All-Time Golden Wings Award Winners
By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech Athletics continued its recognition of the best and brightest of its more than 300 student-athletes by releasing two more winners of its 2020 Golden Wings Awards.
On Monday, Golden Eagle football head coach Dewayne Alexander was honored as the Coach of the Year. His squad was also recognized as the winner of the Game of the Year for its comeback, double-overtime victory over Samford to open the 2019 season.
Following back-to-back 1-10 seasons, little was expected of the Tech football program headed into the 2019 campaign, by the outsiders that is. The purple and gold were selected to finish last among the Ohio Valley Conference's nine teams in both the coaches/sports information directors poll and the media poll.
Thankfully, the second-year head coach paid very little attention to the prognosticators, guiding his team to a 6-6 overall record and the second-largest turnaround in FCS football. Alexander's squad turned in the most wins by a Tech team since 2011, when the purple and gold won its first OVC title in 37 years.
The team also collected its first victory over perennial power Jacksonville State since 2010, a benchmark win for a program on the rise. The 2019 edition of the Golden Eagles scored the second-most points in program history with 348, trailing only the 2011 squad with 355.
Setting the table for a renaissance-type year on the gridiron could have made the season-opener against Samford a Game of the Year nominee by itself. But it was the way it all went down at Tucker Stadium that will keep it ingrained in the memories of all who were fortunate enough to witness it and made it the easy choice for this year's Game of the Year.
Tech triumphed in the inaugural contest of the 2019 season, which also represented the kickoff of the 150th year of college football, edging the Bulldogs in an instant classic, 59-58. At one point, however, the Golden Eagles pulling off a win seemed even more unlikely than the team winning six games on the year did to those voting in the preseason polls just months before.
With just eight minutes to play in the contest, the purple and gold found itself in a 19-point hole, needing nothing short of a miracle to turn the tides. Enter sophomore quarterback Bailey Fisher and the beginning of one of the most dominant seasons by Golden Eagle signal-caller in program history.
The Clayton, Ga. native connected with tight end Tavin Kilpatrick for a 3-yard score with 7:51 to play, officially igniting the comeback. Samford responded at the 2:20 mark with a field goal, leaving the Golden Eagles with a 16-point deficit.
Tech embarked on a 56-yard drive, needing just six plays and 54 seconds to march down the field. Fisher again struck pay dirt, finding freshman wide receiver Justin Oden open from 12 yards out for the touchdown. He found the rookie again for a two-point conversion, making it just a one-score affair.
A pair of seniors delivered in giving the purple and gold the final possession with just 1:16 on the clock. Kicker Haidar Zaidan chipped an onside attempt towards the Samford return unit and wide receiver Darius Stafford recovered the ball 13 downfield, sending the Golden Eagle sideline into a frenzy.
Once again, Fisher took the reins of the offense and marched his team towards the end zone, using seven plays to go 52 yards. This time, the sophomore took it in himself, scampering in on the ground from eight yards out. He followed with another rushing attempt, stretching across the goal line for another two-point conversion to tie the game with just 31 seconds to go in regulation.
The Golden Eagles were the first to take the ball on offense in the first overtime period, needing just three plays to take their first lead since the first quarter. Fisher again found his way into the end zone on the ground, scoring from six yards out. Samford answered on three plays of its own, sending the game into a second overtime.
With the possession order switching for the second extra period, the Bulldogs took advantage and scored another touchdown on just two plays, moving back in front 58-51. Showing no panic on its sideline, Coach Alexander put the game in the hands of both Fisher and running back Andrew Goldsmith.
After a one-yard carry by the senior back, Fisher found him through the air for a 10-yard gain and a first down. The offense went back to Goldsmith again on the ground, and the Jackson, Tenn. native used a combination of power and finesse to romp his way into the end zone for a touchdown.
Not looking for a third period of overtime, Coach Alexander decided to end the game, one way or another on the next play. With the team opting to attempt a two-point conversion, the ball was put in the hands of Fisher.
The quarterback took one step back after the snap and tossed a floater to a wide-open David Gist in the end zone. The Cookeville native made an incredible leaping grab, falling in the end zone and holding on to give the Golden Eagles the incredible victory.
The Golden Wings Awards, which enters its fifth year, is an end-of-the-year award ceremony for the Tennessee Tech University student-athletes to honor and celebrate their academic and athletic accomplishments over the past complete seasons.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent cancellation of the remainder of campus activities for the 2019-20 academic year, the annual awards show was also canceled. The choice was made to still honor the student-athletes for their accomplishments, however, as each competitive season drawn from to determine the honors had been completed.
The timeframe of the awards period is the current season (2019-20 in this instance) except for sports that compete in the spring, including baseball, softball, outdoor track & field, men's golf, women's golf and tennis. With those sports typically competing with a large portion of their seasons still left at the time of the awards show, the previous campaigns (2018-19 in this instance) are recognized. The Man and Woman of the Year awards encompass the 2019-20 period for all sports.
Prior to the 2019 Golden Wings Awards, men's golf, women's golf and tennis were included from their current season, but due to scheduling conflicts and to allow a more complete campaign from which to gather nominees, the three sports were added to the rest of the spring sports in using its previous season for consideration.
Prior to the first Golden Wings Awards show, Tennessee Tech Athletics annually presented four awards to deserving student-athletes, including Male Athlete of the Year, Female Athlete of the Year, Man of the Year and Woman of the Year. The first honor established, for the 1990-91 academic year, was the Woman of the Year Award, coinciding with the first NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Two years later, in 1992-93, Tech established its Man of the Year Award. Both the Male Athlete of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year honors were added for the 1993-94 academic year. The four honors were officially adopted into the Golden Wings Awards, including criteria, for the 2016-17 academic year and all previous winners can also be found in the all-time list below.
