By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It will be an exciting slate for the Tennessee Tech football team in its first season under new head coach Bobby Wilder as the Golden Eagles will face two Football Bowl Subdivision opponents – including perennial powerhouse Georgia – as well as four out of the five games in Tucker Stadium against Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Football Association competition.
The combined conferences announced the slate Tuesday afternoon. Game times and special events will be announced at a later time.
"What an exciting schedule for our team in 2024," Wilder said. "We challenge ourselves early with FBS matchups vs. MTSU and Georgia before opening our Big South-OVC schedule at home vs. TSU. The league is balanced with a history of close games. Our goal will be 'Aim High' and compete for the league championship in 2024."
Tech opens the season on August 31 at historical rival Middle Tennessee. Even though the series against the Blue Raiders has been stagnant since 1998 with just one meeting in 2006 since they joined the FBS level, the series is still one of the longest in the Golden Eagles' soon-to-be 103rd season of varsity play. MTSU has a 35-32-7 edge in the all-time series with the Blue Raiders winning 14 of the last 16 meetings.
However, there will be a new sheriff in town overseeing the MTSU program as former Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason was hired back in December after the Blue Raiders finished the past season 4-8, including 3-5 in Conference USA play.
On September 7, the Golden Eagles will be going between the hedges as they take on Georgia down in Athens. This will be the third all-time meeting against the Bulldogs following their inaugural meeting in 1943, then the last contest between the two teams in 2009.
Georgia went 13-1 this past season, including an 8-0 finish in the Southeastern Conference regular season. After falling 27-24 in the SEC Championship to Alabama, the Bulldogs thrashed Florida State 63-3 in the Capital One Orange Bowl.
Following the two FBS contests, the Golden Eagles will take their bye week before opening Big South-OVC play in the home opener against Tennessee State. The Tigers went 6-5 this past season – their best overall finish since 2016. Tech shut out TSU 35-0 in the season finale, leaving the Tigers at 2-4 in the Big South-OVC, tied with Tech, Robert Morris and Charleston Southern in sixth.
On September 28, Tech hits the road to Boiling Springs, N.C., to take on Gardner-Webb. The Runnin' Bulldogs, now under the direction of Cris Reisert after former Tech quarterback-turned-head coach Tre Lamb took the job at East Tennessee State, earned the automatic bid to the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs after sharing the regular-season title with UT Martin. The tiebreaker with the Skyhawks was decided by their head-to-head meeting with Gardner-Webb winning 38-34.
Tech is 2-2 all-time against the Bulldogs after a 35-0 defeat at home this past season. The Golden Eagles' last visit to Boiling Springs was in 2006 under interim coach Doug Malone.
As the calendar page turns to October, Tech will welcome in South Carolina State on Oct. 5. SCSU also brought in a new head coach as Chennis Berry took over the program in December. The Bulldogs went 5-6 this past season, including a 3-2 record in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
The Golden Eagles toppled SCSU 28-7 in the October 14th meeting in Orangeburg this past season, the first contest between the two schools.
Tech will then hit the road for back-to-back Big South-OVC contests as it heads to Cape Girardeau to take on Southeast Missouri (October 12), then up to Macomb to take on conference newcomer Western Illinois (October 19).
Southeast Missouri finished this past season with a 4-7 record, going 3-3 in the Big South-OVC. The Redhawks won this past season's meeting in Cookeville 28-3. The series against SEMO is all square at 16 wins each.
The new year will see the third meeting all-time against the Leathernecks and the first as conference foes. The visiting team has won both of the earlier meetings with WIU winning 41-14 in 2017 in Cookeville, then the Golden Eagles winning 38-24 in Macomb.
While Charleston Southern was a member of the Big South-OVC this past season, the Buccaneers' path didn't cross with the Golden Eagles as the two teams will meet for the first time in program history on October 26 at Tucker Stadium. CSU finished 4-7 this past year, 2-4 in league play.
On November 2, Lindenwood comes back to Tucker Stadium for a conference contest. The Lions enter their third season on the Division I level with each team splitting the two meetings with the home team emerging victorious.
Tech then goes on the road for its final non-conference opponent of the slate as the Golden Eagles head down to Birmingham to take on Samford. A former Ohio Valley Conference member, the Bulldogs hold a 14-11 all-time series record in a run that started all the way back in 1934. The last six meetings are split 3-3, but Samford has won the last two meetings. Tech's last victory was a thrilling 59-58 double-overtime contest at Tucker Stadium in 2019.
The Golden Eagles' final road contest of the season is November 16 as they head to UT Martin. Tech took the Skyhawks to the brink in overtime with a heartbreaking 44-41 loss. UTM tied Gardner-Webb in the conference standings for a share of the regular-season title, going 8-3 on the season and 5-1 in league play.
Tech closes out the season with a visit from Eastern Illinois. The Golden Eagles did not see the Panthers this past season in the inaugural Big South-OVC campaign, but Tech won the last meeting 20-17 in Charleston in the 2022 season. EIU is 21-8 against the Golden Eagles all-time.
Photo | Emily Armstrong, file
