? Call it a Sun Belt elimination game.
MTSU and Louisiana-Lafayette face off tonight in a do-or-die game, where the winner earns bowl eligibility and the loser stays home for the postseason.
Calling the showdown at Cajun Field a season finale is truly a relative term.
"It's great to have this kind of opportunity at the end of the year, but if we don't win it's a moot point," said MTSU coach Rick Stockstill of his team's bowl prospects. "... Our players know (about bowl opportunities), and we as coaches know it. We're just going to go down there and play. Our players are ready for this challenge, but we're just going to try to win and let the bowl stuff take care of itself."
Both MTSU and ULL have a 5-6 record, and a sixth win earns bowl eligibility and a possible at-large spot in a bowl.
MTSU went to the 2006 Motor City Bowl in Stockstill's first season for the program's first-ever FBS bowl appearance. ULL hasn't been to any bowl since the 1970 Grantland Rice Bowl in Baton Rouge, La.
Considering the stakes, both coaches have mostly steered clear of bowl talk in the 11-day break since their last game.
"(MTSU) is going through the same thing that we are," ULL coach Rickey Bustle said. "Maybe they don't have as many injuries, but they have to deal with the same bowl talk.
"Going to a bowl has been a goal. We have to be battle-ready because we know the same thing is on the line for them."
ULL has home-field advantage and the memory of a dominant 34-24 win at MTSU last season. But MTSU has momentum on its side. The Blue Raiders have won three straight games, including a 52-13 drubbing of North Texas in its last outing. ULL has lost three straight games, including a 48-3 defeat at Troy in its last game with a share of the Sun Belt title on the line.
MTSU has struggled running the ball all season, but tailback Phillip Tanner scored a Sun Belt record six touchdowns (five rushing) against North Texas in a breakout performance. Anywhere near a repeat of that would greatly help MTSU, as the Cajuns rank last in rushing defense in the Sun Belt.
ULL had the No. 1 rushing offense in the nation before its three-game losing streak. It still averages a daunting 274 rushing yards per game behind Tyrell Fenroy and Michael Desormeaux ? one of college football's all-time tailback-quarterback rushing duos.
"We have to win to keep our season going," said Fenroy, the Sun Belt's all-time leader in rushing yards and touchdowns. "We can't look ahead or behind us. If we plan to keep playing, we've got to win this one."
Stockstill addressed the game's bowl implications to his team early last week, but has not mentioned them to players since then. He said bowl talk will not enter MTSU's locker room before tonight's game.
"I don't see how that would help us," Stockstill said. "If somebody can tell me how it would, I will listen. But talking about a bowl is useless because it doesn't matter if we don't win. We're just going to try to win the game."
MTSU and Louisiana-Lafayette face off tonight in a do-or-die game, where the winner earns bowl eligibility and the loser stays home for the postseason.
Calling the showdown at Cajun Field a season finale is truly a relative term.
"It's great to have this kind of opportunity at the end of the year, but if we don't win it's a moot point," said MTSU coach Rick Stockstill of his team's bowl prospects. "... Our players know (about bowl opportunities), and we as coaches know it. We're just going to go down there and play. Our players are ready for this challenge, but we're just going to try to win and let the bowl stuff take care of itself."
Both MTSU and ULL have a 5-6 record, and a sixth win earns bowl eligibility and a possible at-large spot in a bowl.
MTSU went to the 2006 Motor City Bowl in Stockstill's first season for the program's first-ever FBS bowl appearance. ULL hasn't been to any bowl since the 1970 Grantland Rice Bowl in Baton Rouge, La.
Considering the stakes, both coaches have mostly steered clear of bowl talk in the 11-day break since their last game.
"(MTSU) is going through the same thing that we are," ULL coach Rickey Bustle said. "Maybe they don't have as many injuries, but they have to deal with the same bowl talk.
"Going to a bowl has been a goal. We have to be battle-ready because we know the same thing is on the line for them."
ULL has home-field advantage and the memory of a dominant 34-24 win at MTSU last season. But MTSU has momentum on its side. The Blue Raiders have won three straight games, including a 52-13 drubbing of North Texas in its last outing. ULL has lost three straight games, including a 48-3 defeat at Troy in its last game with a share of the Sun Belt title on the line.
MTSU has struggled running the ball all season, but tailback Phillip Tanner scored a Sun Belt record six touchdowns (five rushing) against North Texas in a breakout performance. Anywhere near a repeat of that would greatly help MTSU, as the Cajuns rank last in rushing defense in the Sun Belt.
ULL had the No. 1 rushing offense in the nation before its three-game losing streak. It still averages a daunting 274 rushing yards per game behind Tyrell Fenroy and Michael Desormeaux ? one of college football's all-time tailback-quarterback rushing duos.
"We have to win to keep our season going," said Fenroy, the Sun Belt's all-time leader in rushing yards and touchdowns. "We can't look ahead or behind us. If we plan to keep playing, we've got to win this one."
Stockstill addressed the game's bowl implications to his team early last week, but has not mentioned them to players since then. He said bowl talk will not enter MTSU's locker room before tonight's game.
"I don't see how that would help us," Stockstill said. "If somebody can tell me how it would, I will listen. But talking about a bowl is useless because it doesn't matter if we don't win. We're just going to try to win the game."
