By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
LOGAN, Utah – When Tennessee Tech loads up the planes on Wednesday and heads across the country to take on Utah State on Thursday night, the goal still remains the same – try to come back with a win.
Tech takes on the Aggies at 7 p.m. CT time from Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium.
The game will be streamed live on Facebook via Stadium (www.facebook.com/StadiumCollegeFootball) with Ari Wolf, Darius Walker, Kristen Balboni and Paige Zamora providing the call and sideline coverage. Roger Ealey and Dylan Vazzano will broadcast the game live on the Golden Eagle Sports Network on 98.5 KISS FM.
That said, visiting the Football Bowl Subdivision is no easy feat. Since the 1978 Division I split that created the Football Bowl Subdivision and the Football Championship Subdivision, the Golden Eagles are 2-33 against the bigger brothers in the FBS. Tech's two wins came against Western Carolina in 1978 and 1980 before the Southern Conference dropped down into the FCS in 1982.
Tech has faced two teams from the Mountain West Conference before, squaring off with Air Force in 2001 and former member TCU in 2010.
However, Utah State isn't a foe the Golden Eagles are familiar with. It's the first meeting between the two schools in football. Against competition from the FCS level, the Aggies are an astounding 81-17-6 and have won their last 11 contests – all against schools from the Big Sky Conference. USU has never faced a team from the Ohio Valley Conference.
The biggest challenge for the Golden Eagles, however, will be overcoming one of the most experienced teams in the country. The Aggies return nine starters on each side of the ball as well as 47 letterwinners. USU returns the third-most starters in the country behind Florida and Michigan State – a team that held on to beat the Aggies in the season opener.
Tech is on the opposite end of the spectrum with 42 redshirt or true freshmen on the roster, including 20 taking prominent positions in the 65-spot depth chart.
USU also has a solid quarterback behind center in Jordan Love, who has completed 43 of his 71 passes for 478 yards and a touchdown. While the Aggies tend to favor the passing game a little more – not too surprising in the rarefied air in the 4,530-feet of elevation for Logan, Utah, compared to 1,096 in Cookeville – Utah State also has a pair of running backs who can also move the ball well. Gerold Bright has rushed for 132 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries – an average of 8.2 yards per touch – while Darwin Thompson has 124 yards and three touchdowns on the same number of totes – an average of 7.8 yards per carry.
But Love does like to air out the ball, finding 13 different players this season for at least one reception. Dax Raymond and Ron'quavian Tarver each have eight to pace the Aggies, but Jalen Greene has the lone receiving score for their season.
On defense, linebacker David Woodward leads the team with 29 total stops, including one sack for 11 yards and two quarterback hurries.
However, the Aggies' scoring is led by junior kicker Dominik Eberle, who was named the Mountain West Conference's Special Teams Player of the Week with 24 points against New Mexico State on six field goals and six point-after tries, including three field goals of 51 yards. He is 7-for-7 this season on field goals and 10-for-10 on extra points with a team-high 31 points.
For Tech, true freshman quarterback Bailey Fisher is continuing to get better. The Georgia product has thrown for 296 yards and a touchdown on 29-of-56 passing, and is also the team's second-leading rusher with 116 yards on 19 carries. Andrew Goldsmith leads Tech in that category with 21 carries for 117 yards.
Fisher has thrown the ball to 13 different receivers in two games, led by Josh Cunningham with seven catches for 63 yards. Goldsmith has 68 yards on five catches.
On defense, Shannon Fayne leads the way with 19 total tackles, buoyed by his 14-stop night against Kennesaw State. Josh Poplar is second with 15 tackles and an interception return for a touchdown.
Nick Madonia leads the Golden Eagles in scoring with eight points, going 2-for-3 on field goals and 2-for-2 on PATs.
Photo by Tony Marable
