Entering Saturday, Middle Tennessee State had never beaten an AP Poll-ranked team in 24 tries.
That all changed Saturday afternoon in South Florida as the Blue Raiders shocked the No. 25 Miami Hurricanes, coming away with a 45-31 road victory.
The Blue Raiders were 25.5 point underdogs against the Hurricanes, but they never played the part. MTSU jumped out to a 24-3 lead early in the second quarter, and this 69-yard strike from Chase Cunningham to Elijah Metcalf put the Blue Raiders up 31-10 in the third quarter.
Miami did not help its own cause, with plays such as this bumbling backfield collision:
https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1573799524610473986
Yet Miami fought back and seemed poised to cut the lead to 31-24, until being stopped on fourth-and-goal at the 1. MTSU took possession and on the very next play Cunningham threw a 98-yard TD strike to DJ England-Chisholm. Cunningham finished with 408 passing yards and three touchdowns on only 25 attempts.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 99-YARD TD!
The Blue Raiders stopped Miami on 4th-and-goal at the 1 on the previous play. They're 25.5-point underdogs.
pic.twitter.com/l6PuRAIH3t — The Comeback (@thecomeback) September 24, 2022
Miami countered with a 91-yard kickoff return on the next play, but the Blue Raiders could not be stopped, scoring again to put the game out of reach. And that led to quite a bit of excitement from their players after they wrapped up the win.
Middle Tennessee shocks No. 25 Miami 45-31, as a 25.5-point underdog!
#UpsetAlert pic.twitter.com/f9XlFTdQBK — The Comeback (@thecomeback) September 24, 2022
The Blue Raiders upset sparked a festival of crazy memes and reactions on social media all afternoon.
If Miami can just get past Middle Tennessee, they can hit the soft part of the schedule
— David Lang (@Dukielang) September 24, 2022
https://twitter.com/MiguelD_canes/status/1573809514381451264
And finally, it’s worth noting that Middle Tennessee State is now, improbably, 3-0 all-time against Miami, although the two teams had not met in almost 100 years.
[Photo from Jasen Vinlove/USA Today Sports]