The Tennessee Tech football team heads to Clarksville to try to redeem itself after a pair of back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference losses. On Saturday, the Golden Eagles (1-4, 0-2 OVC) will be taking on the Governors of Austin Peay (2-2, 1-0 OVC) who are coming off of a bye week.
“We lost two games in ten days by five points,” Tech coach Watson Brown said. “It’s been hard on us.”
Tech fell at Southeast Missouri 23-21 on Sept. 25 before dropping a home game against UT Martin on Sept. 30 by a score of 27-24.
Austin Peay’s lone OVC contest was a win at Tennessee State on Sept. 18. Last week, the Governors were off after being crushed by Wisconsin 70-3 prior to that.
“The good thing is that we get to go play another rival,” Brown said. ” The bad thing is that we have to play them on Homecoming with an open date.”
Another bad thing for the Golden Eagles is the injuries they’ve suffered in the past few weeks. Senior defensive end Charlie Seivers is listed as out for the game with a lower leg injury that he suffered last week against UT Martin. Fellow senior Kelechi Ordu was also injured in that game, but has been practicing this week.
Both Ordu and Seivers are captains for the Golden Eagles this season.
“We understand what we’re walking in to,” Brown said. “Austin Peay is very good.”
Brown said the Governors probably have the best kicking game in the league.
Austin Peay has made eight of its nine field goals attempted, ranking first in the OVC in that category. The Govs are also a perfect ten for ten on extra-point attempts.
Tech and Austin Peay have each had their troubles when it comes to sustaining drives. They average just 15 and 14 first downs per game respectively.
The Golden Eagles also need a win in this game to keep their chances of winning the Sargent York Trophy, given to the best OVC team in the state of Tennessee.
“We’re due a good game,” Brown said. “We’ve not put a complete game together in these two conference games.”
Austin Peay and UT Martin are in the lead for the trophy after each won its first games against in-state OVC opponents.
Sophomore quarterback Tre Lamb leads the way for Tech this season, throwing 43 of 81 passes for 649 yards and seven touchdowns.
Junior Tim Benford is the leading Golden Eagle receiver, entering this week with 349 yards and five touchdowns on 18 catches.
Tech’s leading rusher is Dontey Gay who has 242 yards and three touchdowns.
Kickoff is slated for 4 p.m. tomorrow at Governors Stadium in Clarksville. Live stats are available on LetsGoPeay.com, and the game will be broadcast live on the Golden Eagle Sports Network via Magic 98.5 and Free TeamLine. For more information, visit www.TTUSports.com.
