MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — When Nicholas Vattiato woke up in his hotel room at 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning, he knew game day against Kennesaw State was going to be a long day. By the time he met athletic trainer Keith Bunch in the lobby around 7 a.m., after being unable to get much sleep, the illness that sent whispers throughout the Floyd Stadium Press Box on Tuesday night was already taking its toll on the Blue Raider quarterback. But his teammates didn't get a chance to know.
 
"Breakfast wasn't probably until 9:00 or 9:30 on Tuesday morning," Vattiato said. I was long gone before then and no one really knew what was going on outside of coaches and the training staff."
 
No one knew the MTSU quarterback might miss the start that night against the Owls until he was absent at Raider Walk that afternoon, resting up and hydrating as much as he could to give it a go in a critical game for the Blue Raiders.
 
"I appreciate Coach Mason, he had full confidence," Vattiato said. "He was like 'listen, it's your call if you feel good to go, you can go.'" 
 
While certainly not 100 percent, Vattiato threw for his lowest completion percentage of the season on Tuesday, the redshirt junior signal caller showed the leadership that Mason has continually praised since his arrival in Murfreesboro, helping guide MTSU to a 14-5 win over KSU, snapping a five-game losing streak to give the Blue Raiders some momentum heading into their final midweek game of the season at Jacksonville State this Wednesday.
 
"I knew how sick he was," Mason said. "Nobody else did, but I did. I probably could've gone a different route in the second half because he was tired and fatigued. But I went with him because I believe that that dude is going to will himself or try to get us to go places that we've never been to do things we've never done."
 
Vattiato and Mason will have their hands full with the Gamecocks this week, who are surging on a three-game win streak, including two blowout wins in CUSA play. With an up-tempo, power run offense that Rich Rodriguez humming under the leadership of Furman transfer Tyler Huff and an aggressive defense finding plenty of room in the backfield, not to mention Jax Sate getting the benefit of a bye week, the road trip to the Yellowhammer State this week will require another level of preparation, Mason said.
 
"I think they've hit their rhythm," Mason said. "We're definitely trying to find ours, offensively, defensively, special teams. Definitely looking forward to the challenge of what going to Jax State means. This football team is going to be a physical football team. We're not going to be surprised by what they do and how they play."
 
Kelly wins CUSA Special Teams Player of the Week after Punt Return TD
 
Junior wide receiver Omari Kelly was voted the CUSA Special Teams Player of the Week as announced by the league office on Monday. Kelly is the first Blue Raider this year to earn a CUSA award.
 

 
Kelly, out of Trussville, Ala., keyed MTSU's win over Kennesaw State when he returned a punt 61 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter to seal the win. It was Kelly's first career return for a score and the first by the Blue Raiders since 2021.
 
Kelly is the first Blue Raider to earn CUSA Special Team Player of the Week honors since Jalen Jackson picked up the award on Oct. 26, 2020.
 

 
Your first chance to watch MTSU Women's Basketball is this Friday!
 
Your reigning, defending, back-to-back Conference USA Women's Basketball Champions start their season with exhibition play this week, as the Blue Raiders host UT Southern at 6:30 p.m. It's the first game that can be part of your season ticket package to BOTH basketball programs for just $235, a $75 savings from buying both packages separately!
 

 
Friday's game is the Blue Raiders Give Back game, where fans are encouraged to bring donations to support the MTSU Food Pantry. Details on the donation drive can be found in our release from today here.
 
Broadcast schedule finalized for MTSU Basketball
 
Conference USA announced the broadcast locations for numerous men's and women's basketball games in their portfolio last week. MTSU Men's Basketball will be on national television eight times in the regular season, which you can view in the tweet below, while MTSU Women's Basketball's home game against Liberty on January 4, 2025 will be on ESPNU.
 

 
Volleyball returns home to AMG for series with LA Tech
 
After a weekend split in Lynchburg, Va., Middle Tennesse volleyball returns to the AMG for a pair of matches against LA Tech.
 

 
The Thursday/Friday series, with Thursday's game at 6 p.m. and Friday's game at noon, both feature promotions for the first 100 fans in attendance. On Thursday's Mental Health Awareness Day, the first 100 fans will receive green shoelaces, while the first 100 fans on Friday will receive international treats for the program's International Game.
 

 
Cross Country posts plethora of personal best in final regular season meet
 
At the Arturo Barrios Invitational in College Station, Texas, Middle Tennessee Cross Country saw 13 different runners post personal best times in the program's final tune up before next month's Conference USA Championships.
 
"This was a great race for us," Head Coach Keith Vroman said. "Everyone is peaking at the right time for the Conference USA Championship, so we will be ready for Oxford."
 
Middle Tennessee's men and women once again finished ahead of all CUSA teams in their fields this past weekend, with the men finishing seventh out of 38 teams and the women finishing 12th out of 41 teams. Freshman Allan Kiplagat finished fourth overall for the men to lead the pack for the Blue Raiders, while sophomore Odilia Jepchumba paced the women with an eighth place finish.
 

 
Men's Golf, Women's Golf continue fall schedule