Stockstill: "We Have a Decision to Make"

Without a doubt, Middle Tennessee's best offensive player going into the year wore #21. For the rest of the year Phillip Tanner might be wearing warmups. In an interview with me yesterday, Head Coach Rick Stockstill said giving Tanner a medical redshirt following a torn MCL in week 2 versus Memphis is being considered.

When I asked Stockstill if the injury, which typically takes 3-4 weeks to heal could turn into a season ending problem he said, "It might. We definitely have a decision to make." Without a doubt the injury will be healed by the season's end, however since Tanner only played in the first two games, and this is his final year of eligibility, Stockstill has to decide what is best for the senior running back and the team, whether to wait out the injury or sideline Tanner for the rest of the year which would give him another year of eligibility, allowing him to return next year.

"I'd hate to have him play in that 6th game (if a player plays in his teams 6th game he is no longer eligible to be redshirted) or that 7th game and have his knee not be right and then he loses his Senior year...I'll be real smart about this decision."

In talking to Stockstill and other team sources, a redshirt seems the most likely option at this point as Tanner will not play Tuesday at Troy (7 pm, ESPN2) and would have to play an SEC opponent in his first game back against Mississippi State on October 17th. However, no final decision has been made. There are ten days in between the Troy and Mississippi State games so Tanner does have extra time to heal before the decision is made.

Tanner was named to the pre-season Doak Walker Award watch list, an award given to the nation's best running back. Tanner struggled in the first game against Clemson as he had only 10 carries for 36 yards however he was having a bounce back game against Memphis averaging 5.7 yards a carry before his injury. In Tanner's absence, D.D. Kyles has taken over the starting role, splitting time with Benny Cunningham. Stockstill said this will continue to be the case if Tanner is out, and to also expect to see a little bit of Sophomore Marquis Branton, as well as some of Desmond Gee in the backfield alongside the team's leading rusher, quarterback Dwight Dasher.