Posted: Nov 10, 2016
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – There's still plenty for the Tennessee Tech football team to play for as the season winds down in its final two weeks.
The Golden Eagles head to Nashville to take on Tennessee State in their final road game of the season, with kickoff scheduled for 3 p.m.
But as Tech gets set to face the Tigers, the Golden Eagles can earn a share of the Sergeant York Trophy championship with a win – forcing a three-way tie with TSU and UT Martin. The Skyhawks, however, would get to keep the trophy by virtue of being involved with the tie and being the defending champion. If TSU wins the game, the Tigers will win the trophy.
The Golden Eagles, with a victory this week or next week at home against Murray State, can also stake a claim on their first .500-or better season in the Ohio Valley Conference since Tech's OVC championship run in 2011.
Tennessee State (6-3, 3-2 OVC) leads the overall series against the Golden Eagles 16-11, and had won four straight meetings from 2011 to 2015 before Tech pulled together a 30-24 victory in Cookeville last season.
In last year's win, Ladarius Vanlier ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns, while also finishing the game with 204 all-purpose yards. Brock McCoin threw a 17-yard touchdown strike to Krys Cates to make it a 30-21 lead early in the fourth quarter. TSU kicked a field goal, but wasn't able to muster more.
Erick Evans, who returns for this year's meeting, led the Tigers with 111 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries.
Quarterback Ronald Butler comes into the game as the reigning OVC offensive player of the week after a thrilling 41-40 victory over Austin Peay last week. He led a six-play, 81-yard scoring drive with 65 seconds remaining, throwing a 21-yard pass to Steven Newbold for the score – his sixth touchdown of the day.
Butler ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns, while he also threw for four touchdowns and 212 yards as he completed 12 of his 23 passes.
For the season, Butler has completed 114 of his 191 passes for 1,651 yards. He has thrown 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions. On the ground, he is the Tigers' second-leading rusher with 437 yards on 73 totes with six touchdowns.
Evans leads the Tigers with 550 yards on 118 carries with four touchdowns.
Through the air, Patrick Smith is TSU's top target, catching 45 passes for 735 yards and 11 touchdowns, including a 93-yard reception this season.
Defensively, Chris Collins leads the Tigers with 68 tackles, 1.3 sacks, two interceptions, four pass break-ups and a forced fumble.
Tennessee Tech (3-6, 3-3 OVC) comes into the contest after a tough outing in Knoxville last week against Tennessee, blanked 55-0.
Receiver Dontez Byrd had a solid outing, catching nine passes for 121 yards against his bigger brothers in the Football Bowl Subdivision. For the season, Byrd has caught 51 passes for 623 yards and four touchdowns.
Michael Birdsong has thrown for 2,131 yards and 12 touchdowns, while Yeedee Thaenrat leads Tech's rushing attack with 425 yards on 125 carries with four touchdowns.
Josh Poplar leads the Tech defense with 89 tackles, with one pass break-up, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
The game will be carried on 98.5 KISS FM with Roger Ealey providing play-by-play duties and Dylan Vazzano on color. The game is also the OVC Game of the Week on ESPN3 with Kevin Ingram on play-by-play and Bob Belvin on color.
