Middle Tennessee optimistic about opening at Alabama

He is preparing his Blue Raiders, who went 5-6 last season, to open the season Saturday night at Alabama. And he promises they won’t be intimidated.

“We expect to win the football game,” McCollum said Tuesday at his first weekly news conference.

“I will tell you this, when we go on the road and play in front of crowds of 85- to 90,000, our players are thrilled to see our 4- or 5,000 people in the stands just as loud. It means a lot to have our people there.”

This will be the fourth time in McCollum’s seven seasons that the Blue Raiders open against a team from the Southeastern Conference, and this will be their second opener against Alabama.

The Crimson Tide won that game in 2002 when Middle Tennessee gave up the first 22 points of the game. But the Blue Raiders collected themselves and pulled within five points three different times in the final nine minutes before losing 39-34.

Plenty of lessons were learned that day.

“When you go in to play a SEC opponent at their place you know you have to play a perfect game to have a chance to win,” McCollum said.

His Blue Raiders have gotten used to playing against the best Division I-A has to offer with games against such teams as Tennessee in Neyland Stadium. This will be the sixth time in seven years that they have started on the road.

They opened 2001 by winning at Vanderbilt and beat Akron on the road last year.

Now McCollum has 17 starters back led by quarterback Clint Marks. He helped the Blue Raiders have the nation’s 15th-best passing offense last season, averaging 267.7 yards in 2004, and he’s used to big crowds.

“It’s loud and really hard to hear at times, but once you get on the field it is all about playing football. Just block everything out and concentrate on the task at hand. But it’s still playing football, which is something we have done our whole life,” Marks said.