Click here to view the 2015 Golden Eagle schedule
By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Three brand new opponents will get Tennessee Tech's football season underway in September, and two familiar, in-state conference foes will visit Tucker Stadium in November to close out the regular season on the Golden Eagles 2015 schedule.
The 11-game schedule, which includes five home and six road contests, was announced Sunday by coach Watson Brown and Director of Athletics Mark Wilson. Tech opens with three of the first four on the road, hosts one home game in September and two home games in both October and November.
Tech gets things underway with three brand new opponents in Houston, Wofford and Mercer. It will be the first-ever meeting with both Houston and Mercer but, in fact, the meeting with Wofford won't be the first. The two teams haven't met in 66 years, however, so the Terriers are a new opponent for the current Golden Eagles contingent.
After road contests at Houston (Sept. 5) and Wofford (Sept. 12), the home season gets underway in the third week with a Sept. 19 visit from Mercer. After that, Tech is back on the road again with a game at Murray State (Sept. 26) to kick off the Ohio Valley Conference season.
"The big challenge will be being good early in the season," Brown said. "We have a very tough schedule early. We're on the road for three of the first four. We face Wofford and Murray State on the road, plus an FBS opponent in Houston. That's a really tough early schedule."
Brown feels the Golden Eagles are in a position to show improvement on last year's 5-7 overall record.
"This team has the potential to be really good," he said "We're going to be so much bigger and stronger, and I think we'll be able to take the next step. These 15 to 20 kids walking through the door (2015 recruiting class), some of them will be on the depth chart."
The five-game home schedule includes Mercer along with conference games against UT Martin (Oct. 3), Jacksonville State (Oct. 17), Austin Peay (Nov. 14) and Tennessee State (Nov. 21).
"This is the year that all of the state schools come to play us in Cookeville," Brown said. "It works out that way, we either play all of them on the road or all of them at home."
The three in-state rivals (UT Martin, Austin Peay and Tennessee State) will battle Tech for the 2015 Sgt. York Trophy.
"Those are always big games for us," Brown said. "We want to get the York Trophy back here. That's always a top goal. It's always a big deal for us. It's all part of the process. It's pretty hard to win the conference unless you win the York Trophy, and it's pretty hard to get to the playoffs unless you win the York Trophy. I guess it's possible, but it's pretty difficult."
Brown heads into this week's National Signing Day with optimism, not only for the incoming team but for the returnees.
"Our whole team is getting stronger, and the same is true for those players coming in the door," he said.
"One of our strengths will be our maturity. We've been young the past couple of years, and this year we'll have a little older team, like we did in 2011. This time, we will need some young help in the secondary, and we need to see development in the offensive line. Another huge piece will be at quarterback."
The year opens with a road contest at the University of Houston, an FBS opponent from the American Conference. Last season, the Cougars were 8-5 overall and 5-3 in the conference, wrapping up with a 35-34 victory over Pittsburgh in the Armed forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas.
"The thing with all of our FBS opponents is that they are big, and it's always a very physical game," Brown said. "They won their bowl game, and they are another very strong opponent. Their new coach (Tom Herman) was the offensive coordinator at (national champion) Ohio State, so we'll not only have to watch Houston films to prepare for their players, we'll also watch Ohio State films."
Playing in the heat in Houston will only be one of Tech's concerns in the opener.
"I have coached many games at Houston, and it is not an easy place to play," Brown said.
Week Two features a road trip to Wofford for the first meeting between the two schools since they tangles in 1948 and 1949. Wofford won both. A Southern Conference team, Wofford will be coming off a season opener at Clemson. The Terriers were 6-5 overall and 4-3 in the SoCon.
Tech opens the home slate against Mercer on Saturday, Sept. 19, the first meeting between the two teams on the gridiron. The Bears were 6-6 a year ago, and the coaching staff features former Golden Eagle record-setting signal caller Tre Lamb, who guides the quarterbacks.
Tech visits Murray State on Sept. 26, then returns home to host UT Martin on Oct. 3. The following week sends the Golden Eagles to Richmond, Ky., to face the Eastern Kentucky Colonels on Oct. 10.
"Overall, the series (with EKU) has not been that good to us, but we're 2-2 in the last four games with them," Brown said. " We've caught up with those guys a little bit. We won up there when we won the OVC championship (2011).
EKU, which reached the FCS playoffs in 2014, will be looking to avenge a dramatic, 39-31 loss to the Golden Eagles in Tucker Stadium after the Colonels held a 31-10 lead in the third quarter.
A week later, Tech hosts another FCS playoff team in Jacksonville State (Oct. 17), before back-to-back road contests at Eastern Illinois (Oct. 24) and Southeast Missouri (Oct. 31).
The team's "open date" comes later in the year (Nov. 7).
"That's' better than coming early," Brown said. "We play nine straight, then we have a chance to regroup for the final two. We most definitely will be in the York race, since we'll have only played one game and get to finish up with two at home."
One of those is Homecoming, which will be against Austin Peay (Nov. 14), a traditional rival for the Golden Eagles.
"It's always a rivalry game. Every in-state game is a rivalry game. There's a lot at stake," Brown said.
After the APSU visit, Tech closes the regular season hosting Tennessee State (Nov. 21).
Season tickets for the 2015 home slate will go on sale in April.
