Tennessee State game notes
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With the open date now out of the way, the Tennessee Tech football team is looking to close out the final five weeks of the 2018 season on a high note.
Especially since the Golden Eagles still have plenty to play for.
In the final five contests, three of the games encompass Tech's run for the Sergeant York Trophy, starting with Saturday's contest against Tennessee State.
Kickoff for the game at Nissan Stadium is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Roger Ealey and Dylan Vazzano will provide the call for 98.5 KISS FM and the Golden Eagle Sports Network, while Howard Gentry Jr. and Derek Fleming with broadcast the game for ESPN + (subscription required).
Saturday's game will be the sixth for the Golden Eagles in the home of the NFL's Tennessee Titans with Tech holding a 2-3 record in the stadium, winning in 2002 and 2010 – the last time the two teams faced off in the facility before returning to on-campus Hale Stadium for the previous three Nashville contests in the all-time series.
Tech has won the last three meetings in this series as TSU coach Rod Reed has a 4-4 record against the Golden Eagles.
The overarching goal for these final five games though is the Sergeant York Trophy. Officially, Tech has only taken it home once as the lone winner in 2009, but did tie for it in 2011 and 2016. However, the tiebreakers kept the trophy out of Tech's hands those seasons.
Tech, so far, is the only one of the four Ohio Valley Conference teams who compete for the trophy who has not played a game in the round-robin yet this season. UT Martin is currently 1-0, defeating Austin Peay 37-7 on Sept. 22. Austin Peay countered with a 49-34 win over Tennessee State on Oct. 6. Tech features in the next three contests in the series – TSU this weekend, at Austin Peay next week and at UT Martin on Nov. 10 – before UT Martin and TSU play the final contest of the year on Nov. 17.
The Sergeant York Trophy is named in honor of Alvin C. York, one of the most decorated soldiers in World War I, who hailed from nearby Pall Mall, Tenn. As a corporal in the 2nd Battalion, 328th Infantry, in the Battle of the Meuse River-Argonne (Oct. 8, 1918), York and seven other soldiers captured 132 prisoners, was promoted to sergeant and received the Distinguished Service Cross, the French Croix de Guerre, the French Legion of Honor, the Croce di Guerra of Italy and the War Medal of Montenegro. Upon his return to the United States in 1919, he was bestowed the Congressional Medal of Honor.
And while the Golden Eagles are starting to see the roster depleted from injuries, Tech has several young players and veterans alike who are stepping up and setting the stage for a big finish to the campaign.
True freshman quarterback Bailey Fisher was named last week to the STATS FCS Jerry Rice Award watch list for the top freshman in the Football Championship Subdivision. Fisher's numbers currently stand as the best for a true freshman in program history and third among true and redshirt freshmen combined. Through six games, Fisher has thrown for 1,100 yards and eight touchdown passes, completing 86 of his 166 passes.
Only Lee Sweeney (11 games, 2,292 yards, 17 TDs) and Andre Sale (7 games, 1,520 yards, 8 TDs) have had better freshman production in program history, though Fisher could exceed Sale with an outstanding performance this weekend against the Tigers.
Powered by a 428-yard passing effort against Eastern Illinois, Tech is averaging 284 through the air through the last three games, 214.7 on the season.
The biggest bright side from Tech's last outing against Southeast Missouri was the breakthrough for the Golden Eagle rushing attack as freshman David Gist had Tech's first 100-plus rushing yard game this season with two touchdowns and five rushes for 108 yards. Andrew Goldsmith broke Tech's rushing touchdown drought with the team's first visit to the end zone in the contest.
Tech rushed for a season-high 198 yards last week, its highest output on the ground since running for 210 against Murray State in 2016.
While the offense has been flourishing, Tech has seen its roster decimated on the defensive side of the ball. But that has allowed some of the young players on that side to get valuable experience.
But Tech still has experience there in junior Josh Poplar at linebacker, who leads the team with 60 total tackles, as well as an interception return for a touchdown. Deontay Wilson is close behind at 57 tackles, while Shannon Fayne has 41 and a fumble recovery.
On special teams, Tech has a scoring threat in senior Nick Madonia, a recent addition to the Fred Mitchell Award watch list for top kicker in all levels of collegiate football except the Football Bowl Subdivision. Madonia leads the Golden Eagles in points scored with 44 and tied the school record for consecutive PATs made with his 59th against Southeast Missouri. He is 10-for-13 on field goals this season with the three longest kicks on the FCS level and the only Division I player to have three of the top 25 kicks this season.
Micheal Hughes is expected to start for the Tigers this week at quarterback. In four games, he has thrown for 668 yards and four touchdowns, completing 61 of his 99 passes. He has the OVC's top receiver in Chris Rowland, who had 543 yards on 39 catches with five touchdowns this season, averaging 135.8 yards per game.
The Tigers, like Tech, haven't had much luck on the rushing attack this season, averaging fewer yards per game than the Golden Eagles by a slight margin. T'Kendrick Roberson is averaging 45.8 yards per game with 229 total yards to lead the Tigers. DeMarco Corbin has four rushing touchdowns on 25 carries for 83 yards, but is averaging 16 yards per game.
Antonio Zita has hit seven of his eight field goals this season, his longest a 38-yarder. He is a perfect 7-for-7 between 20 and 39 yards.
Coming into this game, Tennessee State has lost three straight games and is playing its first home game since Sept. 1, making this weekend's Homecoming tilt a true Homecoming.
