Posted: Nov 23, 2024
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech certainly did its part. With UT Martin defeating Lindenwood in overtime and Tennessee State beating Southeast Missouri in Nashville, the Golden Eagles earn their 11th Ohio Valley Conference championship – the first in tandem with the Big South. Not too shabby for a team that was projected seventh in the preseason.
Now, the waiting game begins as the Golden Eagles will find out whether they will make their second NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs appearance on Sunday morning at 11:30 a.m. The selection show will be aired live on ESPNU.
A selection show will be held on campus at Robert and Gloria Bell Hall (10 West 7th Street) and is open to the public. The doors will open at 11 a.m. Parking will be available in the lot behind the building on the corner of Mahler Avenue and West 6th Street.
With the 23-6 victory over Eastern Illinois, the game may have been close for a while, but the result was hardly in doubt. As has been the case for most of the season, the Tech defense kept the visiting Panthers quiet as EIU (3-9, 2-6 Big South-OVC) to 241 total yards, just 80 on the ground. It's the fifth time this season Tech's defense has held an opponent to under 300 yards of total offense and the seventh time to under 100 rushing yards.
As the Golden Eagles win their fifth-straight game – the longest in-season streak for Tech since 1999 – Tech wins seven games for the first time since the OVC-championship season of 2011.
Dom LeBlanc put the first points on the board as he kicked a 46-yard field goal to put a 3-0 lead on the board and that's where it stood at the end of the first stanza after EIU missed a kick with 3:52 remaining in the quarter.
After Kalvyn Crummie intercepted EIU backup quarterback Blainey Dowling, the drive set up another scoring drive as LeBlanc added a 20-yarder early in the second quarter.
On Tech's next drive, Dylan Laible and Jordan Yates moved the Golden Eagles up the field, including a 33-yard completion to Torin Baker. After a false start flag pushed Tech back to the 9, Yates called his own number and pushed forward for the touchdown. LeBlanc's PAT was good, giving Tech a 13-0 lead.
LeBlanc had a chance to put another three-spot on the board with just over 10 seconds left in the half, but the kick failed.
The Panthers had 31 total yards in the first quarter and 29 in the second.
After his miss, LeBlanc left no doubt on his next try. The drive was created as Xavier Randolph recovered his own forced fumble at the EIU 38 and returned it to the 28. Tech was able to get to the four-yard line, but no closer. The freshman kicker nailed the 22-yarder with ease to make it a 16-0 Tech lead.
EIU got the ball down to the Tech 4 following a 59-yard run for Jay Pearson. The Golden Eagle defense did its best to keep the Panthers out of the end zone as EIU had to run six plays at the goal line before the visitors finally got in – and even then, it had to be reviewed by the officials to make sure the Tech defense didn't actually hold Pearson out of the end zone on a two-yard rush.
The play stood, putting the Panthers on the scoreboard, but the two-point conversion try with time starting to run out on EIU was no good.
With the Golden Eagles pushing EIU deep into its own territory, the Panthers ended up punting the ball away to Yates, who collected the ball at the 41 and returned it to the EIU 30. Laible connected to Jalen Mitchell for a 21-yard reception – adding to his 131 rushing yards – to get out to the EIU 9, then freshman Tyler Wilson finished the drive off with a run up the middle. LeBlanc's PAT secured the final score at 23-6.
Mitchell ended the game with a game-best 152 all-purpose yards, while Yates rushed for 34 yards and Wilson 22. Laible ended the game with 88 yards on 9-of-16 passing, while Yates completed two of his three passes for 33 yards. Baker led the receivers with three catches for 49 yards, while Jay Parker had 32 yards on two catches. LeBlanc ended the game with 11 points.
On the defensive side, Aaron Swafford led the team with eight total tackles, while Jalin Shephard had seven and Tim Coutras, Daniel Rickert and Crummie each had six. Rickert, Crummie, Myles Parker and Theron Gaines each had a sack in the win.
Pierce Holley threw for 129 yards on 14-of-20 passing, while Downing was 4-for-8 for 32 yards. Pearson ended the game with 69 rushing yards on 11 carries, while M.J. Flowers, one of the league's top rushers, had just 22 yards on 11 carries. Cooper Willman caught nine passes for 86 yards, while C.J. Nelson had two catches for 21 yards. Anthony Shockey led the EIU defense with 11 tackles, with Drake Van Hyfte collecting a sack.
Photo | Jim Dillon
