For the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, this Saturday's tilt against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets could very well mark a turning point in the 2010 season. Actually, if the boys from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, are to enjoy the second half of their season, they will indeed need this game to provide a considerable dose of confidence.

Coach Rick Stockstill's club entered 2010 with very high hopes after roaring past Southern Mississippi in the 2009 New Orleans Bowl. Powered by their superb and multi-dimensional quarterback, Dwight Dasher, the Blue Raiders did things that aren't commonly done in the Sun Belt Conference. The Troy Trojans have been the standard bearer in the weakest of the 11 FBS conferences, so any bowl win from a source other than Troy is cause for a substantial celebration. Stockstill - who played quarterback under Bobby Bowden at Florida State and participated in two straight Orange Bowls as a collegian - beamed with pride as he helped Dasher to become one of the most... well... dashing figures in all of college football. The 2010 season was set to be a breakout year for Dasher and an MTSU crew that was ready to take ownership of the Sun Belt.

Then came the thunderbolt that knocked the Blue Raiders far off course.

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Just before Middle Tennessee's season opener against Minnesota on Sept. 2, Dasher was suspended for four games for taking money from a booster. In a year when NCAA enforcement and vigilance have markedly increased throughout the United States, Dasher got caught in the net and sabotaged the month of September. Though not playing many conference games, the Blue Raiders still struggled, losing a game to Minnesota that they probably would have won with Dasher in the lineup. The same thing happened against Memphis as well; despite playing a bottom-rung Conference USA club, Middle Tennessee couldn't topple its in-state competitor because of Dasher's absence. A 24-17 loss at Memphis only added to Stockstill's misery.

The only good part of September for Middle Tennessee was that it won its lone Sun Belt contest against Louisiana-Lafayette. As October beckoned and a Tuesday night fight loomed against big, bad Troy, Dasher's suspension ended. All of the Blue Raiders' core plans - chiefly, a Sun Belt title - were still very much in play. One win over Troy in Dasher's season debut would have made September a distant memory.

Instead, the Blue Raiders crumbled. Dasher banged up his left wrist on the second play of the game, enough to step out of the lineup for a few plays. He returned to the game against Troy, but was never the same player. Middle Tennessee's whole sideline seemed to sag after that event, and the Blue Raiders got steamrolled in a 42-13 rout. As MTSU plays one more non-conference game before returning to the Sun Belt stretch run, the Blue Raiders need to establish Dasher and give him confidence for the road ahead. MTSU doesn't have to beat Georgia Tech, but the visitors have to go to Atlanta and do things that will feed them for the following six weeks. Stockstill and his charges need to leave Bobby Dodd Stadium knowing that they can run the table for the remainder of their Sun Belt season.

The bad news for Middle Tennessee? Georgia Tech's triple-option offense will be hard to stop. The good news for MTSU? The Blue Raiders won't see that kind of offense in the Sun Belt. It really is true that the key to this game is for Middle Tennessee to establish Dwight Dasher. If the Blue Raiders can do just that, they'll have something to hang onto as this college football season unfolds.