The first Wednesday night kickoff of the 2025 season transpired in Murfreesboro, TN, pitting FBS newcomer Missouri State against one of the longtime Conference USA staples Middle Tennessee. But experience
at the FBS level certainly didn’t weigh into Wednesday night’s result.
The Bears sunk a late go-ahead field goal while Middle Tennessee missed its rebuttal attempt, handing Missouri State a 22-20 road win, marking its first-ever CUSA victory.
True freshman quarterback Deuce Bailey made his first collegiate start for the Bears, taking over for the injured Jacob Clark for a nationally televised affair. Bailey registered 278 passing yards on a 16-of-31 showing, contributing one passing and one rushing touchdown in the narrow victory. A strong second quarter by the freshman allowed the Bears to create a 16-13 lead. Bailey fired a 20-yard touchdown pass to Ronnel Johnson to claim a late second quarter lead. Later in the period, he slung a deep ball to fellow freshman Tristian Gardner for a 69-yard touchdown. However, Gardner’s knee contacted the ground during the catch, negating the touchdown and causing Missouri State to instead settle for a field goal.
Middle Tennessee’s veteran quarterback Nicholas Vattiato ensured the Blue Raiders wouldn’t fold facing a deficit at the break. Vattiato, who notched 267 passing yards and two touchdowns, established a strong connection with Cam’ron Lacy. Lacy shattered his career-high with 114 receiving yards, scoring both Blue Raider touchdowns in the back-and-forth contest. Trailing 19-13 on a third-and-long, Lacy was the recipient of a 10-yard score which thrusted Middle Tennessee to a 20-19 lead with 9:47 remaining.
However, Bailey and the Bears wasted no time in responding to their first deficit of the second half. The quarterback found Gardner for an 11-yard gain on a 3rd and 14, but instead of setting up for the ensuing fourth down, Middle Tennessee committed a critical face mask penalty to extend the drive. Bailey then hit Johnson for a 20-yard pickup to pierce into field goal range, and Missouri State was fortunate Johnson’s fumble at the end of the play was scooped up by a hustling center in Cash Hudson. That set up an eventual 29-yard field goal for Yousef Obeid, who put a missed extra point and a missed field goal in the rearview to drill the go-ahead kick with 4:19 left.
Middle Tennessee’s final drive started out similarly to Missouri State’s go-ahead drive. A face mask penalty around midfield propelled the Blue Raiders into field goal range. However, upon reaching the Bears’ 30-yard line, Missouri State’s defense was sharp on its open field tackling. The Bears recorded three-straight stops for 0 or -1 yard, causing the Blue Raiders to send out Jacob Hathaway for a game-winning 50-yarder. The United Kingdom native and former college soccer played connected twice from 40+ yards Wednesday night, but his most important attempt landed just left of the uprights, effectively ending the game.
Missouri State (3-3, 1-1 CUSA) survived an incredibly sloppy contest which featured six fumbles in total (albeit only one was lost) and a slew of 15-yard penalties in the fourth quarter. The Bears are ineligible to qualify for the CUSA Championship Game or bowl eligibility, but Wednesday night was a promising step forward by reverting to .500 in the overall standings and CUSA standings alike — especially in the absence of a seventh-year starting quarterback.
Middle Tennessee (1-5, 0-2 CUSA) remains in the basement of the conference standings after falling on the missed field goal. The Blue Raiders are now 0-3 at home this year, and Derek Mason looks ways to improve during the bye week before his team retakes the field Oct. 22 at Delaware — the other FBS newcomer.
