By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Senior Elliott Normand was one of the driving forces for the Tennessee Tech football team last Thursday night as the Golden Eagles opened the season against now-FCS No. 22 Western Illinois.

And despite the 41-14 decision, the senior linebacker from Oak Ridge was everywhere on the field, making tackle after tackle in the contest, ending the evening with 18 total stops – five shy of the school record of 23 set by Jim Youngblood against UT Martin in 1972. It was the most tackles by a Golden Eagle since Tra'Darius Goff recorded 18 against UT Martin on Oct. 3, 2015.

And for his efforts, Normand was awarded the HERO Sports FCS Football Defensive/Special Teams HERO of the Week award on Friday, voted by a fan poll. Normand received a whopping 37.23 percent of the 2,071 votes cast, besting the second-place vote-getter, Samford's Shaheed Salmon by 208 votes.

Salmon recorded 16 tackles in Samford's win over Tech's opponent this week, Kennesaw State.

Also in the voting:

• Campbell's Emmanuel Olenga had 4.5 sacks in the Fighting Camels' 70-0 win over Methodist;
• McNeese's Trent Manuel hit three of his four field goals against Nicholls State, with the longest at 29 yards;
• Western Illinois' Quentin Moon had a fantastic outing against the Golden Eagles, collecting 3.5 tackles-for-loss among his 10 stops, with an 11-yard sack, a forced fumble and a return of six yards;
• And Murray State's Kenney Wooten had three sacks as the Racers routed Kentucky Wesleyan 67-7.

Tech will head to Kennesaw, Ga., to take on Kennesaw State on Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 6:07 p.m. Central. Fans can listen to the game locally on 98.5 KISS FM with Roger Ealey and Dylan Vazzano.