COOKEVILLE, Tenn. –  Tennessee Tech wraps up the 2015 season with a home game against in-state rival Tennessee State as the Golden Eagles celebrate Senior Day in Tucker Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 2:30 p.m. for a game nationally televised by the American Sports Network. Tech comes into the game riding the crest of a 42-24 Homecoming win over Austin Peay, while Tennessee State finishes its season following an open date last weekend. TSU's last outing was a high-scoring, 46-43 loss to Murray State.

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

AT STAKE: With a win over TSU, the Golden Eagles could vault into a tie for fifth place with a 3-5 league record.

TAKE A KID TO THE GAME: Tennessee Tech hosts the annual Take A Kid To The Game Day Saturday. Fans can receive a free youth ticket with every paid adult ticket.

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 2 p.m. on 98.5 KISS FM. The game will also be televised by the American Sports Network, and seen on My30 in the Nashville and middle Tennessee region. It will also be aired on the OVC Digital Network.

While the morning will be a mix of clouds and sunshine, the afternoon might give way to light rain under cloudy skies. The expected high is 56 degrees.

Tennessee State Tigers (4-5, 1-5 OVC)
at Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (3-7, 2-5 OVC)
SENIOR DAY / TAKE A KID TO THE GAME DAY
Saturday, Nov. 21 • 2:30 p.m. CT
Tucker Stadium (16,500) • Cookeville, Tenn.

 
QUICK HITS:
* Although he has played quarterback the past two games and has gone without a reception since Oct. 24, Brock McCoin can still set school receiving records. With 61 receptions for 747 yards, McCoin has a chance to break the school records for receptions and receiving yards in a season. He is tied for the third-most in the school record book with Da'Rick Rogers (61 in 2012). Tim Benford set the record with 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.
*  Brock McCoin has become the only player in Tech football history to achieve a 100-yard rushing game, 100-yard receiving game and 200-yard passing game, all three this season.  
* Tra'Darius Goff has 357 career tackles, climbing to fourth in Tech history, surging ahead of both Austin Tallant and Marty Jones. He needs seven to vault to third on the career tackles list.
* Ladarius Vanlier rolled up 272 all-purpose yards against Austin, the second-best game of his career, and has moved to second on the Tech career chart for most all-purpose yards with 5,188. He joins Hall of Famer and NFL veteran Larry Schreiber as the only Tech players to surpass the 5,000-yard barrier.
* Ladarius Vanlier leads Tech with 622 rushing yards, the best season of his career. Vanlier has 1,597 career rushing yards and could reach 10th on the all-time chart with 184 yards in the final game of his career.
* 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 114 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.
* Brock McCoin ranks first in the OVC in passing efficiency, while Ladarius Vanlier ranks first in the OVC in all-purpose yards and kickoff returns.

A CLASS BY HIMSELF — So, let's put Brock McCoin's versatility into perspective.  Since 1996, NOT one single player in the NCAA Division I ranks (FBS AND FCS) has achieved a 100-yard rushing, 200-yard receiving and 200-yard passing game in a single season. NONE. Take it down to 100 receiving yards, and only ONE player has done it since 1996, that being Trevone Boykin of TSU in 2013. And, only one player has hit those 100-200-200 marks in his career (since 1996). Frisman Jackson, who played for Northern Illinois (FBS; 1997-99) and Western Illinois (FCS; 2000-01) transitioned from QB to WR in the 2000 season and achieved all three, but not in a single season. (Special thanks go to Craig Haley and STATS, along with Kyle Schwartz of the OVC in researching this information). McCoin passed for 206 and rushed for 115 against Austin Peay (Nov. 14), and had 264 yards receiving at Houston (Sept. 5).

TWO-HEADED MONSTER — The Golden Eagles had two ball carriers over the 100-yard mark against Austin Peay last week, led by Ladarius Vanlier with 131 yards on 11 carries (11.9 per try). Brock McCoin rushed for 115 yards on 19 carries (6.1 per try). It was the first time two Golden Eagle ball carriers topped the century mark in the same game under coach Watson Brown, and the first overall by a pair of Tech runners since Anthony Ash (18/102) and Derek White (20/117) did it against Samford on Nov. 4, 2006 in a 20-14 Tech victory. McCoin and Vanlier had the MOST combined rushing yards by two backs over 100 yards since the 2003 season when Jason Ballard (152) and Derek White (150) combined for 302 rushing yards against Murray State.

