Fourth quarter turnovers spell doom for Golden Eagles
October 20, 2012

Fourth quarter turnovers spell doom for Golden Eagles

With just under 15 minutes to play, all looked well for the Tennessee Tech football team as they led the Eastern Kentucky Colonels 28-20 and looked poised to earn their first Ohio Valley Conference victory. EKU had different plans.

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COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – With just under 15 minutes to play, all looked well for the Tennessee Tech football team as they led the Eastern Kentucky Colonels 28-20 and looked poised to earn their first Ohio Valley Conference victory. EKU had different plans.

The Colonels used a 14-play, 77-yard drive to climb within two before tying the game at 28. The defense then took over, forcing two interceptions on back-to-back possessions to set up the go-ahead score and an insurance touchdown. EKU would go on to win 42-28.

The pass rush for the Colonels put serious pressure on Lamb the entire game, forcing him to scramble around and eventually throw a late game interception. The defensive front also made the rushing attack a tough go in this one, allowing just 15 yard on the ground.

Junior receiver Da'Rick Rogers tied a single-game Golden Eagle record with three touchdown receptions. He now has eight on the season, just two behind the single-season record. He also finished the game with 76 yards receiving.

Tre Lamb, who has battled injuries all season, tied a personal-best with four touchdowns through the air. He now has 45 career passing scores, just four behind the school record. Lamb has also thrown for 17 of those touchdowns this season, just two behind the school record.

Leading the team in tackles was sophomore defensive back Austin Tallant. He tied a career-best for tackles with 17 total stops for the second straight week. Making a career-high in tackles was true freshman defensive back William Dillard. He totaled 16 for the game.

Also adding double-digit tackles stats to the game were sophomore linebacker Tra'Darius Goff (15), junior linebacker Blake Adams (11), senior defensive end Marcus Edwards (10), and senior defensive back Will Johnson (10).

The Golden Eagles will return to action next Saturday when they travel to Nashville, Tenn. to take on the Tennessee State Tigers in a 1 p.m. CT tilt.

PREGAME NOTES

* Tech will face off with Eastern Kentucky for the 69th time in history. EKU leads the series 50-18.
* EKU has one OVC loss, a 23-20 nail-biter to Tennessee State.
* EKU and Tech were the two teams that represented the Ohio Valley Conference in the FCS playoffs last season.
* Tonight marks the first Golden Eagle Blackout in school history, with both the fans and team decked out in black. This also marks the first time in program history the Golden Eagles have worn black uniforms.
* Also being worn today are the gold helmets which are a tribute to the 1972 OVC Chamionship team.
* Today's captains are: Taylor Hennigan, Chris Dickerson, and Kedrick Towles.
* EKU wins the toss and defers to the second half.
* Tech will receive to start the game.

FIRST QUARTER NOTES
* TOUCHDOWN!!! Tech strikes early with a 77 yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Tre Lamb to senior running back Adam Urbano.
* It was the 15th longest pass completion in history and longest of Lamb's career.
* It also marks the longest reception in Urbano's career.
* Tech leads 7-0 after just 50 seconds.
* Stuffed! Tech stops the Colonels three times inside the five-yard line and will force a field goal attempt.
* It's good. Tech leads 7-3 with 11:30 remaining in the first quarter.
* Golden Eagles are marching right now, and eating up a lot of clock, a little uncharacteristic for this team. They are now at the EKU 25-yard line.
* 20-yard reception by freshman Ladarius Vanlier and Tech is knock knock knockin' on the Colonel's door.
* TOUCHDOWN!!! Da'Rick Rogers grabs a 10-yard reception from Tre Lamb and his sixth TD reception this season.
* It also marks the 43rd career touchdown pass for Lamb. He is just six away from the school record.
* Tech leads 14-3 with under 6:00 to go in the first quarter.
* Lamb also has 15 touchdown passes this season and is just four away from the school season record.
* Punter Chad Zinchini with a career-long 64-yard punt into the endzone. EKU starts from their own 20 with just over 3:00 to go in the first quarter.
* Touchdown Colonels. Tech now leads 14-10 with 13 seconds left in the first quarter.
* End of the first quarter and the Golden Eagles still leads 14-10.

SECOND QUARTER NOTES
* EKU attempting a 46-yard field goal attempt and.....it's NO GOOD. It goes wide left and the Tech retains its 14-10 lead.
* HUGE hit by sophomore linebacker Tra'Darius Goff! Kudos to the EKU ball carrier for holding onto the ball.
* Touchdown EKU. The Colonels now own a 17-14 lead with 7:09 to go in the first half.
* TOUCHDOWN!!!! An ESPN top-ten nominee catch by Da'Rick Rogers, his second score of the game and seventh of the year.
* Lamb with his third TD pass of the game, 16th of the year, and 44th of his career.
* Tech leads 21-17 with just under 6:00 to go in the half.
* SACK!!! Junior nose guard Lamar Moore takes down the EKU QB for a two-yard loss.
* EKU punts and sophomore defensive back Conor Sparkman gets a hand on it. No block though. It is treated as a normal punt since the ball crossed the line of scrimmage.
* Fumble. Tech fumbles and EKU recovers inside their own 20.
* Tech gets the ball back followling a Colonels punt with 1:44 to go in the half.
* At the end of the half, the Golden Eagles lead 21-17.

THIRD QUARTER NOTES
* It's a slow start to the quarter. 11:30 left in the third.
* HUGE reception by junior receiver Ryan Tilghman for 32 yards.
* Lamb has now recorded 13 games with over 200 yards passing in his career, with five this season alone.
* Eight straight rushes by the Colonels has run the clock down to 3:11 in the third quarter. They are now in the red zone.
* Fantastic pass defense by senior Will Johnson. He prevents an EKU touchdown pass to force third down.
* The Colonels will now attempt a 37-yard field goal to pull the game to within one point.
* It's good. Tech now leads 21-20 with 2:20 left in the third.
* The Golden Eagles get a 40-yard kickoff return by freshman receiver Eric Belew.
* Sophomore receiver Cody Matthews with a 21-yard reception and Tech is rolling.
* Another first down for the Golden Eagles, this one courtesy of an 11-yard reception by Tilghman.
* End of the third quarter and Tech clinging to a 21-20 lead.

FOURTH QUARTER NOTES
* TOUCHDOWN!!! Da'Rick Rogers with his third TD reception of the night. Tre Lamb with his fourth TD pass of the game.
* Tech now leads 28-20 with 14:49 to go.
* Rogers ties a Golden Eagle single-game record with three touchdown receptions in a game.
* Lamb now has 45 touchdown passes in his career and 17 for the season. He is now two away from the single-season record and four away from the career-record.
* Tre Lamb also ties his career-high for passing touchdowns in a game with four.
* True freshman defensive back William Dillard has a career-high 15 tackles already.
* Touchdown Colonels. They're going for two and for the tie.
* And they get it. Score is tied 28-28 with 9:22 to go.
* Touchdown EKU. They now lead 35-28 with 7:01 to go in the game.
* Touchdown Eastern Kentucky. The lead is now 41-28 with 5:20 to go.
* End of the game. EKU wins 42-28.