The Blue Raiders’ annual blue and white spring football game was held Saturday at Johnny Red Floyd Stadium, and for the first time under Rick Stockstill Blue grabbed the victory.

One of the positions to watch in the game was that of the quarterback, with Logan Kilgore and Jeff Murphy as the featured players at the spot.

Kilgore and Murphy rotated possessions on offense in the first half, each player putting in solid performances.

Starting the game, Kilgore took the Raider offense down the field by completing six of seven passes, finishing with a touchdown pass to Anthony Amos.

“As an offense, all together, we definitely improved,” Kilgore said. “I think this gives us a lot of momentum. Everybody is ready to get back to work and it’s exciting.”

Amos finished the day with a very impressive performance, racking up 65 yards and two touchdowns on five catches in the game. Amos’ second touchdown also came on a pass from Kilgore and was a very impressive catch as Amos held onto the ball despite a lot of contact as he brought it in.

“I felt pretty good,” Amos said. “Murphy and Logan were throwing the ball pretty well and kept the offense going.”

Kilgore finished the game by completing 18 of 26 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns. He did throw one interception to JaJuan Harley, a transfer from Florida State.

Murphy also looked solid in the outing. He did not turn the ball over and completed 11 of 17 passes for 127 yards.

“The offense as a whole got into a good rhythm,” Murphy said.

In the running game, Benny Cunningham came out as the starter for the game and ran the ball well on his few touches, picking up 24 yards on six carries.

Redshirt freshman Tony Rowland looked good running the ball as well for Middle Tennessee, with 45 yards and a touchdown in the game.

Transfer running back Drayton Allen-Calhoun from LSU struggled on the ground early, moving backwards on his first several carries. In the second half he did manage to string together a couple of good runs and show some strong potential.

Richard Drake and Marcus Thurmand each grabbed five catches for Middle, for 51 and 31 yards respectively, while Malcolm Beyah showed deep threat potential with 61 yards on four catches, including a 42 yard bomb from Jeff Murphy.

“I thought it was a good day offensively and defensively,” Stockstill said. “I thought both Logan and Jeff were efficient. Early I thought we threw and caught the ball really well.”

“I think the guys coming off the day should be confident going into the summer.”

The team handed out 2011 spring practice awards at half time, with the awards being given to the following players: