MTSU's DC Manny Diaz

[LongJim]

"The challenge we had last week (against OU) is you've got to stop the run and the pass. There is no award for holding a rushing game to a certain amount. The big challenge with North Texas is their quarterback. I think it's a bigger challenge. You look at the game last year, they get one long pass to set up their touchdown. Those are the tough plays we have to make in this game. The running game is important. We have to stop the run, but we need to stop in the passing game."

"They have beat us five years in a row. This is a big game. We have to make a lot of plays. They have a great wideout in Quinn, and they have a very mobile quarterback and good running back. So we just got to make the plays."

MTSU RB Eugene Gross explained how important this game is for MTSU both mentally and in the standings:

"Since I've been here we've always turned the ball over in this particular game. We are going to take care of the ball. Coach Stock has talked this week, when we have the ball on offense we are going to do two things, score or kick. We are going to move it up and down the field. This game could get us off the ground. In the past, we started off against North Texas and got that loss, we always hung our heads. That was the team to beat. We are going to go out and play hard."