By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
Oct. 24, 1998
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – As the Tennessee Tech football team took to the field to take on Eastern Kentucky on a warm and sunny October afternoon at Tucker Stadium, the Golden Eagles were ready to end a long futility streak against the Colonels.
When legendary EKU head coach Roy Kidd took over the Colonel program in 1964, the Tech gridders welcomed him with a 27-7 defeat. Kidd and the EKU team returned the favor the following year, defeating the Golden Eagles 28-14. Tech picked up a 7-3 win in Richmond in 1966, then the Colonels strung together five straight wins before the Golden Eagles were victorious again in the OVC-championship campaign in 1972.
1973 and 1974 both saw wins go to the Colonels, then Tech won 14-3 in 1975, another title for the Golden Eagles. But after that game? Nothing but losses as Eastern Kentucky took the next 22 contests as Kidd led the Colonels into a dominant period with two Division I-AA (now the Division I Football Championship Subdivision) national championships in 1979 and 1982 and runners-up in 1980 and 1981.
When the coach wrapped up his career in 2002, his overall record stood at 314-124-8. Only six of those losses came at the hands of the Golden Eagles. This is the story of one of those Tech victories.
It was the third season for head coach Mike Hennigan, who had an 11-11 record overall, 7-7 in the OVC as the 1998 campaign opened. The former Golden Eagle and NFL linebacker saw a 5-6 record in his first season, claiming conference wins against UT Martin, Southeast Missouri, Austin Peay and Tennessee State. The Golden Eagles went 6-5 in 1997 with league wins over SEMO, UTM, Murray State and the last win over Middle Tennessee before the Blue Raiders jumped up to the Sun Belt Conference and the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision.
However, 1998 didn't start off on a great note. Following a 52-0 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan to open the season, Tech dropped its next four games – a 38-6 loss to UAB and future Golden Eagle head coach Watson Brown, a 13-6 loss at Eastern Illinois, a 19-16 loss to now-non-conference MTSU, then a 29-24 loss to SEMO.
The Golden Eagles got back on the winning side of things with an overtime win at UT Martin, topping the Skyhawks 31-24. Tech came into the game with the top defense in the conference, with 10 players (Jerry Turner, Joshua Symonette, Eddie Arnell, Gabe Villarreal, Tommy McDaniel, Jordan Holbrook, Chad Evitts, Branon Vaughn, Josh Harris and Santravius McKeever) ranked in the top 10 in the league in various categories. Also notable was freshman kicker David Collett ranked 15th in the NCAA in field goals per game.
Eastern Kentucky, that season, started 3-1 – the only blemish being a 52-7 loss to Kentucky – but as the Colonels started OVC play, they dropped back-to-back games to Tennessee State and Murray State, leaving the upcoming game against the Golden Eagles to turn the tide and avoid their first three-game OVC losing streak since 1972.
The Colonels put up the only points of the first quarter as Rondel Menendez broke free for a 54-yard run to cap off a six-play, 65-yard drive after Tech turned the ball over on downs at the EKU 35. Stephen Brown put up the PAT and the Colonels led 7-0 after one.
The Golden Eagles tied the game up with 8:50 left in the first half as quarterback Michael Peeples threw a five-yard pass to Brian Jackson for the score, with David Collett completing the point-after.
The field goal battle began as Collett hit a 20-yarder with 1:25 left in the half to put the Golden Eagles up 10-7 at the intermission. After the Colonels were held to the Tech 11 on the opening drive, Brown tied the game up with a 29-yard field goal.
Before the third quarter was over, the Golden Eagles retook the lead as Peeples led the Tech team down the field for a seven-play drive, culminating in a 16-yard touchdown pass to Walter Hill. The Collett PAT saw the Golden Eagles end the quarter with a 17-10 lead.
The Colonels, however, weren't finished. Midway through the final period of regulation, Colonel quarterback Jon Denton threw a 34-yard pass to Alexander Bannister, Brown's PAT knotting the game at 17 with 6:53 left in the fourth.
Neither team was able to put much together in their final two possessions, sending the game to overtime. The OVC adopted the overtime rule in 1982 and it was only the sixth time the Golden Eagles had to go to the extra session, yet the first time in program history that it happened in consecutive games.
