It's hard to imagine a year much more trying than what Reed Blankenship has gone through. Middle Tennessee's star senior safety suffered a gruesome broken leg in the team's seventh game of the 2019 season against North Texas. Then, after having surgery and rehabbing, the COVID-19 pandemic threw multiple wrenches into his preparation for the 2020 campaign. Now, he's gearing up for a rematch with North Texas almost a year to the day after the injury. To say the matchup is bringing about added emotions is almost an understatement. "I think I have something to prove, especially after coming back from that," Blankenship said. "It's pretty special to me, so I'm just trying to grind as much as I can this week so I'm ready."Blankenship was having a banner junior season until the injury. In seven games, he recorded 58 tackles, two interceptions, three pass breakups, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble, as well as two blocked kicks. Even without playing the last five games, he still did enough to earn All-Conference-USA Second Team honors, the third year in a row he was named all-conference, adding to an honorable mention nod as a freshman and first team as a sophomore. He was drawing the interest of NFL scouts from around the league until the injury, which was bad enough that a weaker man might've hung up his cleats. - Middle Tennessee Football