2006 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team

The 2006 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team represented Middle Tennessee State University in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Middle Tennessee entered the 2006 season coming off a losing 4–7 record (3–4 SBC) in 2005, which saw the dismissal of head coach Andy McCollum. The team's new head coach was Rick Stockstill. The Blue Raiders played their home games at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium and compete in the Sun Belt Conference.

2006 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football
Sun Belt co-champion
Motor City Bowl, L 14–31 vs. Central Michigan
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
2006 record	7–6 (6–1 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Rick Stockstill (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	G. A. Mangus (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Manny Diaz (1st season)
Home stadium	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium (Capacity: 30,788)

2006 Sun Belt Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Troy +		6	–	1					8	–	5
Middle Tennessee +		6	–	1					7	–	6
Arkansas State		4	–	3					6	–	6
Florida Atlantic		4	–	3					5	–	7
Louisiana–Lafayette		3	–	4					6	–	6
Louisiana–Monroe		3	–	4					4	–	8
North Texas		2	–	5					3	–	9
FIU		0	–	7					0	–	12
+ – Conference co-champions

The 2006 season saw a new coaching staff turn the Blue Raiders around from the losing record of the previous year, adding 3 wins to the total of the previous season. Also, that season saw the Blue Raiders play in their first bowl game, the Motor City Bowl, in the division I-A/FBS era.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	6:00 p.m.	Florida International	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, Tennessee	ESPN+	W 7–6	20,058
September 9	5:00 p.m.	at Maryland*	Byrd Stadium College Park, Maryland		L 10–24	47,704
September 14	6:00 p.m.	Tennessee Tech*	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, Tennessee	ESPNU	W 44–0	20,806
September 23	6:00 p.m.	at No. 16 Oklahoma*	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, Oklahoma		L 0–59	84,326
September 30	6:00 p.m.	at North Texas	Fouts Field Denton, Texas	ESPN+	W 35–0	16,986
October 6	7:00 p.m	No. 8 Louisville*	LP Field Nashville, Tennessee	ESPN2	L 17–44	32,797
October 21	6:00 p.m.	at UL-Monroe	Malone Stadium Monroe, Louisiana		W 35–21	11,717
October 28	4:00 p.m.	at UL-Lafayette	Cajun Field Lafayette, Louisiana		W 34–20	22,093
November 4	2:30 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, Tennessee	CSS	W 35–14	18,712
November 11	4:00 p.m.	at Arkansas State	Indian Stadium Jonesboro, Arkansas		W 38–10	10,176
November 18	11:30 a.m.	at South Carolina*	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, South Carolina	PPV	L 7–52	70,442
November 25	2:30 p.m.	Troy	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, Tennessee (Battle for the Palladium)	CSS	L 20–21	17,812
December 26	6:30 p.m.	vs. Central Michigan*	Ford Field Detroit (Motor City Bowl)	ESPN	L 14–31	54,113
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Starting lineup

Offense

Position	Number	Name	Class
QB	#17	Clint Marks	r-Sr.
TB	#20	Eugene Gross	r-Sr.
FB	#38	Hunter Birtsch	r-Jr.
TE	#80	Clinton Corder	r-Jr.
TE	#85	Stephen Chicola	Jr.
WR	#87	Bobby Williams	So.
WR	#13	Taron Henry	r-Jr.
WR	#83	Jonathan Grigsby	r-Jr.
LT	#54	Franklin Dunbar	r-So.
LG	#79	Brandon Nix	Jr.
C	#50	Paul Cantrell	r-Sr.
RG	#77	David Price	r-So.
RT	#73	Germayle Franklin	r-Sr.

Defense

Position	Number	Name	Class
LE	#13	Tavares Jones	Jr.
LT	#97	Trevor Jenkins	So.
RT	#56	Wes Hofacker	r-So.
RE	#45	Sean Mosley	r-Jr.
SLB	#39	Marcus Brandon	r-Sr.
MLB	#1	Justin Rainey	r-Sr.
WLB	#25	J.K. Sabb	Sr.
LCB	#24	Bradley Robinson	r-Jr.
RCB	#27	Regie Doucet	Sr.
FS	#5	Damon Nickson	Jr.
SS	#8	Kent Wilson	So.

Special teams

Position	Number	Name	Class
K	#46	Colby Smith	r-Sr.
KR	#22	DeMarco McNair	r-Jr.
KR	#2	Desmond Gee	Fr.
P	#46	Colby Smith	r-Sr.
PR	#24	Bradley Robinson	r-Jr.

_{* Note: r before the class year means that the player has used a redshirt year.}

Game summaries

FIU

	1	2	3	4	Total
FIU	6	0	0	0	6
Middle Tennessee	0	7	0	0	7

Maryland

	1	2	3	4	Total
Middle Tennessee	3	0	7	0	10
Maryland	10	7	7	0	24

Tennessee Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tennessee Tech	0	0	0	0	0
Middle Tennessee	3	0	20	21	44

Oklahoma

	1	2	3	4	Total
Middle Tennessee	0	0	0	0	0
Oklahoma	24	21	7	7	59

North Texas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Middle Tennessee	14	7	7	7	35
North Texas	0	0	0	0	0

Louisville

	1	2	3	4	Total
Louisville	10	13	7	14	44
Middle Tennessee	10	0	0	7	17

Louisiana–Monroe

	1	2	3	4	Total
Middle Tennessee					0
LA-Monroe					0

Louisiana–Lafayette

	1	2	3	4	Total
Middle Tennessee					0
LA-Lafayette					0

Florida Atlantic

	1	2	3	4	Total
FAU					0
Middle Tennessee					0

Arkansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Middle Tennessee					0
A-State					0

South Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Middle Tennessee					0
South Carolina					0

Troy

	1	2	3	4	Total
Troy					0
Middle Tennessee					0

Motor City Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Central Michigan					0
Middle Tennessee					0

References