Eastern Kentucky won the coin toss and elected to go on defense. The Golden Eagles were able to get to the EKU 9, sending Collett out for the 26-yarder and clearing it. The Colonels got to the Tech 13, but Vaughn sacked Denton twice for 14 total yards to push EKU back to the Tech 24. Brown's 40-yard was good, sending the game to a second overtime.
The Colonels had better luck moving down the field in its second attempt, clawing its way to the Tech 2, but Harris caught Brian Durham in the backfield, then Symonette broke up Denton's pass to Bannister to force another field goal for Brown, a 22-yarder. On Tech's second go-round, an illegal procedure call slowed the Golden Eagles down, only able to reach the EKU 23, but Collett knocked the 40-yarder through to send the game to a third overtime and officially making it the longest game in program history.
In the third overtime, both teams have to attempt a two-point conversion after touchdowns – a rule that had just been adopted that season – and that became the deciding factor in the contest. Tech had a chance to stall the Colonel drive with a 15-yard holding call against EKU to put the ball back to the Golden Eagle 38, but a roughing the passer call against Tech negated the advantage. EKU went from the 25 to the 9 on a 16-yard pass from Denton to Mendendez, then the two connected again two plays later for a touchdown.
A delay of game call against the Colonels pushed the two-point try back to the Tech 7. Reputable sources say that the EKU staff was unfamiliar with the two-point conversion rule change and the team sent the kicking unit on only to have to recall them to run an offensive play, or at least that's how the story was told. Regardless, the penalty proved costly as Derick Logan's rush attempt failed.
The pressure was then on the Golden Eagles. They had to have a touchdown and complete the two-point conversion to win the game. A touchdown would just send it to a fourth overtime and anything else was a defeat.
Starting from the standard overtime spot of the 25, Peeples' first pass attempt fell incomplete, then the Colonels were whistled for roughing the passer on the next play, putting the ball on the EKU 12. Nick Solomon rushed for no gain, then Hill caught a six-yard pass from Peeples to cut the distance in half once again. On the next play, Peeples threw over the middle to tight end Brad Taylor for the touchdown, tying the game.
Amid confusion on what play to run for the potential game-winner, the Golden Eagles elected to run the same play – Peeples over the middle to Taylor.
It worked. The pass made the connection and the Golden Eagles broke the streak, 31-29 the final.
Offensively, the Golden Eagles outgained the Colonels 332 to 261, beating EKU 214 to 152 on passing and a slight 118 to 109 advantage on the ground. For Tech, Peeples threw three touchdowns on 23-of-41 passing with an interception and 214 yards. Hill had nine catches for 57 yards and a score. Solomon rushed 18 times for 45 yards and Jerome Tillman had 53 yards on 12 carries.
For EKU, Denton ended the game with 152 yards and two touchdowns on 13-of-22 passing, with Menendez catching six passes for 63 yards and Bannister four for 74, both with a touchdown. Menendez also rushed for a team-high 54 yards and a score, while Logan had 41 yards on 13 carries and Durham 14 carries for 31 yards.
Defensively, Harris and Vaughn both recorded double-digit tackles – 12 and 11 respectively – as Vaughn had seven tackles-for-loss for 43 yards and five sacks for 39 yards, school records in totals and yardage, as well as two forced fumbles. The five sacks are tied with Elois Grooms in a 1974 game against Murray State.
Vaughn, who later became a coach with the Golden Eagles, was inducted into the Tech Hall of Fame in 2009. Teammates Chad Evitts (2011) and Wes Gallagher (2013) are also in the Tech hall, while freshmen D.J. Bleisath (2015) and Grant Swallows (2012) went on to later success with the Golden Eagles and was inducted in the TTU Sports Hall of Fame.
The coaching staff itself also featured a few notable names. In addition to Hennigan, Mike Smith, who later became the head coach of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, was the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. Jeff Fela was the offensive coordinator and line coach, Gerald Brown oversaw the quarterbacks and wide receivers, Ted Lockerby – a former Golden Eagle himself, whose son, Clark, is on the 2020 roster – was the defensive line coach and Eric Roark was the defensive secondary coach.
There was also one more assistant on that staff – a familiar one at that – as the offensive backs were coached by current Tech head coach Dewayne Alexander during his first coaching tenure at the university.
While the 1998 season didn't finish on a high note as Tech fell in three of the final four games of the season, the team did trend upward for the following seasons, going 5-5 in 1999, then entering the new millennium with an 8-3 mark in 2000 and 7-3 in 2001.
