Vanderbilt has done well in recent years outside of the SEC, winning 13 of its last 15 non-conference games.

However, although it has been 10 years since they last played, Middle Tennessee has been a pesky team from Conference USA that has had the Commodores’ number in their last few meetings.

Vanderbilt won its first 12 games in the series against the Blue Raiders between 1915 and 1956 but has lost the last three matchups with Middle Tennessee (2001, 2002, 2005).

Their last meeting, Oct. 1, 2005, coincidentally also landed on Week 5 like their showdown this Saturday will. That game was not only a win for Middle Tennessee, but it was also a huge upset at the time.

The Commodores, led by current Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, came into the home game against the Blue Raiders with a 4-0 record and Middle Tennessee had yet to win a game that year and sat at 0-3.

Despite losing in just about every statistical category on both sides of the ball as a team, Middle Tennessee found a way to grind it out against Vanderbilt. The Blue Raiders took care of what is perhaps the most important part of the equation when trying to pull off any upset — protect the football.

Vanderbilt’s defense was unable to force any turnovers against Middle Tennessee, and it really could have used one in the fourth quarter with the Commodores leading 15-14.

The Commodores’ inability to get off the field on defense resulted in a 9-play, 54-yard drive for Middle Tennessee, which culminated in a game-winning 29-yard field goal by Colby Smith for the Blue Raiders.

On the flip side, the one interception that Middle Tennessee was able to force Cutler into throwing in the first half turned out to be a critical play in the 2-point win.

Smith’s field goal, while giving the Blue Raiders the lead they wouldn’t relinquish, did not come on the final possession of the game.

Each team had a subsequent possession that resulted in a punt — Vanderbilt’s was a quick three-and-out on the ensuing drive after Smith’s field goal.

After the Commodores defense got a stop, Cutler and the offense got one more chance to march downfield and win the game. However, Smith, who also served as the Blue Raiders punter, did his best once again to lead his team to victory by delivering a perfect punt that pinned Vanderbilt on its own 1-yard line.

Cutler was locked in on the final drive. In 11 plays, he and the Vanderbilt offense covered 80 yards to set the Commodores up for a 36-yard field goal that would have won the game.

But Middle Tennessee was not going to let this one go that easily. In dramatic fashion, the Blue Raiders blocked Bryant Hahnfeldt’s field goal attempt as time expired and won their third game in a row in Nashville.