By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Triple-option. It's one of the most dreaded phrases ever uttered in college football.
And when No. 7-ranked Kennesaw State comes into Tucker Stadium on Thursday to take on the Tennessee Tech football team, the Golden Eagles will have to dig deep to face that threat.
"Kennesaw State is an outstanding opponent," said Tech head coach Dewayne Alexander. "They played Georgia State this last week and lost a close game in the last seconds."
Kickoff is scheduled for 6:02 p.m. as the game will be televised nationally on ESPNU, the first from Cookeville since 2006.
Fans can listen to the game on 98.5 KISS FM with Roger Ealey, Buddy Pearson and Dylan Vazzano providing the coverage. Tiffany Greene and Jay Walker will provide the call for ESPNU.
Thursday's game is First Tennessee Bank Poster Night as the fans entering Tucker Stadium will receive a 2018 Tech Football poster. The evening is also Communiversity Night and will feature the annual Running of the Freshmen as the Class of 2022 will lead the Golden Eagles onto the field before the start of the game.
The Owls dropped a 24-20 decision to Georgia State, a recent convert into the Football Bowl Subdivision. KSU also eliminated Jacksonville State from last season's Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
And with Kennesaw State holding on to a No. 7 spot in the STATS FCS poll and No. 8 in the American Football Coaches Association's FCS Coaches Poll, the Owls are indeed formidable.
KSU head coach Brian Bohannon spent five years at Georgia Tech as well as six years at Navy with Paul Johnson, one of the top coaches utilizing that offensive scheme. Bohannon certainly paid attention because the Owls run it well.
Quarterback Chandler Burks threw for 201 yards on 12-of-19 passing last week against GSU, completed seven passes to Justin Sumpter for 95 yards and a touchdown. As a team, the Owls rushed for 181 yards on 51 carries, averaging 3.5 yards per carry.
Last season, in Tech's 27-14 loss to Kennesaw, the Golden Eagles held Burks to 88 yards and Sumpter to 58. But it was KSU's rush that dominated. The Owls rolled up 309 yards on the ground last season, including 129 yards on four carries for Darnell Holland – which included an 84-yard touchdown.
And having the TV game has many in the Golden Eagle camp excited.
"Getting the national TV game is an awesome opportunity," Alexander said. "We found that out early last week. Being a Thursday night game, anyone who's watching sports on television will have a chance to watch our game. We're excited about that. Of course, we have the new videoboard that's the third largest in FCS football. It's our first home game of the season and the students are back in school, so we're really excited about this. It's a nice game to showcase Tennessee Tech and Tucker Stadium."
It's the second of three straight Thursday night games for the Golden Eagles, which will continue next week as well at Utah State.
"It's been a challenge," Alexander said. "With classes starting and players having to miss class on Thursday and your whole practice schedule is different because of that. We've had to practice on Sundays, change the length of practices on Mondays. We have our practices set up where they're in the morning, so they're set up more for Saturday games. One of the games (Utah State) was moved to a Thursday night after we set the schedule.
"It's unique, but we're working through it. I don't know if it's affecting our work or preparation or anything, but it's something we'll have to adjust when we go from the Thursday schedule to the Saturday schedule. With Utah State next week, we'll fly out on Wednesday, play on a Thursday and may not be back until early Friday morning before we have the weekend off and get ready for Jacksonville State. It's unique, but our team is handling it just fine."
While the Golden Eagles took a tough loss last week in the season opener at Chattanooga, head coach Dewayne Alexander saw room to grow.
"It was one of those games that I felt was closer than the score indicated," he said. "We had a 7-6 lead in that game and had them backed up on their own 9-yard-line with a 3rd-and-20 with just a few minutes left before halftime. They just ran a little hitch screen to gain some yardage for their punter and he ended up going 90 yards. That was a backbreaker. Then they picked us off for six early in the second half.
"But I was thrilled with our effort. We started a freshman quarterback in Bailey Fisher. He competed and responded very well. He just made a couple of freshman mistakes with two interceptions on our end of the field. They were costly plays, but he'll learn from it. He came back in and continued to compete."
Fisher ended the game with a 10-for-26 night with 117 yards, while also rushing for 78 yards on 11 carries.
Alexander continued, "Bailey made a bunch of really nice plays, some nice throws. He also made a couple that he'd love to have back. Chattanooga's defense had a lot to do with that as well. They're very good defensively and will be very good in the Southern Conference. They have two big defensive tackles that are all-conference players and they were as-advertised. Bailey had a lot of pressure and a young offensive line against a veteran front seven. But he handled himself very well."
However, the thing that told Alexander what kind of team he's got is how they reacted to a long stretch of adversity – a two-hour, 49-minute lightning delay.
"We came back out and competed well," Alexander said. "We were in the locker room for over two-and-a-half hours down 34-10, then came back out and drove the ball. We had it 1st and goal and just couldn't get it in, but our defense had three nice stops, because they only had one first down in that last 10:25. We played hard and competed and that told me a lot about our team. Our staff hadn't seen these guys play or compete in a game.
"I felt good about that. I was encouraged by what I saw out of our guys just in how they responded to that."
Defensively, Tech was led last week by redshirt junior Josh Poplar in his first game back after missing the 2017 season following a stroke and a hole in his heart. He scored Tech's first touchdown of 2018 with a 14-yard pick-six, while also recording eight total tackles. Deontay Wilson (7) and Tim Collins (6) also posted solid numbers. Collins also had two sacks for 14 total yards.
Live stats for Thursday's game is also available on TTUsports.com.
Tickets for Thursday's game is on sale by calling (931) 372-3940, visiting the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or by visiting TTUsports.com.
