By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – If Tennessee Tech could find a way to put its fourth-quarter production to work for an entire 60 minutes, the Golden Eagles might be onto something.
A couple of costly turnovers early saw Tennessee State build momentum early and Micheal Hughes made the Golden Eagles pay, leading the Tigers to a 41-14 Homecoming win at Nissan Stadium on Saturday evening.
Tech fell to 0-7 on the season, 0-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play, while the Tigers improve to 3-3, 2-2 in the league.
The Golden Eagles move to 0-1 in the Sergeant York Trophy race, while TSU improves to 1-1.
In the fourth quarter alone, Tech scored all 14 of its points and had 157 of it 279 total yards in the contest. Freshman quarterback Bailey Fisher threw a 12-yard pass from Andrew Goldsmith to break the scoring drought with 8:54 remaining in the contest, then Fisher added a one-yard touchdown run for the final touchdown.
Nick Madonia also added his 60th and 61st PATs to his collection, taking sole possession of Tech's consecutive PAT record and stretching it into next week's contest at Austin Peay.
Fisher ended the game with 188 yards passing on a 16-of-30 day, while also leading Tech on the ground with 14 carries for 22 yards. The Golden Eagles were held to 79 yards on the ground, its lowest rushing total of the season.
However, the Tigers pulled together 472 yards of offense, the second-lowest opposing output of the season. Chattanooga had the lowest tally with 455.
Hughes threw for 318 yards on 22-of-27 passing, and the Tigers were able to put together two scoring drives together coming off of Tech turnovers.
Madonia had chances to put Tech on the scoreboard with three field goal tries, but went 0-for-3, missing from 58, 47 and 40 yards.
The Golden Eagles return to action next week as they travel to Austin Peay on Saturday. Kickoff from Fortera Stadium is 4 p.m.
Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information