EASTERN ILLINOIS GAME NOTES | TENNESSEE TECH GAME NOTES

By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Tennessee Tech hits the road for its final away Ohio Valley Conference contest of the football season, heading north to take on Eastern Illinois in Charleston on Saturday.

Kickoff for Saturday's game is set for 2 p.m. Roger Ealey and Dylan Vazzano will handle the broadcast on 98.5 KISS FM, while Mike Bradd and Dave Kidwell will have the call on ESPN+ (subscription required).

The Golden Eagles are coming off of a heartbreaking overtime loss to Kennesaw State last week. Tech (1-6, 0-3 OVC) scored a go-ahead touchdown with 27 seconds remaining in regulation as Jeremiah Oatsvall completed a scoring strike to Willie Miller. However, the home Owls tied the game with a field goal to send the contest to an extra session, then scored a touchdown after Tech was held to a field goal in the first round.

Tech is trying to break a five-game losing streak, a seven-game road losing streak and a 10-game OVC road losing streak. The last time the Golden Eagles won on the road was the October 2021 contest at North Carolina Central. The last road conference victory came in November 2019 at Murray State.

However, O'Brien Field has not been a kind place for the Golden Eagles over the years. Tech has a 7-21 record all-time against the Panthers with just four of the 14 meetings in Charleston going to the Golden Eagles. The Panthers have also won nine of the last 10 – the single win coming in 2019 as quarterback Bailey Fisher set a new Tech record with six touchdown passes.

Tech's schedule has been challenging with five teams in the first seven games being ranked at least one point this season and the Golden Eagles have been in contention in almost all of them.

The Panthers (2-5, 1-1 OVC) have also seen a tough road in the first season for head coach Chris Wilkerson after a nine-year stint at the University of Chicago. The former EIU player's squad gave Northern Illinois a battle in the season opener, but then dropped games to Chattanooga and Illinois State before finally claiming back-to-back victories over Murray State and Northwestern State.

EIU took OVC newcomer Lindenwood to double overtime before the Lions prevailed 37-34 – though the game did not count as a league game this season as determined before the year started. Last week, the Panthers dropped a 37-17 decision at Nissan Stadium against Tennessee State.

The two teams are fairly even in points scored and allowed as the Panthers are averaging 25.0 points per game and allowing 32.7. Tech is averaging 22.3 points and 36.6 allowed. Eastern has a slight advantage on rushing as the Panthers have picked up an average of 165.6 yards per game to Tech's 142.9, while the Golden Eagles have the advantage on passing with a 230.3-yard average to EIU's 144.7.

Jonah O'Brien leads the Panthers in passing with 843 yards and nine touchdowns on 86-of-132 passing with eight interceptions. He has also rushed for 46 yards and four touchdowns on 52 carries. Dom Shoffner also has four rushing scores with 267 yards on 49 carries. Markenz Pierre leads EIU in rushing with 367 yards on a team-high 79 attempts. Nile Hill has 216 yards on 23 catches, while Justin Thomas has 210 yards on 17 catches – both with two touchdowns. DeAirious Smith also has two touchdown catches among his 10 completions for 120 yards.

Defensively, the Panthers have the most interceptions in the conference, picking off 11 passes. They are the fourth-best pass defense in the league this season – trailing Tennessee State, Lindenwood and Tech. EIU is third in rush defense, trailing Southeast Missouri and UT Martin.

Kicker Stone Galloway ranks fifth in the conference in scoring with 47 total points this season as he has gone perfect on field goals at 9-for-9, while also recording a 20-for-20 record on extra point tries.

Oatsvall leads the Golden Eagles with 1,524 passing yards and 262 rushing yards for 15 combined touchdowns. Willie Miller (247 receiving yards), David Gist (358 rushing, 145 passing, six total touchdowns) and Heath Price (144 receiving yards) each have caught three touchdown passes to lead Tech.

Tech kicker Hayden Olsen went 3-for-3 last week on field goals and extended his PAT perfection streak to 57-of-57, trailing Zach Sharp (59) and Nick Madonia (66) for the program's longest extra-point success rate.

The Golden Eagle defense is paced by Seth Carlisle, who currently ranks fifth in the OVC in tackles with 64 total, recording 16 last week at Kennesaw State. Carlisle also has two tackles-for-loss, two pass breakups and a QB hurry. Josh Reliford also has 50 tackles with two breakups and a hurry.

Tech returns to Tucker Stadium next week for the annual Homecoming contest, facing Lindenwood.

Tickets for that game are available – call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or visit TTUsports.com.

Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information