Ole Miss Schedule Preview: Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

The Ole Miss Rebels will welcome Middle Tennessee State to Oxford with a familiar foe on the opposing sideline.

Middle Tennessee head football coach Derek Mason on the sidelines during an MTSU spring football practice on Saturday, March 23, 2024. / HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal / USA

The 2024 college football season is still about a month away, but with SEC Media Days in the rearview mirror, now is the time to begin previewing the Ole Miss Rebels' schedule.

Ole Miss is coming off an 11-2 season that saw it capture a Peach Bowl victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions in December. The Rebels return a plethora of talent from last year's team (including quarterback Jaxson Dart, wide receiver Tre Harris, tight end Caden Prieskron and others), but they also made a huge haul in the transfer portal to shore up some holes on its roster.

It's this combination of talent and a seemingly-managble SEC schedule that have many believing the Rebels can qualify for the new 12-team College Football Playoff.

Over the next 12 days, Ole Miss OnSI will preview each of the Rebels' 2024 regular season opponents. Yesterday, we took a look at the Furman Paladins, and today, we analyze the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

Middle Tennessee State is entering a new era in its football program after the firing of 18th-year head coach Rick Stockstill last season. The Blue Raiders are now led by former Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Derek Mason who comes to Murfreesboro after spending the last two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Auburn followed by Oklahoma State.

If last season is any indication, Mason has his work cut out for him in his first season on the job. MTSU finished the 2023 season with an overall record of 4-8 (3-5 C-USA), although they did lose some close games in the process, including a 23-19 final score at Missouri in Week 2.

The wins for the Blue Raiders last season came against FCS Murray State, Louisiana Tech, Florida International and UTEP. The final game of the season was a 23-20 loss at Sam Houston, and Stockstill was fired two days later.

There does appear to be some continuity on the roster for the Blue Raiders, however, so that could help them turn some things around in 2024. Redshirt junior Nicholas Vattiato (23 TDs, 13 INTs) looks to return to the starting role at quarterback, and leading rushers Jaiden Credle and Frank Peasant are back for another season.

Middle Tennessee also added an Auburn transfer to its wide receiver room in the form of Omari Kelly. He saw action in seven games last season, hauling in two receptions for 45 yards.

Defensively, the Blue Raiders lost their three leading tacklers from a season ago to the transfer portal or the professional ranks, so the returning leader in that category is linebacker Parker Hughes, a redshirt junior who posted 53 tackles, seven TFLs and 2.5 sacks in 2023. As a unit, the MTSU defense hauled in eight interceptions, but the leader with three picks (Tra Fluellen) is now in the UFL.

Overall, the 2024 campaign looks to be a fresh start for Middle Tennessee, but a Week 2 trip to Oxford should be a bump in the road for the seemingly-outmatched Blue Raiders. If all goes according to plan, Ole Miss should open the season at 2-0 after this one on Sept. 7.

Kickoff on that day is set for 3:15 p.m. CT on SEC Network.