MTSU football vs. Old Dominion: 5 things to know

MTSU will play its regular-season finale this weekend against Old Dominion. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at Floyd Stadium.

Here are five things to know for senior day:

Bowl eligibility on the line for both teams

In a battle of two teams with a 5-6 record, bowl eligibility will be on the line for both the Blue Raiders and Monarchs on Saturday.

MTSU, which has been bowl eligible in eight of 11 seasons under coach Rick Stockstill, has gone 2-1 since its bye week to move within a win of eligibility.

WKU loss lingered

Five fourth-quarter touchdowns. Three overtimes. Nearly 1,000 combined yards of total offense. MTSU’s 41-38 loss at Western Kentucky last Saturday was another classic installment in the rivalry, but a demoralizing one for the Blue Raiders.

"It was a very emotional game,” Stockstill said. “They competed their tails off. They played extremely hard. You do that for four hours, then you get beat at the buzzer in three overtimes, it's hard for anybody, but especially for young people to flush it.

“Obviously, there were still some laboring effects on Sunday because you've got to watch the film. You've got to talk about it again. That brings back your thoughts on the game. Once we got out there and practiced, started moving around, I thought they responded very well.”

Old Dominion on winning streak

The Monarchs enter on the heels of three straight wins. On Nov. 4, they pitched a shutout against Charlotte, 6-0. Then on Nov. 11, the Monarchs won at Florida International, 37-30. And last week against Rice, freshman quarterback Steven Williams capped the game-winning, 75-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown run in a 24-21 victory.

Through their first eight games, ODU had a turnover margin of minus-11. Through its last two, it is plus-five.

Monarchs have an elite kick returner

ODU’s Isaiah Harper has three kick returns for touchdowns this season, tied for the most this season with Tony Pollard of Memphis and Marcus Green of Louisiana-Monroe. Two of Harper’s kick returns for touchdowns came in the same game four weeks ago at North Texas.

He is averaging 30.5 yards per kickoff return this season, good for sixth in the nation.

MTSU hurting at running back

The Blue Raiders finally established a solid one-two punch at running back with Tavares Thomas the “Smash” to Brad Anderson’s “Dash.”

But after both backs ran for 68 yards in a 30-3 win over UTEP on Nov. 4, Anderson went out with what Stockstill called a “significant” leg injury against Charlotte. He did not play against WKU and was not listed on MTSU’s depth chart Monday.

Thomas has been dealing with an injury as well.

"It's too early to say,” Stockstill said Monday when asked about Thomas’ status for the Old Dominion game. “He didn't finish the (WKU) game and he wasn't able to go (on Sunday) either.”

Terelle West, currently No. 2 on MTSU’s depth chart behind Thomas, had 12 carries for 47 yards, a touchdown and a fumble. The 5-foot-10, 193-pound sophomore missed the first five games of the season after having knee surgery in August.

“I think he's getting a little more confident every week,” Stockstill said.