Posted: Sep 08, 2016
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech football team opens Ohio Valley Conference play this week as the Golden Eagles head to Clarksville on Saturday to face Austin Peay.
It's also the first contest in the 2016 Sergeant York Trophy round-robin between Tech, Peay, Tennessee State and UT Martin. UT Martin won last year's event with a 3-0 record.
Tech fell 21-7 to Wofford in its season opener on Sept. 1, but even though the first result wasn't what the Golden Eagles would have liked to see, there were a lot of positives that came out of the contest.
As Tech heads to Clarksville, the Golden Eagles have had a lot of success against the Governors over the years, building a 31-18 record in the series. Tech has won the last three meetings, outscoring Austin Peay 110-39.
However, the Governors' last Division I win came against Tech in the 2012 season in Clarksville as APSU beat the Golden Eagles 38-31.
Tech has won six of the last seven and is 15-8 in Clarksville all-time. Since the Governors rejoined the OVC in football in 2007, Tech is 6-3 against APSU.
One thing the two teams have in common this season is new head coaches with Marcus Satterfield leading the Golden Eagles and Will Healy in charge of the Governors. But it is a reunion of sorts for the two coaches – both were assistant coaches for Russ Huesman at Chattanooga.
Last week, APSU opened its season with a 57-15 loss at Troy. The Governors were held to 93 rushing yards and 161 passing. Quarterback Tommy Hays led the Govs with 52 yards on 11 carries, while Kendall Morris collected 20 yards on 14 totes.
Hays also completed eight of his 12 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns, also throwing an interception. Timarious Mitchell also completed six of his 10 passes for 37 yards. James Coleman caught both TD passes, collecting 65 yards on six completions.
For the Golden Eagles last week, Yeedee Thaenrat led the Golden Eagle rushing attack with 49 yards on nine carries, while Kip Patton rushed for Tech's lone touchdown and 15 yards on eight carries.
Michael Birdsong completed 22 of his 34 passes for 216 yards, completing seven passes to Brock McCoin for 94 yards.
Kickoff in Clarksville is scheduled for 6 p.m. Roger Ealey and Dylan Vazzano will provide broadcasting duties for the Golden Eagle Sports Network, with the game carried live on 98.5 KISS FM.
