MTSU Status

[Captain Kangaroo]

Middle has top players back

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

By PAUL GATTIS

Times Sports Staff pgattis@htimes.com

Tide will face MTSU team 17 returning starters

When you look at Middle Tennessee State, you look at the quarterback.

Clint Marks made the Blue Raiders record book last year as obsolete as a Commodore 64, setting the school mark for passing yardage as a sophomore and giving every indication that more, ahem, marks will come this season.

But MTSU, which is a prohibitive underdog in Saturday's opener against Alabama, is more than a quarterback and a collection of dreamers.

There are seven other starters returning on offense, nine others on defense.

That doesn't transform MTSU into Notre Dame - the Blue Raiders are picked to finish second in the Sun Belt Conference after going 5-6 a year ago - but maybe the supposed cupcake is a little more sugar-free than Alabama coach Mike Shula would like.

"We've got to get ourselves ready to play sound football," Shula said.

Then again, experience doesn't necessarily mean results.

MTSU's defense allowed 606 yards to New Mexico State, 502 yards to Akron and 501 yards to Florida.

Coach Andy McCollum, though, is hoping those were growing pains for this season.

"We got better a year ago," McCollum said. "We had some games that it looked like where we wanted to be. In other games, we gave up too many big plays. We had three freshmen starting in the secondary a year ago. They're a year older, but they're still young kids. We've got some linebackers who have played in a lot of games for us.

"We've got some experience back. This is a year that, hopefully, we'll grow from last year and continue to get better."

MTSU lost its top two tacklers from last year but gets back linebacker Jonathan Bonner, a Birmingham native who missed all but one game last year after having a cervical fusion. As a freshman in 2003, Bonner was second on the team with 74 tackles.

The Blue Raiders also return all four starters in the secondary, led by cornerback Bradley Robinson.

And then there's Marks, who threw for 2,749 yards last season and set two other school record with 35 completions against Louisiana-Lafayette and 259 completions for the season. He also completed 70.4 percent of his passes, the second-best mark in school history.

Marks' biggest flaw was matching his 14 touchdown passes with 14 interceptions.

"Clint did a tremendous job for us a year ago and gained some good experience," McCollum said. "We've got to cut down on the turnovers. Alabama can force you into a lot of turnovers with their quickness.

"We've got to take care of the football and we've got to run the ball better."

Going against Alabama's defense, which finished second in the nation last year in yards allowed, will be a daunting challenge.

"They are very experienced in the secondary with guys who make plays," McCollum said. "They're physical up front and they run to the ball well. You really don't see any weaknesses."