More stories about Saturday’s game

TTU FOOTBALL: Postseason preparations new territory for Tech

The troubling part is that their offense is very similar to Tennessee State and Murray State — the two Ohio Valley Conference teams that beat the Golden Eagles in Cookeville.

“That style has been a little bit of our Achilles’ heel,” Brown said. “I don’t know that we got the best draw, technically for us. We’ll see what we can do about it. We played two really good teams in our own league that know what they’re doing and had great players to throw it around to. We’ll see if we can do it any better. We’ve had to do it three times this season. We played the first one pretty good at Eastern Illinois. Then the last two — we gave up quite a few points and yards, so we’ll have to see if we can do it any better.”

UCA, without a doubt, has one of the toughest offenses the Golden Eagles will have seen this season.

Golden Eagles, Bears ready to showcase talent: Winner earns ticket to Missoula to face Grizzlies

Central Arkansas is the third-most prolific passing team in the 20-team playoff field, behind Lehigh and New Hampshire, and yet the Bears have surrendered just 14 sacks. Four of those came against FBS Louisiana Tech in a 48-42 loss.

2011 FCS Football Playoffs: First-Round Preview and Predictions
It’s a Bleacher Report story, but it’s still a story that predicts us to win.

And, of course, there’s a couple of spectacular write ups on this very site. Offense / Defense

More TTU Players

DEFENSIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH

The TTU defense gave up 25.5 points per game this season against OVC competition, good enough for 3^rd in the conference. And they led the league by holding defenses to just 351 yards per game. Their most impressive defensive effort came in a 21-14 win over Jacksonville State who averages 32 ppg. When you compare their pressure numbers to UCA’s, it’s not even close. UCA has 26 sacks, 80 tfl and 11 ints. TTU has just 15 sacks, 52 tfl and 11 ints.

Four Golden Eagles were on the 1^st and 2^nd All-OVC teams announced on Tuesday and another, Austin Tallant (FS, #14, 5-10/190) was named to the All-Newcomer team. Tallant, a true freshman, leads the team with 76 tackles. With him in secondary is senior cornerback Richmond Tooley (#21, 5-11/185). Tooley is tied for second in tackles was selected 1^st team All-OVC. He’s got two picks on the year, but who doesn’t? Cornerback Caleb Mitchell (#15, 6-1/190) and linebacker Jake McIntosh (#31, 6-2/230) also have two each. And senior nickelback Corey Watson (#12, 5-10/180) leads the team with three and also has seven pass breakups. The team has 11 total interceptions and has returned three for touchdowns. Will Johnson was a second-team OVC selection even though he only played eight games this season. He injured his knee against Murray State and will not play Saturday.

McIntosh has 67 tackles and four tackles for loss to go with his two interceptions. Joining him on the linebacker corp is Howard Griffin (#33, 6-1/220). Griffin is tied for second in both tackles (72) and tackles for loss (6.5).

The other two All-OVC defenders are up front. Marcus Edwards (#13, 6-1/240) has 5 sacks and 9.5 tfl, good enough for first-team honors. Travis Adkins (#83, 6-5/275) was named to the second team with 23 tackles, one sack and 3.5 tfl.

Other players:

• Nick Campbell (P, #93, 6-2/225) second-team All-OVC; led conference with 37.6 net per punt
• Dwight Evans (DE, #49, 6-1/230) 52 tackles, 1 sack, 5 tfl
• Jamere Hogue (DE/LB, #5, 6-4/270) senior who’s second on the team with two sacks

The TTU Players

OFFENSIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH

Yesterday we saw that the Golden Eagles are a pretty balanced team. From what I can tell, the offense looks to run primarily out of the shotgun with a back on each side of the quarterback. Based on the statistics it may be a form of the mid-line option? They are led by seniors at the tailback and receiver positions in what they dub the “Fastest 60 Minutes in Football.”

Tim Benford (#3, 6-1/195) was named the OVC player of the year on Tuesday. The senior receiver led the conference in receptions per game (5.8) and receiving yards per game (82.6). He had five TD catches and averaged 14.2 per reception.

