GAME IS ALSO MILITARY and PUBLIC SAFETY APPRECIATION DAY, and SCOUT DAY

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Tech hosts No. 9 Chattanooga Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Tucker Stadium on a day with several special events planned, including a pregame recognition of 17 seniors who are making their final home field appearance.

The forecast is for mosty sunny skies and cool temperatures with low humidity at kickoff time Saturday. There is currently no chance of rain, with a high of 47 predicted. Should be a bright and cheerful day, especially of the Golden Eagles can pull off their second consecutive home victory over a Top 25 team. ENJOY!

#9 Chattanooga Mocs (7-3, 6-0 Southern)
at Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (4-6, 3-4 OVC)
Saturday, Nov. 15 • 1:30 p.m. CT
Tucker Stadium (16,500) • Cookeville, Tenn.

THE SERIES: Chattanooga holds a 28-10 all-time lead in the series, which dates back to 1938. The two schools met five straight years (1938-42), then had the series interrupted by WWII. They resumed play in 1945 and played four more times in the 40s (1945-49), and every year from 1957 until 1973. After a 13-year hiatus, the in-state series resumed again in 1986 and was held every year for six seasons through 1991. There was a single meeting in 1997, then the teams agreed to a five-year contract and met every year between 2002 and 2006, which was the last meeting. Chattanooga won the last outing, 31-7, in Cookeville in 2006. Tech's last victory in the series was a 52-34 shootout in 2004. Tech is 4-9 against the Mocs in Cookeville.

THE TTU SENIOR CLASS: The 2014 senior class includes 17 players who will be seeing their final home action on Saturday. Tech's seniors, in alphabetical order: DaJuan Brown, Stephen Bush, Neil Gannaway, James Huguely, Marty Jones, Cody Matthews, Tevin McDermott, Midoho Okpokowuruk, Patrick Prewitt, Randall Reeves, Zach Sharp, Matthew Smith, Conor Sparkman, Darian Stone, Austin Tallant, Ben Viaene, and Cory Webber. The senior class initially included Tra'Darius Goff, but he is on medical redshirt status and return for one more year in 2015.

GAME NOTES: In-state rivals Chattanooga and Tennessee Tech are playing for the first time since the 2006 season on Saturday. Overall it marks the 39th all-time meeting in the series. The two teams opened the 2006 campaign with the Mocs winning 31-7 in Cookeville. The game was tied at 7-7 following the first quarter before Eldra Buckley scored two of his three touchdowns in the second quarter to help push the Mocs to the victory; Buckley finished the game with 204 yards (11.3 yards/carry) while Erroll Wynn averaged 12.2 yards/carry on five carries. Lee Sweeney passed for 106 yards for TTU while Derek White led the rushing attack with 54 yards. Overall Chattanooga has won the last two meetings in the series; those two wins were preceded by three-straight wins by TTU (2002-04).
 
SCOUTING CHATTANOOGA: Chattanooga became the second FCS team to lockup a berth in the FCS Playoffs when it earned the Southern Conference's automatic bid with a 31-13 win over Wofford on Saturday. The Mocs, ranked No. 9 in both of the latest national Top 25 polls, are now 6-0 in SoCon play with only a game with Furman left on their conference slate. It will mark the first playoff berth for the program since 1984 (and just second trip overall) and is the third outright SoCon title for the program (1979, 1984, 2014); UTC shared the league crown last year but missed out on the playoffs due to a tiebreaker. The Mocs played a challenging non-conference schedule and its only losses this season are to FBS foes Central Michigan and Tennessee and OVC foe Jacksonville State. Against Wofford junior quarterback Jacob Huesman completed 26-of-33 passes for 250 yards and a touchdown while Keon Williams rushed for 91 yards and three touchdowns. Huesman moved into eighth place in school history in total offense (7,382) and sixth place in career rushing yards (2,369) after running for 36 yards on 13 carries. On the season he has completed 66.2 percent of his passes while passing for 15 touchdowns and rushing for seven scores. Williams leads the team with 718 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. All-American Davis Tull has 16.5 tackles-for-loss and 10.0 sacks for the Chattanooga defense; he has 36.5 career sacks which is now tied for the SoCon all-time record.
 
SCOUTING TENNESSEE TECH: Tech won its third OVC game of the season (its most Conference wins since winning the OVC Championship in 2011) by coming-from-behind to defeat Southeast Missouri 27-26. The Golden Eagles fell behind 13-0 and trailed for most of the fourth quarter until backup quarterback Jared Davis directed the team on a 76-yard scoring drive which was capped by a 32-yard touchdown run by Willie Davis. Davis finished the day with 216 passing yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 51 yards and a score. Davis had a team-high 75 yards on nine carries (8.3 ypc). Freshman Brock McCoin had seven catches for 120 yards, marking his second 100-yard receiving game of the season. Senior Austin Tallant was named OVC Co-Defensive Player of the Week after registering 12 tackles and an interception in the win. He had a key stop on at the one-yard line on third down on Southeast's final scoring drive of the day, causing the Redhawks to go for a field goal instead of a touchdown; Tallant also forced a incomplete pass on Southeast's next-to-last play of the day, which resulted in a long field goal on the next play (which was blocked). As a team Tech ranks second nationally in fumbles recovered (16) and 10th in turnovers gained (23).
 
The 98.5 Kiss FM Tailgate Park opens Saturday at 10:30 a.m., with the Golden Eagle Walk scheduled for 11:15 a.m. Tickets to the game are available online (TTUsports.com), or through the Athletic Ticket Office in Eblen Center by visiting or calling (931) 372-3940.
 
Click here to read more in the TTU vs. EIU game notes (PDF)