to Mississippi State at Davis Wade Stadium. The Blue Raiders stood toe-to-toe with the Bulldogs in the first half and trailed 14–13 at the break before taking their first lead on the opening drive of the second half. Mississippi State was too strong on two pivotal second half drives as Middle Tennessee's strong road showing wasn't enough to warrant an upset. This game marked the third straight loss for the Blue Raiders Mississippi State will travel to Murfreesboro, TN, to take on the Blue Raiders during the 2009 season. This will be 3rd BCS opponent to play at Middle Tennessee in three years, and the first time that a Southeastern Conference (SEC) opponent will play in Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium. Louisiana–Monroe After three straight road games, and three straight loses, Middle Tennessee returned home to take on conference foe Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks. Football players at Middle Tennessee made sure the students and alumni enjoyed a happy Homecoming as the Blue Raiders raced out to a fast start and held on for a 24–21 win against ULM at Floyd Stadium. The Blue Raiders jumped out to a 17–0 lead early in the second quarter. After ULM had pulled to within 17-14 late in the third, Middle Tennessee built its lead back to 10 and secured the Homecoming win to improve to 3-6 overall and 2–3 in the Sun Belt Conference. Middle Tennessee improved to 47-19-2 on Homecoming, including 2-1 under head coach, Rick Stockstill. The Blue Raiders have won 18 of their past 21 Homecoming games. Western Kentucky Middle Tennessee put itself back in strong position to become bowl eligible following an impressive 21–10 win against hated rival Western Kentucky, on a cold rainy/snowy day in Bowling Green, KY. Senior quarterback Joe Craddock completed 19-of-29 passes for 212 yards and threw two touchdowns with no interceptions to key a 212-yard passing attack; however, it was great balance and play-calling that kept WKU on its heels. The Blue Raiders ran for 101 yards and rode the strong back of junior running back Phillip Tanner in a smash-mouth type approach. Tanner responded with a season-high 92 yards that included a 29-yard touchdown. Middle Tennessee's offense finished with 313 total yards. Western Kentucky will become bowl-eligible and will be able to contend for a conference championship for the 2009 season. Because of this Middle Tennessee finished their season with an out of conference record of