1983 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team

1983 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	8–2 (5–2 OVC)
Head coach	Boots Donnelly (5th season)
Home stadium	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium
Seasons ←  1982 1984  →

1983 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 8 Eastern Kentucky $^	6	–	1	–	0			7	–	2	–	1
No. 16 Middle Tennessee	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Akron	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Murray State	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Austin Peay	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Youngstown State	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Tennessee Tech	2	–	5	–	0			2	–	8	–	0
Morehead State	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

The 1983 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team represented Middle Tennessee State University in the 1983 NCAA Division I-AA football season

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	Savannah State *		Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, TN	W 51–0	8,500	[1]
September 17	at Tennessee–Martin *		Pacer Stadium Martin, TN	W 39–3		[2]
September 24	at Morehead State		Jayne Stadium Morehead, KY	W 56–17	2,500	[3]
October 1	at No. 12 Akron		Rubber Bowl Akron, OH	W 26–3	10,214	[4]
October 8	No. 1 Eastern Kentucky	No. 17	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, TN	L 7–14		[5]
October 15	Murray State	No. 15	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, TN	W 17–14	11,000	[6]
October 22	at Austin Peay	No. 11	Municipal Stadium Clarksville, TN	W 31–17	4,000	[7]
October 29	Youngstown State	No. 9	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, TN	W 35–24	5,500	[8]
November 5	Western Kentucky *	No. T–5	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, TN (rivalry)	W 26–7	5,500	[9]
November 19	Tennessee Tech	No. T–7	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, TN	L 8–12	10,500	[10]
*Non-conference game Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game

^[11]

References

1. "Raiders crush Savannah St. 51–0". The Daily News-Journal. September 4, 1983. Retrieved November 12, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Pacers get nowhere". The Jackson Sun. September 18, 1983. Retrieved November 12, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Morehead routed 56–17 by Middle". The Courier-Journal. September 25, 1983. Retrieved November 12, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Blue Raiders stun Akron Zips 26–3". The Daily News-Journal. October 2, 1983. Retrieved November 12, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
5. "James sparks EKU win". Messenger-Inquirer. October 9, 1983. Retrieved March 23, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
6. "MTSU nips Murray". The Tennessean. October 16, 1983. Retrieved November 12, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Defense leads MTSU past Govs 31–17". The Tennessean. October 23, 1983. Retrieved November 12, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Raiders rally to beat Youngstown". The Daily News-Journal. October 30, 1983. Retrieved November 12, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Middle muddles Western". Dayton Daily News. November 6, 1983. Retrieved November 12, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Tech stuns MTSU, 12–8". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. November 20, 1983. Retrieved November 12, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
11. "1983 Football Schedule" (PDF). goblueraiders.com. Middle Tennessee State University. Retrieved December 11, 2020.