Benford may have been the PotY, but senior tailback Dontey Gay (#25, 5-9/205) certainly looks just as valuable to the offense. Gay had 1009 rushing yards on the year and 15 rushing touchdowns, averaging 100.9 yards per game and scored 13 touchdowns to lead the conference in scoring. Maybe the most impressive stat is his 5.6 yards per carry average. Gay is also their third-leading receiver with 16 catches for 140 yards.

Backing up Gay is Adam Urbano (#6, 5-8/195). Urbano has only played in five games this season (started the first game and then didn’t play in the next four), but he had 100+ yard games in two of the final three. Urbano is a Georgia Southern transfer, so this is his first season on the field for TTU. He’s shown more explosiveness this season and has a 6.9 ypc average and four carries of more than 30 yards this season.

Gay and Urbano are listed as the tailbacks, the runningback (lined up on the other side of the quarterback) isn’t used much to carry the ball, but Zack Ziegler (#16, 6-0/200) is a huge weapon as a receiver. Ziegler is second in catches (30) and yards (316).

The guy throwing the ball is junior Tre Lamb (#9, 5-9/185). Lamb might not be tall, but he’s thrown for over 2,000 yards and is efficient, completing 65% of his passes with a 15:9 touchdown to interception ratio. He also has carried the ball 102 times this season. Lamb started eight games in 2010 as a sophomore before being injured. He’s mobile and because of his height often moves the pocket to make passing lanes.

Up front, the Eagles have loads of experience and size across all five positions. Senior Scott Schweitzer (#78, 6-5/300) is a four-year starter even though it’s been at several different positions on the line. Schweitzer was just named a first-team All-OVC at left guard. To his right are center Michael Baker (#66, 6-2/285) and right guard Slade Adams (#73, 6-6/315). Wesley Sherrill (#74, 6-4/290) and James Normand (#60, 6-2/295) are the sophomore tackles that took over the starting roles during the 2010 season.

Other players:

• Zach Sharp (K, #97, 6-2/190) 9-for-15 field goals; misses from 19, 32, 33, 37, 42, and 46 yards
• Charlie Stevens (Hybrid FB/TE, #43, 6-1/230) 15 catches for 177 yards and three touchdowns.
• Cody Forbes (RB/KR, ) just 29 carries and two catches on the season, but Forbes is their leading kick returner and averages 22.5 yards per return with a long of 59.

Tennessee Tech Football 2011

The Golden Eagles are in their fifth season under head coach Watson Brown (25-30). Brown has been a head coach for 27 seasons and winning Saturday would give him his first eight-win season. He’s a Cookeville native and came back in 2007 after 12 seasons as UAB.

TTU played just 10 games this season and finished with a 7-3, 6-2 record. The Eagles faced their only FBS competition in the season opener, losing 34-7 against Iowa in a torrential downpour that I think caused the evacuation of the stadium(?). They returned home to easily handle D3 Maryville College on a Thursday night before starting a stretch of eight consecutive Ohio Valley Conference games to end the season.

The 6-2 OVC mark was good enough for a 3-way tie at the top with Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State. The losses were heartbreakers at home to Tennessee St (42-40) and Murray St (38-37). The only OVC games decided by more than seven points were wins over Eastern Illinois and Austin Peay two of the bottom dwellers of the conference this season. (If Eastern Illinois sounds familiar, it’s because we played them in Charleston, Ill. last season and won 37-7.)

[Note: These are conference-only stats.*]
The OVC is a fairly balanced league with six of nine teams averaging 170+ yards a game on the ground and five also averaging 200+ yards passing. Statistically, the Golden Eagles ranked in the top half in most OVC categories:

Scoring Offense – 34.8/game (2^nd)

Scoring Defense – 25.5/game (3^rd)

Total Offense – 413 ypg (5^th)

Rushing – 200 ypg (4^th)

Passing – 213 ypg (5^th)

Total Defense – 351 ypg (1^st)

Rushing – 161.2 ypg (4^th)

Passing – 190.1 ypg (3^rd)

So, it looks like not only are they extremely balanced offensively, but the same appears to be true defensively. Other statistics that stick out are:

• pass defense efficiency where they lead the conference at a 117.5 rate,
• net punting (36.8), field goals (just 9-for-15),
• sacks against (giving up two a game even though they don’t throw it much), and
• third-down conversions (45.3%), turnover margin (+2 vs UCA’s +14*).

