Marshall Thundering Herd vs. Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders, 9/20/2025, 6:00pm

Marshall 42 – MTSU 28, Attendance: 15,168

Weather: Cloudy then storms, 83; Ticket: $35 Supplier – MTSU, Parking: Free

“They are trying…sort of” by Tree

The Blue Raiders call Johnny “Red” Floyd Stadium home. The lots surrounding the stadium ranged from $20 down to free. It was just two of us, so we were going to do a very light tailgate and were happy to settle into one of the free lots. To say the tailgating was sparse would be generous. You could count on one hand the number of tailgaters in our lot. However, it was a bit further away from the stadium, so it was not unexpected. And the university provided free golf cart rides to the stadium if you did not want to make the 10 – 15-minute walk.

We downed our subs with some chips and a cold beer and headed toward the stadium. It was not too long until a cart showed up to offer us a ride. Our driver, Bud, took us safely to the gate in no time. I made a slight detour to the “Grove” which was supposed to be the hot tailgating spot. It was at best, luke warm. The fans, though, were friendly if a bit guarded about the team’s chances. A 137 -169 cumulative FBS record as of 2025 will do that to you. Enthusiasm was low. When I asked about traditions, they shrugged their shoulders and said the program is struggling to find itself.

Floyd Stadium is an octagonal bowl that seats roughly 27,000. It is comprised primarily of bleacher seats. The center seats have seat backs which we purchased. For $35, we had lower-level seats on the 45 yard-line. They were great seats, but as long as you face the single video board on the south side of the stadium, any seat would be fine. However, from the 25 yard-line to the end zone, the sections were tarped over. This was not a great endorsement of the average attendance for Blue Raiders.

While the stadium is not much to look at from the outside, the inside renovations spruce it up. The video scoreboard looked good and there were two serviceable video ribbons. Other features included luxury boxes on one side and a bouncy house for the kids. The concessions are standard fare but nicely supplemented with local food trucks. This was both good and bad. The massively loaded nachos I bought were delicious but haunted me for much of the game. They do serve beer in the stadium, including a beer garden in the one end zone. Only slightly surprising because MTSU used to be a dry campus.

With Nashville close by, the environment was low-key country. The fashion was a fair bit of cowboy boots with some camo and trucker hats making an appearance. It felt more rural than I expected. The dominant cheer was “ M T S U, M T S U, Go Raiders Go.” While not particularly imaginative, it sounded good. The one unique tradition I noticed was that the “Red Zone” is called the “Blue Zone”. A reasonable approach given that their interstate rivals, Western Kentucky, are predominantly red. With an over two-hour rain delay, it was hard to gauge overall fan enthusiasm. It was homecoming and the minimal tailgating suggested that it is not great.

Both teams came in at 1-2, so the best we could hope for was an evenly matched contest. Marshall struck first scoring midway through the first quarter after picking off the MTSU QB. It was mother nature who struck next with a series of four half hour lightning delays. The break clearly helped the Blue Raiders who scored in a couple plays once the game resumed over two hours later.

Taking the storm as inspiration, Marshall then hit their own long pass and added seven a snap later. It was a night of quick strikes. Another two plays and MTSU had tied it up. It took the Thundering Herd a little longer (seven plays) to score again to end the first quarter. If you are keeping track, it was a thirty-five-point explosion in the first quarter (21-14 Marshall).

MTSU closed the lead to one thanks to a Marshall fumble and a pair of long field goals. In the second half, it looked like the Blue Raiders were going to take charge. Midway through the quarter, they drove down and scored a touchdown and two-point conversion to go up 28 – 21. They seemingly had stopped Marshall on the next drive until a terrible personal foul on a punt extended the drive. The Herd took advantage and tied the game up. From that point on, it was all Marshall. They tacked on two more touchdowns, running away with a 42-28 win.

The game delay was a challenge. It is times like that I truly appreciate my wife. She doggedly sat through the two plus hour delay on a cold concrete slab with nary a complaint. MTSU handled the weather as best they could. We accidentally exited the stadium at the start of the delay, and the attendant wouldn’t let us re-enter because he didn’t have a ticket scanner. Of course, we weren’t the only ones who had done that and it did not take long for a supervisor to tell the attendant to let people come and go as they wished.

Sound decision making surfaced again after the 4th lightning delay. As we finally entered the stadium, I overheard some of the attendants talking about seeing some more lightning in the distance as the storm moved on. It would have meant a fifth delay. They chose to ignore it. Thankfully.

Weather aside, there were some good points to our visit. We won a t-shirt and laughed when the MTSU band did the “you can’t do that” on a Blue Raider penalty. The band was good. However, it was a male member of Blue Raider dance team that stole the show. But when the punting and kicking were perhaps the most notable of performances of the night, it is hard to give the experience a positive review. It was not that going to MTSU was bad. It is just not good. Add the Blue Raiders to the list of programs that should think about dropping down to the FCS.