Georgia Football 2018 Preview: Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

How does 2018 stack up:

Georgia will be the first major SEC power the Blue Raiders have played since 2011. That season they took on Tennessee and were shutout 24-0. This season they start their year once again with a game against Vanderbilt. That’s become somewhat of a rivalry game for the Blue Raiders. They have taken on the Commodores in each of their past 3 seasons and lost each of those games.

They will hope to surprise Vanderbilt and come into the UGA game with a 2-0 record and that is certainly possible. The Commodores are by no means a power team this season and so the Raiders do have a shot. Then they take on UT Martin at home before heading to Athens.

They will have to do so without their one-time star wide receiver. Richie James caught over 244 passes for 3,261 yards during his three years in Murfreesboro. He was clearly their best player but despite being injured for much of his Junior season, he decided to enter the NFL draft.

That decision paid off for James when he was drafted in the 7th round by the San Francisco 49ers. He’s got a fight ahead of him to stay on the roster, but the Raiders have a bigger struggle as they try to replace an NFL level talent. Despite that loss, they do return plenty of starters on both sides of the ball. They won’t be struggling to replace that many key players which should certainly help them be a dark horse in Conference USA.