By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – "You can't touch me!," quarterback Willie Miller jested back to his defensive teammates during a drill on Wednesday's first day of camp. At that moment, it looked like his playful boast was true as the signal-caller picked up a big rushing gain on the play.
But he wasn't the only player on both sides of the ball making big plays as the Tennessee Tech team opened its annual fall camp, preparing for the 2021 campaign in the August heat at Tucker Stadium.
As the first day of camp tends to be special to most football fans, the 2021 opening day seems to be even more so as, for everyone involved, as it is a return to a traditional football schedule after playing the 2020-21 season this past spring, nearly four months ago.
The important thing, however, was the Golden Eagles were having fun on Wednesday. As the student-athletes were getting their refresher to Tennessee Tech football, the rapport and camaraderie was well apparent
While the preseason projection at Ohio Valley Conference Football Media Day wasn't where the Golden Eagles see themselves land this season, the team is far from concerned and working on proving the prognostication wrong -- especially since the team has a lot of firepower on both ends coming back and one of the deepest teams in recent memory. In all, Tech football returns eight offensive players who started at least four games last season, 10 on defense – including preseason all-OVC picks Chris Tucker and Josh Reliford, and five specialists.
Camp itself runs through Sunday, August 22, but the final practice session is Saturday, August 21, with the annual Gathering of Eagles event. More details on that will be announced soon. The team will have its first scrimmage of the camp sessions on Saturday, August 14.
As soon as camp concludes, the Golden Eagles will then prepare for the season opener on Thursday, September 2, as Tech travels to Samford. The home opener will be Saturday, September 11, as Tech hosts Furman, then the Golden Eagles travel to Neyland Stadium to take on Tennessee the following week. Tech opens OVC play at home on Saturday, September 25, with Eastern Illinois coming to town.
Tickets for Tech's 2021 season are on sale now. Call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or visit TTUsports.com to order.