Raiders fall at No. 7 Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The final score might not have been what they wanted, but Middle Tennessee put forth a valiant effort on the road Saturday against a top-10 ranked team.

The Blue Raiders (0-1) travelled to Michigan (1-0) to take on the No. 7 Wolverines, and though they lost 40-21, head coach Rick Stockstill saw plenty to draw some optimism out of the performance.

"I'm extremely proud of our team," the 14th-year head man said. "I thought we competed our tails off … and we didn't back down and didn't flinch.

"We didn't play good enough to beat the No. 7 team in the country, but we did enough that if we clean up some mistakes we made and get a little better at some things, I think we have a…