Anthony Allen Tames The Pegasus: MTSU vs. Georgia Tech Preview

This Saturday, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets take a break from the ACC to face the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders from the Sun Belt Conference. Before you go roll your eyes and say that this game will be easy, let's deep dive and see what MTSU brings to the table.

The Blue Raiders represent Sun Belt success they represent the conference's first 10-win season and they won their respective bowl game, the New Orleans Bowl, against Southern Mississippi 42-32. The name that we all should remember is Dwight Dasher. If things fall his way, he could douse our defense with a multitude of running and passing drills. In 2009, the senior was the reason for the Blue Raiders success as he averaged 89 yards of running in 18 attempts per game and threw the ball 31 times for 215 yards per game. In summary: Dwight Dasher will be involved in most every play. In summary summary: Stop Dwight Dasher and you stop the Blue Raiders.

Just as 2009 was kind to the Blue Raiders because of Dasher, so has 2010 been unkind to them. Dasher was suspended for the first four games of the season for violating NCAA rules involving gambling charges ( a big NO-NO in the NCAA bible). Without Dasher, MTSU mustered a 2-2 record, with one of those losses being Minnesota's only win on the season. DD returned against Troy last Tuesday and couldn't help his team put together the pieces as they fell handidly 42-17. When you mix a quarterback with gambling trouble and suspensions to a team that is quickly losing chemistry, the 2009 magical season of the Blue Raiders may just have been smoke and mirrors.

Georgia Tech needs a team like this on the schedule just now. Coming off a solid victory against Virginia where they absolutely took the fight out of the Cavaliers, the time has come to drop a cool 50+ points on a team as if it were nothing. The fans haven't seen it all year and all groups want to , need to, see a statement game. Back-to-back dominating performances is the best medicine a fan can take at this season for a case of the mediocre football we've seen in weeks past.

Scoring Prediction:

Winfield: I saw it for just over 3 quarters last week. The taste  was good, now I want the whole meal and I think the players will as well. Tech 52 MTSU 14

Bird: Let's start a winning streak. 45-14 Jackets!