COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech hosts in-state rival Austin Peay Saturday for the school’s Centennial Homecoming, the 85th since the first was held in 1930. Tech is 44-39-1 all-time in Homecoming contests. It’s the first of two home games left on the Tech schedule, while Austin Peay closes out the 2015 schedule with the visit to Tech.
Tennessee Tech owns a 29-18 lead in the all-time series with the Governors, including wins in the last two contests. Tech won by a 34-0 margin the last time the two schools met in Cookeville (2013), and also won last year in Clarksville, claiming a 41-15 victory. Austin Peay last won in 2012, taking a 38-31 decision in Clarksville. Tech is 14-10 all-time at home against the Governors.
HOW TO TUNE IN: 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 calling the action, and Dylan Vazzano on the sidelines. The broadcast begins at 12:30 p.m. on 98.5 KISS FM. The game will also be aired on the OVC Digital Network, with the webstream produced by WCTE TV. Tim Scruggs and Sam Brooks will be on the call in the press box.
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The weather in Cookeville could be perfect for a Homecoming football parade |
Austin Peay Governors (0-10/0-7 OVC)
at Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (2-7, 1-5 OVC)
HOMECOMING / HALL OF FAME
Saturday, Nov. 14 • 1:30 p.m. CT
Tucker Stadium (16,500) in Cookeville, Tenn.
| TV/Webstream: | WCTE (Tim Scruggs, Sam Brooks) OVC Digital Network |
| Radio: | Golden Eagle Sports Network (98.5 Kiss FM) Roger Ealey (play-by-play) Buddy Pearson (analyst) Dylan Vazzano (sidelines) |
| Series Record: | Tech leads 30-18 |
| Last Meeting: | Tech won 41-15 (Nov. 22, 2014) |
| Kirby Cannon at APSU: | 1-33 (3 years) |
| Kirby Cannon Overall: | 36-119 (3 years) |
| Watson Brown at Tennessee Tech: | 40-60 (9th year) |
| Watson Brown Overall: | 134-211-1 (31st year) |
| Tennessee Tech Last Game: | Lost, 38-17 at Southeast Missouri, Oct. 31, 2015 |
| Austin Peay Last Game: | Lost, 44-15 vs. Southeast Missouri, Nov. 7, 2015 |
QUICK HITS:
* With 61 receptions for 747 yards in the first nine games, Brock McCoin has a chance to break the school records for receptions and receiving yards in a season. His 61 catches is currently tied for the third-most in the school record book with Da’Rick Rogers (61 in 2012). He trails Tim Benford (65 in 2011 and 68 in 2008). The school mark for receiving yards in a season is 923 by Benford (2011), leaving McCoin needing 176 to break that standard. McCoin played quarterback in the last game at Southeast Missouri, but is expected to back at receiver this week.
* Tra’Darius Goff and Jay Rudwall have combined to make 603 career tackles, 32.5 tackles-for-loss and 10 quarterback sacks in 86 combined games. With 347 career tackles, Goff has climbed to eighth in Tech history. He needs 17 tackles to vault all the way up to third on the Golden Eagle career list.
* Ladarius Vanlier needs just 15 all-purpose yards to pass Larry Shipp and move into second on the Tech career chart for most all-purpose yards. He can also etch a second season into the Tech Top 10 for all-purpose yards in a single season, needing 152 for this 2015 total to rank 10th.
* Ladarius Vanlier leads Tech with 491 rushing yards. His previous best season came last year with 494 yards. For his career, Vanlier has 1,466 rushing yards. He needs 255 yards in the final two games to reach 10th on the all-time rushing chart.
* Sophomore placekicker John Arnold ranks first in the OVC in field goal and PAT accuracy. He topped the 100-point mark in his career, and has now scored 108 points.
* Four different Tech defensive players rank first in the OVC in four separate categories. Tra’Darius Goff is first in total tackles (and tackles per game), Maleek Hall leads the OVC in passes defended, Stephen Bush is first in fumbles forced, and Demario Donnell is tied for first in fumbles recovered.
* Tra’Darius Goff will play in his 47th career game Saturday. He should finish his career with 48 career games, coming within one game of the school record of 49 games played, established last year by six-year safety Marty Jones.
THE TTU SENIOR CLASS — The 2015 senior class includes 16 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, Jay Rudwall, Josh Smith, Ladarius Vanlier and Steve Wilson.
GAME NOTES FROM OVC: Austin Peay concludes its 2015 season (the team has an open date next week) with a trip to Cookeville to square off with Tennessee Tech for the 49th time in the all-time series. The Golden Eagles have won five of the last six in the series with the Governors claiming a 38-31 victory in 2012. A year ago TTU led 17-13 at halftime before outscoring APSU 24-2 in the second half on its way to the 41-15 victory. Quarterback Darian Stone passed for 186 yards and a touchdown and rushed for a game-high 130 yards for Tennessee Tech while Ladarius Vanlier added 92 yards on the ground, 84 of which came on a touchdown run late in the game. Cody Matthews caught 10 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns for Tech. Austin Peay was led by Trey Taylor who passed for 224 yards and rushed for 27 additional yards while Otis Gerron added 114 yards on the ground.
SCOUTING TENNESSEE TECH: Tennessee Tech enters this week having lost five in a row thanks in part to the injury bug that has hit the team hard, especially at the quarterback position. The team was 2-2 on Sept. 26 following a win at Murray State but starter Jared Davis has not been healthy since and in the team’s last game two weeks ago star wide receiver Brock McCoin started under center with Davis and both of his backups injured. McCoin, who needs just seven receptions to tie the TTU single-season record, passed for 192 yards and rushed for 96 yards in that game against Southeast Missouri. But the team was done in by a five-minute stretch in the third quarter that saw the Redhawks score on a punt block, a 50-yard field goal and a punt return to turn a four-point game into a 21-point contest. Linebacker Jay Rudwall led the team with 11 tackles against Southeast Missouri.
SCOUTING AUSTIN PEAY: Austin Peay led Southeast Missouri 12-7 early in the second quarter last Saturday and were down 21-15 late in that quarter before seeing the Redhawks outscore them 20-0 in the second half on its way to a 44-15 victory. It marked the Governors 15th-straight loss, the longest losing streak in the FCS. Timarious Mitchell made his fourth career start at quarterback (and first since November 2013) and passed for a career-high 160 yards and a touchdown against Southeast Missouri. Kendall Morris rushed for a team-high 66 yards on 14 carries and scored on a one-yard run early in the second quarter. Defensively Devon Jones posted a career-high 12 tackles, including a sack and 2.5 tackles-for-loss, against the Redhawks. Austin Peay is looking to avoid its second winless season in three years and to also snap a 36-game road losing streak dating back to 2010.
Click here to read the Golden Eagle game notes for the contest vs. Austin Peay
