By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech can add one more player to its all-time all-American roster. Sophomore quarterback Bailey Fisher was selected as a first-team athlete on HERO Sports' Sophomore All-America team, placing the Clayton, Ga., native squarely among the top second-year players in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Fisher is the first Tech selection to HERO Sports' Freshman or Sophomore All-American teams, while Dontez Byrd was on the site's third-team All-American roster in 2016. The pick is the Golden Eagles' 59th all-American nod in program history, the 32nd Tech player to receive such an honor.
It's hard to argue against the impact the sophomore signal-caller had for the Golden Eagles this season. Fisher, en route to helping Tech to a 6-6 record this season, broke six single-season records – 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.
This season, Fisher also moved into fifth in Tech's career passing list with 4,324 yards and fourth in career total offense with 5,159 yards. Lee Sweeney, with 7,157 passing and 6,805 total offensive yards, currently holds the career marks.
Fisher also set a school-record six touchdown passes against Eastern Illinois, while also rushing for a personal-best three scores against Samford and Western Illinois. He also passed for 415 yards – the third-best total in program history – in the win against the Bulldogs.
Fisher was a second-team All-Ohio Valley Conference selection and racked up several weekly awards over the course of the season as he was the OVC's Offensive Player of the Week three times, the STATS FCS National Offensive Player of the Week one time and honorable mention three more times, College Sports Madness' National Offensive Player of the Week once and was an honorable mention on the College Football Performance Awards. He was also named the Tennessee Sports Writers Association's Offensive Player of the Week twice this season.
Other OVC players on the squad included: Bucky Williams (Austin Peay, OL, first-team freshman), Jack McDonald (Austin Peay, LB, honorable mention sophomore), Tucker Schroeder (Eastern Kentucky, OL, honorable mention sophomore), Antonio Zita (Tennessee State, K, honorable mention sophomore), John Bachus III (UT Martin, QB, honorable mention freshman), Jamarius Landers (UT Martin, DL, honorable mention freshman) and Colton Dowell (UT Martin, TE, honorable mention sophomore).
