MTSU football vs Louisiana Tech: Score prediction, scouting report in Week 7 game

Middle Tennessee State football, after a week off, will delve back into Conference USA play for the rest of the season beginning with a midweek contest.

The Blue Raiders (1-4, 0-1 CUSA) will try to snap a four-game losing streak and earn their first conference win when they play at Louisiana Tech Thursday (7 p.m., CBS Sports Networks).

MTSU is coming off a 24-7 loss at Memphis. Louisiana Tech (1-3, 0-1) has lost three in a row after a Week 1 victory over Nicholls. The Bulldogs dropped a 17-10 decision to Florida International during Week 5.

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Below is a scouting report on the matchup, including a score prediction by The Daily News Journal’s Cecil Joyce:

Louisiana Tech football has relied on its defense in 2024

Despite a 1-3 to start, Louisiana Tech has played good defense this season. The Bulldogs are allowing an average of less than 300 yards total offense per game.

The Bulldogs have been particularly tough against the pass, where they’ve allowed only 198 yards per game. That will test an MTSU offense whose strength has been its passing game — 265 yards per game — behind redshirt junior Nick Vattiato.

MTSU may also turn to its running game, though it’s averaging only 80 yards per game, a little more against the Bulldogs. With starter Frank Peasant out because of an injury, junior Jaiden Credle has carried a bulk of the load. He rushed 10 times for 39 yards in the loss to Memphis after gaining 125 yards and a touchdown in a homecoming loss to Duke.

Credle has 49 rushes for 233 yards and two TDs on the season.

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MTSU passing duo clicking on all cylinders

One of the bright spots during the current losing streak has been the play of Vattiato and his top receiver, junior Auburn transfer Omari Kelly. The duo has heated up over recent games.

Kelly has a team-leading 24 receptions for 471 yards with three touchdowns, and most of that production has come over the past three games.

Wrapped around a four-catch, 12-yard performance against Duke, Kelly totaled 15 receptions, 413 yards and three TDs against Western Kentucky and Memphis.

Vattiato is 107 of 163 for 1,285 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions.

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Louisiana Tech offense also likes to air it out

Like MTSU, Louisiana Tech has succeeded more with its passing game than running game, averaging just 100 yards rushing per contest. That comes despite a starting offensive line of all fourth-year players.

The team’s leading rusher is 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior Donerio Davenport. The McComb, Mississippi, product has 31 carries for 107 yards with one touchdown. The second-leading rusher has just 65 yards.

Unlike the Blue Raiders, the Bulldogs have rotated starting quarterbacks.

Redshirt junior Jack Turner, the team’s Week 1 starter, injured a knee injury in that game and missed Week 2 before coming back to throw for 314 yards and a TD (but also three interceptions) in a loss to North Carolina State. He was then pulled in the fourth quarter of Tech’s Week 4 loss to Tulsa after completing 7 of 14 passes for just 41 yards.

Redshirt freshman Evan Bullock got the start the next week against FIU, completing 26 of 37 passes for 218 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Redshirt freshman Blake Baker replaced Turner in both Week 1 and Week 4. He is 18 of 34 passing for 314 yards with a TD and three interceptions.

MTSU score prediction vs. Louisiana Tech

MTSU 24, Louisiana Tech 17. The Blue Raiders get their first CUSA win in the Derek Mason era, snapping a losing streak along the way. An improving MTSU defense exploits the Bulldogs’ issues behind center.

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Cecil Joyce covers high school sports and MTSU athletics for The Daily News Journal. Contact him at cjoyce@dnj.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @Cecil_Joyce.