The Wisconsin Badgers take on the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders on Saturday, with kickoff slated for 3:00 p.m. on Fox Sports 1. Heading into the game, the Badgers are 28.5-point favorites.
Last Thursday, the Badgers used a supreme defensive effort to shut out the Miami (OH) RedHawks 17-0, limiting the RedHawks to 117 total yards. Preston Zachman was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week thanks to two fourth-quarter interceptions to seal the game for the Badgers.
What should Badgers fans
know about the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders?
Opponent Preview
Derek Mason’s second season in Murfreesboro is off to a disastrous start. The Blue Raiders, coming off a 3-9 season in 2024, fell to FCS Austin Peay 34-14 as a 16.5-point favorite. Austin Peay jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first half and never looked back. The Blue Raiders were outgained by almost 200 yards, 343 to 153, and were 0-for-12 on third down conversions.
Quarterback Nicholas Vattiato returned for his fifth season with the Blue Raiders. Vattiato has thrown for over 7,500 passing yards in his career and is coming off back-to-back seasons of throwing exactly 3,092 yards. The veteran quarterback was one of five MTSU players named to Conference USA’s preseason watchlist. Against Austin Peay, Vattiato was a mere 15-of-36 for 104 passing yards.
The Blue Raiders hope to improve on a rushing attack that finished last in the Conference USA with 1086 rushing yards last season. Jekail Middlebrook is the starting running back, but he finished with only 48 yards on 11 carries in Middle Tennessee’s loss.
Middle Tennessee lost its top wide receiver, Omari Kelly, to the transfer portal, and its top tight end, Holden Willis, to the NFL. This offseason, the Blue Raiders added wide receivers with height. 6’3’’ junior college transfer Nahzae Cox caught two touchdown passes and collected six passes for 50 yards. The Blue Raiders also added 6’4’’ wide receiver Amorion Walker from the portal, but the former Michigan Wolverine finished with two catches for 10 yards last Saturday.
On the offensive line, the Blue Raiders feature returning starters in left guard Mateo Guevara, center Marcus Miller, right guard Ellis Adams, and right tackle Zach Clayton. The only new face is left tackle Jacob Otts, who transferred to Middle Tennessee from Rhode Island. Clayton is coming off a solid season, during which he received Freshman All-American honors from Pro Football Focus and CollegeFootballNetwork.com. Adams, the heaviest player on the team at 378 pounds, is on ConferenceUSA’s preseason watchlist.
Defensively, linebacker Parker Hughes led Middle Tennessee with nine total tackles, including five solo tackles. On the defensive line, Damonte Smith had 2 ½ tackles for loss, including one sack against Austin Peay.
Score Prediction
Middle Tennessee came into this season confident that the team would improve upon last year’s three-win season. However, after Austin Peay came into Murfreesboro and dominated the Blue Raiders (on both sides of the ball, mind you), I cannot imagine their confidence is as high as it was when they come to Madison.
Therefore, I believe we will see a much-improved offensive performance by Jeff Grimes’ unit. Look for Danny O’Neil to give the Blue Raiders fits with his arm and legs as the Badgers take control of this game early and coast to a 2-0 record on the year.
Prediction: 42-10 Wisconsin
