COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It’s a short week of preparation for Tennessee Tech and Eastern Kentucky, as each comes off a loss on Saturday (Oct. 3) and must turn around and play in five days with a Thursday night Ohip Valley Conference contest in EKU’s Roy Kidd Stadium. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. CDT.

Eastern Kentucky has had the advantage in the all-time series against Tennessee Tech, posting a 52-19 record against the Golden Eagles. In Richmond, the Golden Eagles have managed eight wins in 37 tries (8-29) against the Colonels. Tennessee Tech has managed to split in the last four (2-2) with EKU, winning in Richmond in 2011 by a 28-21 score that helped the Golden Eagles win a share of the OVC championship. Tech also got the win last year in Cookeville, using a huge fourth-quarter comeback for a 39-31 victory on Blackout Night in Tucker Stadium.

Eastern Kentucky is hosting its own Blackout Night Thursday, hoping to find the same success as the Golden Eagles.

The Richmond area will be under partly cloudy skies on Thursday, with a high during the day of 80 degrees. The temps will slip to 62 overnight, so conditions at gametime should be ideal, with no chance of rain and perhaps 70 degrees.

Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (2-3, 1-1 OVC)
at #17 Eastern Kentucky Colonels (2-2, 1-0 OVC)
Thursday, October 8 • 6:00 p.m. CT
Roy Kidd Stadium (20,000) • Richmond, Ky.

QUICK HITS: 
* Eastern Kentucky is avereaging 51.5 points per game at home in Roy Kidd Stadium, beating Valparaiso, 52-10 and Austin Peay, 51-13.  
* Tech and Eastern Kentucky have split the last four meeetings, each winning one at home and one on the road. Tech claimed a home win last year, 39-31, when Marty Jones set a school and OVC record with four interceptions and Ladarius Vanlier accounted for 260 all-purpose yards.
* Each team will attempt to bounce back from a loss last Saturday. Tech dropped a 31-17 decision at home to UT Martin, while the Colonels lost a lead in the final minute and eventually fell at Kentucky, 34-27 in overtime.
* The game will feature the two top kick returners in the OVC. Tech’s Ladarius Vanlier ranks first in the OVC with 26.6 yards per return, while EKU returner Stanley Absanon is second with 26.3 yards per return. 
* Eastern Kentucky and Tech have both protected the ball well this season. The Colonels rank first in the league in turnover margin with a plus-six margin. Tech ranks second in the OVC with a plus-five turnover margin.
* Jared Davis has a chance to move up on one chart and climb onto another career chart. Davis needs 73 yards to pass Michael Peeples and take over ninth place on the chart for career passing yards. He can also climb to 10th in career yards of total offense and pass Andre Caballero with 306 yards.  
* Ladarius Vanlier recorded his second 100-yard rushing game when he ran for 118 yards on only nine carries against UT Martin. He was the last Golden Eagle to post a 100-yard rushing game when he did it against Eastern Kentucky last year in Tech’s come-from-behind, 39-31 victory in Tucker Stadium.

THE TTU SENIOR CLASS — The 2015 senior class includes 17 players who are playing in their final season for the Golden Eagles. The seniors, in alphabetical order, are: Radir Annoor, Stephen Bush, Willie Davis, Brett Dillard, Demario Donnell, Tra'Darius Goff, Justin Ivory, Jimmy Laughlin, Steven Lillard, Jibrin Linge, Blake Luevano, Jordan Patrick, Daniel Pierce, Jay Rudwall, Josh Smith, Ladarius Vanlier and Steve Wilson.

Fans who cannot attend in person can listen to the game on the Golden Eagle Sports Network with Roger Ealey and Buddy Pearson in the press box and Dylan Vazzano reporting from the sidelines. The broadcast begins at 5:30 p.m. CT on 98.5 KISS FM.

GAME NOTES: Tennessee Tech will pay a visit to Roy Kidd Stadium on Thursday night in a key OVC matchup against Eastern Kentucky. The Colonels have won 11 of the last 14 meetings with the Golden Eagles although last year TTU handed EKU its first loss of the season and one of only two losses during Conference play by winning 39-31 in Cookeville. That wild game saw the Golden Eagles score 29 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to overcome a 31-10 deficit to pull out the victory. TTU’s Marty Jones was named National Defensive Player of the Week after tying the OVC single-game record with four interceptions, two of which came in the final 1:07 of the game. Jones also had 12 tackles and ran in a two-point conversion on a bad snap. Quarterback Darian Stone was named OVC Offensive Player of the Week after throwing for 225 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 66 yards while Ladarius Vanlier added 140 yards and a touchdown on the ground to go along with 45 receiving yards and a 79-yard punt return for a score. Dy’Shawn Mobley led EKU with 163 rushing yards and a touchdown.

SCOUTING TENNESSEE TECH: Tennessee Tech saw its two-game winning streak come to an end with a 31-17 home loss to Tennessee Tech on Saturday. The Golden Eagles were within four points midway through the fourth quarter before the Skyhawks scored the final 10 points of the game. UTM put a lot of pressure on the Tech offense, sacking quarterback Jared Davis eight times and intercepting him once. Overall Tennessee Tech was limited to a season-low 199 yards of total offense. Senior Ladarius Vanlier led the offensive attack with 118 yards on nine carries (13.1 ypc); not included in those totals was a 67-yard run that was negated by a holding penalty. Brock McCoin caught a pair of touchdown passes to increase his season total to four; he ranks fifth nationally in receptions/game (8.4) and sixth in total receiving yards (549). Senior linebacker Tra’Darius Goff made 18 tackles against the Skyhawks; he ranks first in the OVC and fourth nationally in tackles/game (13.4). As a team the Golden Eagles rank first nationally in fumbles recovered (11).
 
SCOUTING EASTERN KENTUUCKY: Eastern Kentucky led FBS foe Kentucky 27-13 with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter before the Wildcats scored two late touchdowns to force overtime and win the game in the extra period. That marked the second overtime loss to a SEC team this season for the OVC. The Colonels dominated the run game, out-gaining the Wildcats 180 to 55 on the ground. Freshman Ethan Thomas led the way with 84 yards while All-American Dy’Shawn Mobley, in his first real action this year due to an injury, added 74 yards and a score against his former team. Quarterback Bennie Coney rushed for 30 yards and a score and completed 19-of-32 passes for 183 yards and two additional touchdowns. Senior Stanley Absanon was named OVC Specialist of the Week after averaging 25.4 yards on five kickoff returns including setting up a score with a 42-yarder to open the second half. He also had a 19-yard punt return early in the fourth quarter to set up a score and intercepted a pass in the first quarter that led directly to an EKU touchdown. Absanon finished the game with 163 all-purpose yards. Noah Spence added 1.5 sacks, three tackles and a quarterback hurry; he ranks sixth nationally in sacks/game (1.13) and 10th in forced fumbles/game (0.50). EKU is seventh nationally in turnover margin (+1.50/game). EKU remains at No. 17 in the STATS Top 25 poll and No. 20 in the FCS Coaches poll.