Blue Raiders Battle Past Wolf Pack in 27-20 Home Thriller

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Photo / MTSU Athletics

MURFREESBORO, TN - Powered by a relentless defensive front, timely takeaways, and a workhorse night from redshirt senior running back Antonio Martin Jr., Middle Tennessee football earned a hard-fought 27-20 home victory over the Nevada Wolf Pack on Saturday night at Floyd Stadium.

With the win, Middle Tennessee improves to 2-1 on the season—marking its first 2-0 home start since 2021—while Nevada falls to 1-2.

The decisive play arrived in the fourth quarter with the game tied. Cornerback Rickey Lee III delivered a jarring hit to force a Nevada fumble, which linebacker Korey Smith recovered on the Wolf Pack 21-yard line. Middle Tennessee’s offense wasted no time capitalizing on the prime field position. Five plays later, Martin punched into the end zone from three yards out for the game-winning touchdown.

Martin carried the offensive load all evening, setting a high watermark for his five-year collegiate career with 23 carries for 104 rushing yards and the decisive score.

"That dude, man, he's got great feet," Head Coach Derek Mason said of Martin. "He's got good contact balance, he's got great vision for a big guy... run[s] with so much power. He's a different type of back."

MTSU quarterback Roman Gagliano turned in an efficient performance, completing 16 of 29 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns to secure his fourth career win as the Blue Raiders’ starter. Gagliano opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 23-yard touchdown strike to graduate tight end Koraun Perdue—the first touchdown of Perdue's Blue Raider career.

In the third quarter, Gagliano linked up with favorite target Cam'ron Lacy for a 10-yard touchdown pass. Lacy has now hauled in a receiving touchdown in all three games this season, extending his streak of impactful plays. Graduate receiver Markus Allen provided the highlight-reel play of the night through the air, pulling down a 41-yard catch in the fourth quarter—MTSU's longest reception of the young season. Senior kicker Dominic Bourgeois rounded out the scoring efforts with two field goals, including a 47-yarder.

Defensively, the Blue Raiders delivered their most complete effort of the season, forcing three turnovers and limiting Nevada's signature rushing attack. Smith anchored the defense alongside redshirt senior linebacker Ashton Taylor; both players racked up a team-high 10 tackles apiece.

"To take a Nevada team who's generally rushing for close to 200 yards and to hold these guys... man, that says a lot about the grit in these guys," Mason said.

MTSU's defense also broke through for its first sack of the 2026 season in the third quarter when redshirt sophomore cornerback Jackson Lowe strip-sacked the Nevada quarterback for a six-yard loss, forcing and recovering the fumble himself. Cornerback Jason Hardy added his first interception of the season later in the quarter, keeping the crowd locked in.

"All we want to do is take three every time we're on the field, because we know if we take three, we win the game," Smith said of the defense's turnover goal.

Middle Tennessee will now carry its momentum into Conference USA play as the Blue Raiders head to Jacksonville, Alabama to confront the Jax State Gamecocks (2-2) next Saturday, September 26, at 6:00 p.m. CDT.