Tate Jr.
Cole Rusk pulled in a 12-yard pass from DJ Williams to get the Racers on the board early in the second quarter. Cortezz Jones punched over from the 3 to get the Racers within two scores, 28-14, with 9:44 left in the game.
Vattiato was 28 of 34 for 291 yards passing with two touchdowns and an interception for the Blue Raiders (1-2). Credle finished with 11 carries for 132 yards. Middlebrook had six carries for 43 yards and two scores.
Jones led Murray State (1-2) with 15 carries for 136 yards rushing.
September 16, 2023
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
Murray | MiddTn |
| MiddTn |
TD |
11:54 |
Jaiden Credle 14 yd pass from Nicholas Vattiato (Zeke Rankin kick) |
0 |
7 |
| MiddTn |
TD |
5:50 |
Jaiden Credle 71 yd run (Zeke Rankin kick) |
0 |
14 |
| Second Quarter |
Murray | MiddTn |
| MiddTn |
TD |
12:56 |
Jekail Middlebrook 25 yd run (Zeke Rankin kick) |
0 |
21 |
| Murray |
TD |
10:49 |
Cole Rusk 12 yd pass from DJ Williams (Matt Maldonado kick) |
7 |
21 |
| Third Quarter |
Murray | MiddTn |
| MiddTn |
TD |
3:56 |
Jekail Middlebrook 18 yd run (Zeke Rankin kick) |
7 |
28 |
| Fourth Quarter |
Murray | MiddTn |
| Murray |
TD |
9:44 |
Cortezz Jones 3 yd run (Matt Maldonado kick) |
14 |
28 |
| MiddTn |
TD |
8:46 |
Jeremy Tate Jr 40 yd pass from Nicholas Vattiato (Zeke Rankin kick) |
14 |
35 |
| Team Stats |
| |
Murray State |
Middle Tennessee |
| First downs |
16 |
20 |
| Rushing |
6 |
7 |
| Passing |
8 |
13 |
| Penalty |
2 |
0 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
5-14, 36% |
5-12, 42% |
| 4th down efficiency |
1-3, 33% |
0-1, 0% |
| Rushes-Yards |
38-207 |
26-217 |
| Passing Yards |
194 |
291 |
| Return Yards |
97 |
42 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
23-32-0 |
28-34-1 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
2--17 |
0-0 |
| Punts |
5 |
5 |
| Punts-Average |
48.2 |
42 |
| Fumbles Lost |
4-3 |
1-0 |
| Penalties - Yards |
6-50 |
12-110 |
| Time of Possession |
35:46 |
24:14 |
| Murray State Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| D. Williams |
23 |
32 |
194 |
1 |
0 |
| Middle Tennessee Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| N. Vattiato |
28 |
34 |
291 |
2 |
1 |
| Murray State Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| C. Jones |
15 |
136 |
9.1 |
1 |
| K. Morgan |
10 |
33 |
3.3 |
0 |
| N. Walker |
1 |
30 |
30.0 |
0 |
| J. Stinson |
1 |
5 |
5.0 |
0 |
| K. Galbreath |
1 |
5 |
5.0 |
0 |
| Q. Jennings |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
0 |
| D. Williams |
9 |
-5 |
-0.6 |
0 |
| Middle Tennessee Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| J. Credle |
11 |
132 |
12.0 |
1 |
| J. Middlebrook |
6 |
43 |
7.2 |
2 |
| N. Vattiato |
8 |
41 |
5.1 |
0 |
| Z. Dobson |
1 |
1 |
1.0 |
0 |
| Murray State Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| C. Rusk |
6 |
83 |
13.8 |
1 |
| C. Jones |
3 |
31 |
10.3 |
0 |
| P. Perry |
1 |
27 |
27.0 |
0 |
| J. Bell |
4 |
22 |
5.5 |
0 |
| M. Fox |
3 |
17 |
5.7 |
0 |
| T. Shields |
3 |
12 |
4.0 |
0 |
| Q. Jennings |
2 |
2 |
1.0 |
0 |
| K. Morgan |
1 |
0 |
0.0
|
0 |
| Middle Tennessee Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| J. Tate Jr |
3 |
79 |
26.3 |
1 |
| D. England-Chisolm |
3 |
55 |
18.3 |
0 |
| J. Sherman |
5 |
52 |
10.4 |
0 |
| J. Olson |
3 |
29 |
9.7 |
0 |
| Z. Dobson |
4 |
24 |
6.0 |
0 |
| E. Metcalf |
3 |
15 |
5.0 |
0 |
| J. Credle |
1 |
14 |
14.0 |
1 |
| J. Middlebrook |
2 |
9 |
4.5 |
0 |
| K. Norris |
2 |
9 |
4.5 |
0 |
| B. Bailey |
1 |
7 |
7.0 |
0 |
| K. Stewart |
1 |
-2 |
-2.0 |
0 |
| Murray State Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Z. McGhee |
1 |
0 |
| Middle Tennessee Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Murray State Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| O. Phillips |
5 |
241 |
48.2 |
| Middle Tennessee Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| T. Turk |
3 |
123 |
41.0 |
| M. Tillman |
2 |
87 |
43.5 |
| Murray State Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| M. Fox |
1 |
2 |
2.0 |
| Middle Tennessee Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| Z. Dobson |
1 |
15 |
15.0 |
| K. Stewart |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
| Murray State Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| Q. Jennings |
4 |
71 |
17.8 |
| M. Fox |
1 |
24 |
24.0 |
| Middle Tennessee Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| D. England-Chisolm |
1 |
24 |
24.0 |
| Murray State Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| Middle Tennessee Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| Z. Rankin |
47 |
