Alabama faces upset-minded MTSU

The Blue Raiders nearly pulled off an upset in his first collegiate game and he recalls being among the jittery players who coach Andy McCollum “had to push out of the locker room” and onto the field in 2002.

“I was nervous but once you get through the first play, you play football and calm down some,” the Middle Tennessee linebacker said.

Alabama cornerback Roman Harper brings a different memory of that game into Saturday night’s rematch at Bryant-Denny Stadium: Powerful tailback Dwone Hicks running him over during a late drive.

Linebacker Freddie Roach returned an interception 41 yards for a decisive touchdown in the final minutes of a 39-34 win.

“We almost lost to Middle Tennessee State the last time they were here,” Harper said. “We understand that this team is nothing to joke around with.”

The Blue Raiders are old veterans at playing against Southeastern Conference teams with much bigger stadiums and reputations. They’ve played 13 SEC opponents since McCollum took over a new Division I-A program in 1999 and even beat Vanderbilt twice during that span.

“It doesn’t make it any easier,” McCollum said. “Any time you play a team in the SEC, you know you’re playing the best in the country. But we’ve played a lot of them and they all seem to be good when we play them.”

In fact, of the 12 SEC teams only South Carolina and Auburn haven’t played Middle Tennessee, which is 2-23 alltime against the league.

Lopsided record aside, there’s a reason Jeff Littlejohn doesn’t think his team will be intimidated playing at Alabama.

“I’ve been to Tennessee. I’ve been to Florida. I’ve been to Kentucky,” the defensive end said. “Hopefully our team can focus and come out and play a good game.”

Alabama players insist there’s no danger of them overlooking Middle Tennessee. Not considering what happened in the last meeting or the fact that the Tide is coming off a mediocre 6-6 season and isn’t ranked.

If that’s not enough, Alabama players and coaches can always point to an embarrassing loss to Northern Illinois in 2003 for motivation. Not necessary, according to Wallace Gilberry.

“We’re so pumped up and ready,” the Tide defensive end said. “The look in their eyes is just like the Auburn-Alabama game. We’re taking this game as seriously as we take any other game.

“That’s how we’re going to do it the whole season.”

The Blue Raiders have been trying to improve the Sun Belt Conference’s second-worst running attack, and this would be a good time to display that progress. The Tide led the nation in pass defense last season, ranked No. 2 overall and returns most of the key players.

Middle Tennessee quarterback Clint Marks was the league’s top passer, operating an offense that relies heavily on the short passing game.

“They run a lot of screens and draws,” Alabama linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. “They have a lot of crazy formations. They feel like they have nothing to lose. We know they’re coming in and throwing everything they’ve got at us.”

Tide coach Mike Shula, meanwhile, doesn’t want the defense to bask in last year’s success.

“It’s a new year for our defense,” Shula said. “We’ve got to come ready to play. Our defense has earned a little bit of a reputation and now it’s time to back it up.”