COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Three non-conference opponents and eight Ohio Valley Conference foes build up what should be an exciting 2017 slate for the Tennessee Tech football team.

 

The Golden Eagles will be road warriors for the early part of the schedule with just two of their first seven games in the friendly confines of Tucker Stadium, then will host three of their final four foes.

 

"We are very excited about the quality of competition that our 2017 football schedule includes," said Tennessee Tech head football coach Marcus Satterfield, who is entering his second season in charge of the Golden Eagles. "I love the way our schedule is built with a very challenging opening month. We intend for the quality of opponents early on to help prepare us for the grind of playing eight straight conference games to end the season."

 

Satterfield continued, "We feel in order for us to keep improving the perception of our program's national brand, we must raise the level of out-of-conference competition."

 

Tech opens up 2017 with a visit from Western Illinois on Thursday, Aug. 31. The Fighting Leathernecks, under the second season of direction by head coach Charlie Fisher, finished 6-5 last season, which included a 38-21 victory over Eastern Illinois and a 28-23 win over Northern Illinois.

 

"We are very excited to start a series with a playoff-caliber opponent like Western Illinois," Satterfield said. "They compete in one of the best FCS conferences – the Missouri Valley Football Conference – in the country."

 

That game is the lone Thursday night game in the 2017 campaign.

 

The following week, Tech hits the road toward Atlanta to take on Kennesaw State. The Owls, out of the Big South Conference, finished 8-3 a year ago.

 

"Having to go on the road early to face a very good Kennesaw State program which finished last season with an 8-3 record, will be a great challenge to us," Satterfield said. "They are very athletic and play great defense. They will run the triple option on offense, which is always very hard to stop."

 

The Golden Eagles then follow that up with a visit to Muncie, Ind., for their annual meeting with a Football Bowl Subdivision foe – this year, the Ball State Cardinals. Ball State finished 4-8 last season, including a 41-14 victory over fellow OVC team Eastern Kentucky. The Cardinals finished 1-7 in the Mid-American Conference.

 

"It's always exciting to move up a level from the FCS to the FBS and compete," Satterfield said. "Ball State was in a transitional year last season. They lost some really close games down the stretch in an always tough MAC."

 

The Golden Eagles open up their OVC schedule on Sept. 23 with a visit to Richmond, Ky., to take on Eastern Kentucky.

 

Tech gets a brief return home on Sept. 30 as it hosts 2016 OVC-champion Jacksonville State.

 

The Golden Eagles then hit the road again as they head to Charleston, Ill., on Oct. 7 to take on Eastern Illinois, then head to Cape Girardeau, Mo., as they face Southeast Missouri on Oct. 14.

 

Following the open date on Oct. 21, Tech returns home to host three of its final four contests, entertaining Tennessee State (Oct. 28) and Austin Peay (Nov. 4), taking to the road for the final time in 2017 to visit Murray State (Nov. 11), then returning back to Tucker Stadium for the regular-season finale against UT Martin on Nov. 18.

 

Special events and promotions will be announced at a later date.

 

Season tickets are now on sale. For tickets, visit the Tennessee Tech ticket office in the Hooper Eblen Center, call (931) 372-3940, or visit TTUsports.com.