Posted: Monday, December 21, 2009 12:43 am

New Orleans Bowl MVP Dwight Dasher and winning coach Rick Stockstill

NEW ORLEANS BOWL POSTGAME NOTES:
DASHER JOINS ELITE GROUP: Quarterback Dwight Dasher joined an elite group tonight when he topped the 1,000-yard rushing mark enabling him to have over 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in the same season. Dasher becomes just the seventh player to accomplish this feat in the history of the NCAA and it is the ninth time overall.

OVER 1,000: With 201 yards rushing tonight, QB Dwight Dasher went over 1,000 yards rushing for the first time in his career and the first time ever by a quarterback at Middle Tennessee. Dasher is also the first 1,000-yard rusher at Middle Tennessee since Dwone Hicks in 2002 and the 15th player overall in school history.

MVP HONORS: Quarterback Dwight Dasher was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2009 New Orleans Bowl after his impressive performance.

SUBER GETS HUGE PICK: Senior Alex Suber jumped a Southern Miss route deep in USM territory to come up with his fifth career interception in the second quarter. The interception set up a Blue Raider touchdown to tie the score at 14-14. It was USM quarterback Martavious Young's second interception of the season and his first in 165 pass attempts.

CARMICHAEL INT SEALS WIN: Senior Danny Carmichael intercepted Martavious Young's pass on the USM 17-yard line and returned it for 12 yards with just 1:13 remaining in the game. This play set-up a three-play scoring drive for the Blue Raiders which was capped with a one-yard run by QB Dwight Dasher setting the score at 42-26. It was Carmichael's first interception of the season and USM's Young's second interception of the game and just his third of the season.

NATIONAL EXPOSURE: Tonight's game was the third nationally televised game for the Blue Raiders this season and the 12th in school history. The three national broadcasts this year match the most ever in a single-season at MT (2006). Under Rick Stockstill, the Blue Raiders have been on national television 10 times to lead all Sun Belt schools.

DASHER TOPS 100: Quarterback Dwight Dasher topped the 100-yard rushing mark in the New Orleans Bowl for the third time this season and the fourth time in his career. The four 100-yard games equal the school record for a quarterback with Marvin Collier (1985-88). Dasher finished tonight's game with 201 rushing yards which is a new New Orleans Bowl record. Dasher's 201 yards are also a national bowl record as no quarterback has ever rushed for more than 200 yards in a bowl game. In the 2006 Rose Bowl, Texas' Vince Young rushed for 200 yards.

BURNETTE STEPS UP: When Dwight Dasher went out of the game with an ankle injury late in the third quarter, redshirt freshman Brent Burnette stepped up in a big way. Burnette completed two passes for 55 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown pass to Chris McClover. It was just the second touchdown pass of the season for Burnette. 10 WINS: With the win over Southern Miss in the New Orleans Bowl, Middle Tennessee finished the 2009 season with a 10-3 record. The 10 wins are the most by the Blue Raiders in the FBS era and the most ever by a Sun Belt team. The last time Middle Tennessee won 10 games in a season was 1992.

SEVEN STRAIGHT: Middle Tennessee's win over Southern Miss gives it seven straight victories to close out the season. The seven consecutive wins are the most since 1985 when the Blue Raiders went 11-0 in the regular season. The seven-game winning streak going into the 2010 season will be at least the fourth longest in the country.

GIVE ME 30: Under Rick Stockstill, the Blue Raiders are virtually a lock for a victory if they put up 30 points or more. MT is 19-1 under Stockstill when scoring 30 points, including a perfect 9-0 this season. The lone loss came at Louisville in 2007 when the Blue Raiders fell, 58-52.

QUICK HITTERS: With two touchdown passes against Southern Miss, Dwight Dasher ran his career total to 34 to surpass Mickey Corwin for fifth place on the all-time list ... Senior center Mark Thompson played in his 50th career game tonight against USM and picked up his team-high 43rd start ... The secondary of Alex Suber, Rod Issac, Jeremy Kellem, and Kevin Brown started together for the 18th straight game ... WR Garrett Andrews recorded his fourth touchdown reception of the season in the second quarter.