COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Senior Dontey Gay was named the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week, while sophomore Cody Forbes earned OVC co-Special Teams Player of the Week honors for their efforts in Saturday's 38-31 victory over Southeast Missouri.
Gay became the
first player in Tech history to account for 100 or more yards
rushing and receiving in the same game. The senior from Lexington,
Ky., carried the ball 22 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns and
caught seven passes for 101 yards. Overall Gay had 247 all-purpose
yards on 29 touches (the second-highest total in the OVC this
season). His four-yard touchdown run with 2:38 to play proved to be
the game-winner for the Golden Eagles over the defending OVC
champion Redhawks.
Gay has now rushed at least 100 yards in three games this season,
and leads the OVC in rushing with 126.2 yards per game. He also
tops the league in scoring with seven touchdowns in four games.
Forbes shared
the Special Teams PoW award with Jacksonville State punter Coty
Blanchard. The sophomore from Elizabethton, Tenn., accounted for a
career-best 132 all-purpose yards as Tech topped remained
undefeated (2-0) in OVC play. Forbes got 98 of his yards on three
kickoff returns, including two crucial ones for the Golden
Eagles.
After Southeast Missouri had tied the game late in the first half,
Forbes returned the ensuing kickoff 38 yards to the TTU 41-yard
line to set up a short scoring drive that gave Tech a 17-10
halftime advantage. With five minutes to play and the score tied,
Forbes had a 36-yard return to the TTU 47-yard line, setting up the
team’s eight-play, 53-yard game-winning touchdown drive.
Forbes also had six rushes for 22 yards and caught two passes for
12 yards.
The Defensive Player of the Week award went
to Antwaun Majors of Austin Peay, while the Newcomer of the Week
honor went to Washaun Ealey of Jacksonville State, who narrowly
edged out Tech freshman Austin Tallant in the voting for the award.
The Golden Eagles will travel to West Tennessee for their next
contest, meeting UT Martin Saturday (Oct. 1) at 6:30 p.m. Tech's
next home game isn't for three weeks, when Tennessee State visits
Tucker Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 15, for a 7 p.m. tilt.