When Middle Tennessee State comes to Starkville Saturday to tangle with Mississippi State, they will do so without the Sun Belt's leading rusher and one of the top 15 rushers so far this season, Benny Cunningham.
Cunningham sustained a knee injury in this past Saturday's 34-30 Blue Raider victory over Florida International. MTSU head coach Rick Stockstill on his top RB's injury:
"The MRI will show us for sure how bad it is, but it's not good. Either it's season-ending or, to me, even if it's not surgical and he's out three or four weeks before trying to work his way back, with six games left, it's almost like season-ending. He would still have to get back in shape after it healed up."
Cunningham had been huge for MTSU in its past two road games as well, going for 217 yards and 5 (five !) TDs against Georgia Tech and 230 yards and 2 TDs against FIU.
Starting running back duties now likely fall to true freshman Jordan Parker, the Blue Raiders' number two man in the backfield.