Tomorrow at look at the players specifically.

Q&A with Ryan Hay of BobcatReport.com

Q: Can you give a brief rundown of a few of the players to watch on both sides of the ball?
A: Defensively, the Bears need to watch out for Michael Ebbitt who has as a team-leading 10 1/2 sacks this season. That would rank him 4th nationally in FBS if transitional teams were allowed to be counted in the rankings. Any way you look at it, averaging over a sack a game is impressive. Offensively, you have to look at tight end Chase Harper. He fits the bill as an extra blocker at 6 foot 5, 260 and is a decent receiver as well. He was the Bobcat’s top recruit this past February.

Q: Is Arndt going to get the start now? Does he change the entire offensive style of play? Describe his game. It looks like he’s not a runner like Rutherford. (Background on this, Rutherford has started all season, but the fans on their message board have been clamoring for Arndt who got the bulk of the playing time last week. Turns out it was due to injury, as you’ll read.)
A: I do not think you will see Arndt get the start in Conway. He played well against Prairie View, but Franchione said in the post game press conference that he left him in because he had a rhythm and the team was playing well. Shaun Rutherford was banged up in the first quarter and Arndt came in after that. Rutherford is more of a scrambler type quarterback while Arndt is the more traditional drop back passer. Arndt tore his ACL and is still wearing a brace and even when healthy, is not as mobile as Rutherford. All in all, I think you will see Rutherford behind center on Saturday.

Q: We knew about Karrington Bush; is Terrence Franks the same kind of player? All speed/quickness? What does it take to slow him down?
A: Terrence Franks has been one of the most surprising players on the Texas State roster this season. Going into camp, we thought Tim Hawkins would be the back-up to junior Marcus Curry, but Franks has really stepped up and has been a huge addition to the Bobcat offense. You can’t let Franks get the corner, you have to contain him between the tackles. If he gets outside, he is gone. He is similar to Bush in size and I could see where they could be seen as the same type of player.

Q: Any key injuries or key guys coming back from injury?
A: The injury bug has been kind to the Bobcats this year. Shaun Rutherford was banged up last game, but should be back and 100% this weekend. Starting center Steve Kenny was back in the line-up last week as well.

A look back at just the first half

You’ve read about the whole game. And you likely remember all of the positives of the second half, so this is a reminder of the first 30 minutes.

I know it probably didn’t feel like anything went our way once halftime rolled around, but think back to the beginning of the game. We started it off with a great kickoff return by Jackson. Then, we pick up a few first downs.

Break #1 – Croom “drops” a second-down pass over the middle. I went back and watched the replay a few times and it could certainly have been ruled a catch and fumble. Croom followed that up with his second drop on consecutive plays.

Break #2 – The muffed punt. Great coverage by TJ Adams and other force the Demons to collide and we recover. So, before the Demons even have possession of the ball, we’ve had a fumble that didn’t get ruled a fumble and we recover a muff.

Bobo – getting the start on Saturday – takes advantage on a well-blocked play by the right side, specifically Dominique Allen on the end.

The kickoff was returned out to the 44 or so. But it was called back on a holding call. And that’s when all the bad stuff you remember begins.

Demons score. Bears go 3-and-out. Demons make field goal after Bears hold in the red zone thanks in part to a big tackle for loss by Newsome. And the Bears respond with the only good drive of the half – 12 plays, 74 yards and over five minutes. The run after the catch by Brett Soft was a spectacular effort. Soft had another big catch earlier on that drive on 3rd down.

Moving on, Demon touchdown aided by late-hit penalty when they should have been forced to punt. Bears force another field goal after the Demons initially get it down to the three – aided by a garbage targeting penalty on Allison.

NSU scored on all four offensive possessions, totaled 262 yards on offense, and we had witnessed the “miracle” of somehow being down just six at the half.

And we all saw everything change within second after the second-half kickoff. What a different half it was.

If we can put together a full 60 minutes next week against Texas State, it looks like our playoff chances are good. Get everyone you know out to Estes Saturday.

Stories about the game:

• Swipe on kickoff ignites Bears to sixth-straight win
• Central Arkansas derails Northwestern State’s title hopes
• Bears dominate second half, down Demons