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 3rd 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 1st and 2nd 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 1st 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