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COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- A first-team all-OVC selection at offensive
guard who helped bulldoze the way for Tennessee Tech's ball
carriers on the way to numerous school and league records and the
1972 Ohio Valley Conference championship, Howard Cochran will soon
be enshrined in the TTU Sports Hall of Fame for his endeavors on
the football field.
Cochran is one of five former Golden Eagle student-athletes who
will be inducted as the Class of 2014 at the annual Hall of Fame
Dinner, scheduled for Friday, Nov. 7, in the Multipurpose Room of
the Roaden University Center. The induction dinner is part of
Homecoming festivities. Tickets for the dinner, or the Saturday
afternoon game against Southeast Missouri, can be purchased through
the Athletics Ticket Office in Eblen Center or by calling (931)
372-3940.
A four-year letterwinner (1969-72) on the Golden Eagle gridiron,
Cochran was a member of the 1972 Ohio Valley Conference
championship team under head coach Don Wade. The Golden Eagles went
10-2 that season and a perfect 7-0 in conference play, capping off
the year with an appearance in the Grantland Rice Bowl versus
Louisiana Tech.
Cochran stood 6-foot-5 and weighed in at 245 as a senior (that was
pretty big in 1972), and headed into the season as a veteran
lineman and starter at guard. Affectionately known as “Red
Bone,” Cochran opened his career as a guard and played some
as a freshman. He moved to the defensive line as a sophomore, a
role that lasted half a season before the coaches moved him back to
the offensive line where he started the remainder of his career. He
helped push the team toward numerous offensive records in
‘72, incuding most rushing attempts in a single game (83 vs.
Morningside). It also broke an OVC record that Cochran helped set
in 1971 (71 rushes vs. Youngstown) and 1969 (71 rushes vs. Austin
Peay).
The team also broke the OVC record for most rushes in a season
(773, shattering the previous record of 534 set by Morehead State
and breaking a previous school record that Cochran helped to set,
609 rushes in 1971) and logged second-most rushing yards in TTU
history in a single season (2,593).
Against Morningside, the team also set the record for most plays in
a single game in school history with 94. At that time, it claimed
the No. 1 spot in the TTU record book as well as the Ohio Valley
Conference record book.
The Golden Eagles also set the following school records in 1972:
most first downs in a single season with 144 (record still stands
today), most field goals in a single game (3 vs. Western Kentucky),
most first downs rushing (23 vs. Morningside). For his efforts on
the ’72 championship team, Cochran was one of nine Golden
Eagles named first-team all-OVC.
At the guard position as a true freshman, Cochran blocked for one
of the most productive runningbacks in school history during Larry
Schreiber’s final season in 1969. That year, Schreiber put up
a team-high 1,522 yards of total offense and 1,901 all-purpose
yards. Schreiber also led the team in scoring with 78 points,
lining up behind Cochran.
Over the course of his career, the Golden Eagles amassed a 27-15
record, 18-10 record in the OVC.
In 1973, Cochran was signed as a free agent by the Philadelphia
Eagles, and also spent one training camp with the Jacksonville
Sharks of the WFL. Cochran earned his undergraduate degree in
education from Tennessee Tech. He recently retired after a lengthy
career teaching and coaching on the high school level.
