MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee football could not keep pace with New Mexico State on Saturday afternoon in Floyd Stadium, falling 36-21 in the program's final home game of the 2024 season.  

The Blue Raiders (3-8, 2-5 CUSA) put themselves in a bad position early when a Nicholas Vattiato quick pass came in too high for Holden Willis on MTSU's first drive. The tight end was able to get a hand on the throw, which batted the ball in the air, resulting in a NMSU defensive back snagging the ball and sprinting 30 yards for an interception touchdown that gave the Aggies (3-8, 2-5 CUSA) an early 7-0 lead. After NMSU forced a MTSU punt, the Aggies' first offensive possession resulted in a 42-yard field goal, stretching the lead to 10-0, one that would hold until the end of the first quarter.  

Middle Tennessee kept grinding, however, finding success going under center on offense on a 12-play, 75-yard drive that was capped off by a three-yard touchdown run from Jaiden Credle, cutting the deficit to 10-7 early in the second quarter. The Blue Raiders were driving to take the lead late in the frame and looked to have converted on fourth and short with a quarterback sneak, but Vattiato was ruled short of the line to gain, giving the Aggies the ball with just over two minutes left in the half. NMSU would drive into the red zone before halftime but only got a field goal to take a 13-7 lead into the locker room at the break.  

MTSU started the second half strong, forcing a three-and-out on the Aggies' first drive, but Vattiato and Gamarion Carter were not on a same page on a pass near midfield, resulting in another interception that turned into points for the Aggies on a 12-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing drive, stretching the lead to 20-7. The Blue Raiders showed poise, however, marching 78 yards on 11 plays for a touchdown of their own, with Vattiato finding Holden Willis wide open on a play-action pass for a 12-yard score, cutting the NMSU lead to 20-14. But the Aggies quickly responded on their ensuing drive, going 75 yards in just five plays, but failing a two-point conversion to stretch the lead to 26-14 at the end of the third quarter.  

MTSU stayed balanced on the ensuing drive, finding success with the run and the pass, but faced a fourth and five on the NMSU 19. Vattiato was given time on the conversion attempt, finding Omari Kelly open one-on-one with the Aggie defensive back for a 19-yard touchdown catch, cutting the lead to 26-21 after the Zeke Rankin PAT. MTSU had the Aggies in two third and long situations on the next drive, but NMSU converted both times, eventually turing the drive into their fourth touchdown of the game to increase the lead back to 12 points, 33-21.  

The Blue Raiders were able to get on the other side of the 50 thanks to an explosive pass to Willis, but Vattiato was pressured almost immediately when MTSU needed to go for it on fourth down, giving the Aggies the ball back up two scores with under six minutes to play. An Aggie field goal kept the lead only two scores at 36-21, but made the last gasp comeback all the more difficult for MTSU. 

By the Numbers   
6.1: Yards per carry for MTSU, the Blue Raiders' best mark of the season in that stat. Jekail Middlebrook led the way with 8.0 yards per carry (10 carries for 80 yards).  

14: Points off turnovers for the Aggies, who turned a pair of interceptions into touchdowns. MTSU failed to turn NMSU over a single time on Saturday.  

16.9: Yards per completion for the Aggies. NMSU entered Saturday with a bottom three passing offense in FBS football, but threw for 237 yards on just 14 completions.  

 Blue Raider Notes  

• Redshirt senior Terry Wilkins logged his first career start at running back against the Aggies. 

• The Blue Raiders logged 447 yards of total offense on the day – the second most of the season. MTSU totaled 514 yards of offense against WKU. 

• Middle Tennessee tallied a season high 170 yards on the ground against NM State – previously 168 against Duke. 

Offensive Player Notes
#4 | Terry Wilkins | RB| r-Sr. 

• Recorded his first career start against the Aggies. 

• Logged 47 yards on six carries with a long of 23 yards. 

#32 | Jekail Middlebrook | RR | r-Fr. 

• Tallied 80 yards on 10 carries. 

• Also recorded five receptions for 29 yards. 

#11 | Nick Vattiato | QB | r-Jr. 

• Made his team-leading 23rd straight start today against NMSU. 

• Finished 30-for-45 for 277yards and two touchdowns. 

• Vattiato recorded his 23rd 200-yard passing game which ranks second all-time and is 12 behind career leader Brent Stockstill. Vattiato has now topped the 200-yard mark 19 times in his last 22 games. 

• With 277 passing yards, Vattiato surpassed Kelly Holcomb (7,064) for fifth place on the all-time list 

#22 | Jaiden Credle | RB | Jr. 

• Tallied 27 yards on seven carries and a touchdown. 

• With 27 yards on the day, Credle has logged a career-high 435 yard son the season. 

Defensive Player Notes
#40 | Anthony Bynum | DE | r-Fr. 

• Posted a career high 11 tackles, including three solo stops, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. 

#18 | Xavier Williams | S | Gr. 

• Notched seven tackles, all solo stops. 

Thoughts from Head Coach Derek Mason 
"Not the outcome that the Blue Raiders wanted today. Penalties, turnovers, critical mistakes in situations. Not very good defensively on third down getting these guys off the field. Those things are the sort of things that take you back a little bit. I just told our guys I wasn't surprised that we could run the football. We had a good offensive game plan, we had a good week going in. I thought, even at times, we tackled better defensively. Today was about busts, it wasn't so much about tackles. There were some leaks. For us, it was more miscommunication and more busts than anything else, guys running free because we just don't communicate.

"When you get the back end of the season, these are the things that we commonly work on in practice. But again and again, as a fairly young defensively unit, and when I say young, I'm just talking about playing, the reality of it is communication is not a one man job and when you don't communicate, bad things happen. Today, I saw just enough bad things to happen. We did great things, but enough bad things happened to us where we couldn't shrink the margins." 

Up Next  
MTSU wraps up the regular season on the road, heading to Miami to take on CUSA foe FIU on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT on ESPN+ and the Blue Raider Network.