The Golden Eagles started off their home schedule with a bang Sept. 8 night with a 56-7 rout of Maryville College at Tucker Stadium.
Sophomore Cody Forbes took the opening kickoff 59 yards to the Scots’ 33-yard line. Two plays later, senior receiver Tim Benford caught a 25-yard touchdown pass to give the Golden Eagles a 7-0 lead with only 40 seconds gone in the game.
They never looked back.
“I like the way we started,” head coach Watson Brown said in the press conference following the game.
“We came out rolling and into what we were doing, and until we put the game away, we were very solid.”
Junior quarterback Tre Lamb led the way with 222 yards in the air and four touchdowns in the first half, one shy of the school record.
His final scoring toss came on the last play of the first half when he found senior fullback Charlie Stevens across the middle for a 38-yard touchdown, the first of Stevens’ career.
“It felt great but to be honest, I didn’t think I was going to make it,” Stevens joked after the game.
As a reward for their great play, Lamb and Benford both received honorable mentions on the list of College Football Performance Awards for week two of the season.
The offense also had a stellar contribution from senior running back Dontey Gay, who rushed for 155 yards on 19 carries and a score, starting for the injured sophomore Adam Urbano. Tech’s total offensive yards, 566, was the most ever under Brown.
Defense played an integral part in the game, as well, as the Golden Eagles picked off two Tim Conner passes, had two sacks, and eight tackles for a loss as a unit. Tech also had 25 different players with at least one tackle.
The win brought the Golden Eagles record to 1-1 heading into conference play this Saturday when they travel to Charleston, Ill. to play the Eastern Illinois Panthers (1-1).
“It’s time,” said Brown about the OVC opener.”We’ve still got some work to do but it’s time, it’s time to play. It’s time to step it up and see what we can do and our players know that.”
Tech’s conference home opener will be September 24 when they host the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (0-1) at Tucker Stadium. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
For more information on Tech Athletics , visit www.TTUSports.com.