BEST OF THE YEAR — Brock McCoin's season-opening game of 264 receiving yards at the University of Houston ranks as the seventh-best game of the year among all Division I (FBS and FCS) and Division II receivers:
Receiving Yards/Single Game
Includes NCAA FBS, FCS and Division II schools
1) Thomas Sperbeck, Boise State (FBS)    281
2) Keelan Cole, Kentucky Wesleyan (II)    278
3) Cooper Kupp, Eastern Washington (FCS)    275
4) Keyarris Garrett, Tulsa (FBS)    268
5) Josh Docktson, TCU (FBS)    267
6) Charlie Hayes, Augustana (SD) (II)    266
7) Brock McCoin, Tennessee Tech (FCS)    264
8) Roger Lewis, Bowling Green (FBS)    261

A TECH FIRST — If junior Maleek Hall does finish as the leader in the OVC in passes defended, it will be the first time since the league has kept that season-ending stat (since 2001) that a Golden Eagle defender has topped the conference in that category.

LEAGUE STAT LEADER — Senior Ladarius Vanlier led the OVC in kick returns in the 2013 season, the only time a Golden Eagle has ever topped the OVC in that category (since season leaders were recorded in 1978).

GAME NOTES FROM OVC: In-state rivals conclude the 2015 season against each other in Cookeville in a Sgt. York Trophy series game on Saturday. That series is contested between the four football-playing schools from the state of Tennessee. Saturday's game is the 29th all-time meeting between the two teams; Tennessee State has won the last four and nine of the last 11 in the all-time series. A season ago the teams played a defensive stalemate contest as the two squads combined for just 355 yards of total offense (205 by TSU and 150 by TTU) and zero offensive touchdowns. The defenses combined for 11 sacks and three interceptions and saw all the scoring come in the first 15 minutes of the game. Tech scored on an Austin Tallant interception return to open the scoring before TSU added a 26-yard field goal and a Ronnie Vinson 50-yard interception return for a score.
 
SCOUTING TENNESSEE TECH: Tennessee Tech snapped a five-game losing streak with a 42-24 win over Austin Peay on Saturday. APSU led the game 24-21 at halftime before the Golden Eagles defense shutout the Govs in the second half. Forced to play quarterback once again, star wide receiver Brock McCoin was great, completing 8-of-12 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 115 yards. This season McCoin has a 200-yard passing game, a 200-yard receiving game and a 100-yard rushing game, the only Division I player (FBS or FCS) since 1996 to accomplish that feat in a single season. Ladarius Vanlier was named OVC Co-Offensive Player of the Week after accounting for 272 all-purpose yards and a career-high four touchdowns. Vanlier carried the ball 11 times for 131 yards (11.9 ypc) and three touchdowns, caught two passes for 74 yards and a touchdown and returned two kickoffs for 66 yards and a punt for one yard. The senior, who now ranks 16th nationally in all-purpose yards (141.9/game), had touchdown runs of 46, 1 and 51 yards and a touchdown catch of 69 in the game. Vanlier now has 5,188 career all-purpose yards which is second in TTU history. Defensively true freshman Tim Collins had 11 tackles and forced a fumble in the contest. He was a part of a defensive unit that held the Govs to just six rushing yards (and 57 yards of total offense) in the second half. Senior Tra'Darius Goff added 10 tackles and now ranks eighth nationally in that category (11.6/game).
 
SCOUTING TENNESSEE STATE: After its second bye week of the season (due to a 10-game schedule), Tennessee State looks to end the season strong and finish .500 with a victory. The Tigers have had three consecutive seasons with .500 or better records. In its last game two weeks ago against Murray State, the Tigers led 26-14 in the second quarter and later 40-30 at the end of the third quarter before eventually falling 46-43 in overtime. After the game went to overtime Lane Clark kicked a 37-yard field goal to give TSU the lead by MSU would score a touchdown on its possession to score the victory. Sophomore wide receiver Patrick Smith earned OVC Offensive Player of the Week honors (and honorable mention National Player of the Week honors) after catching nine passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns. The 248 receiving yards were one off the TSU single-game record and are the third-most in the FCS this season. His touchdown catches went for 70 and 81 yards. He now ranks seventh nationally in receiving yards/game (103.7) and 10th in receiving touchdowns (9). Freshman quarterback O'Shay Ackerman-Carter completed 23-of-33 passes for 329 yards and four touchdowns in the loss. Running back Erick Evans scored a touchdown for the third-straight game and finished the contest with 96 rushing yards on 17 carries. Ebenezer Ogundeko was named OVC Co-Defensive Player of the Week after registering 10 tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, 3.0 sacks and forcing a fumble

Click here to read the Golden Eagle game notes for the contest vs. Tennessee State