By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – With the 2019 season in the books, the future certainly looks bright for Tennessee Tech football.
With a 6-6 finish after two consecutive years of 1-10 finishes, the Golden Eagles tied for second in the Football Championship Subdivision in increased wins. Sacramento State saw the biggest turnaround in 2019, going from 2-8 a year ago to going 9-3, including a 7-1 record in the Big Sky Conference.
Tech, UT Martin and Southern Illinois all saw win increases of five to improve on their 2018 campaigns.
In Tech's 98 seasons of football, the 2019 squad is tied for the 16th most wins in a single year.
The Golden Eagles also saw six single-season records fall at the hands of sophomore quarterback Bailey Fisher. The Clayton, Ga., native finished the season with 231 completions, 375 pass attempts, 2,643 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, 32 combined rushing and passing touchdowns and 3,132 yards of total offense – all new Tech records.
Tech scored the second-most points in program history with 348, trailing only the 2011 squad with 355; and had the most first downs in school history (249).
In OVC weekly honors, the Golden Eagles claimed 10 awards, including offensive player of the week nods for Fisher, a defensive honor for Seth Carlisle, two specialist recognitions for Haidar Zaidan and four newcomer of the week selections for Metrius Fleming. The 10 players of the week selections trail only the 1990 squad, who had 13 players of the week.
The 2019 team also had a national player of the week selection from STATS FCS for Fisher, while the team recorded eight national player of the week honorable mentions with Fisher, Fleming, Aderick Moore and Zaidan earning recognition. Fisher and Moore earned national player of the week honors from College Sports Madness, while Fisher picked up an honorable mention from the College Football Performance Awards.
More hardware could be in store for the Golden Eagles on Tuesday as the Ohio Valley Conference announces its all-OVC teams and postseason awards.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
