The Rice Football Film Room is back for 2020! And, thanks to the weirdness of the 2020 season, we have actual game tape of Middle Tennessee.
When Middle Tennessee comes to Houston on Saturday they’ll be taking the field for their seventh game of the 2020 season. Rice football will, of course, be kicking off for the very first time. A slight benefit of this peculiar circumstance is the amount of game tape available on Middle Tennessee. We’ve got quite a bit of it. Let’s dive in, shall we?
Just like last year, junior quarterback Asher O’Hara is the heart and soul of the Blue Raiders’ offense. There had been hope among the MTSU fanbase that the offense would diversify a bit this year to take some of the playmaking pressure off O’Hara.
Running backs Chaton Mobley and Jayy McDonald have both impressed in their carries thus far, but they’ve combined for 75 carries in the team’s six games, compared to a whopping 102 non-sack rushes for O’Hara. And even with a brief benching earlier in the season, he still accounts for 188 of their 210 pass attempts.
O’Hara is an effective runner if not an explosive one. He averages 4.8 yards per carry minus the sacks, but with a long of only 31 yards. What he lacks in straight-line speed, he makes up for in elusiveness, juking and spinning his way to extra yardage to move the chains. He’s unfortunately not taken the extra step as a passer this year, averaging only 6.3 yards per attempt, with 8 interceptions to only 9 touchdowns.
Key 1: Getting Pressure on the MTSU Offense
