No. 4 Oregon will equal Tech's highest-ranked opponent
September 15, 2012

No. 4 Oregon will equal Tech's highest-ranked opponent

Tennessee Tech will face its first road challenge of the 2012 football season Saturday, and what a test it will be. The Golden Eagles not only travel to the west coast, they will meet one of the nation’s most successful FBS teams in the fourth-ranked Oregon Ducks.

Tickets Audio Live stats Recap Box Score


Click here to view/download TTU game notes vs Oregon (PDF)

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Tech football team will face its first road challenge of the 2012 season Saturday, and what a test it will be.  The Golden Eagles not only have to travel across the country to the west coast, they will also meet one of the nation's most successful FBS teams in the fourth-ranked Oregon Ducks.
   
Kickoff in Autzen Stadium (54,000) is set for 12 noon PDT (2 p.m. CDT), and the Ducks are expecting their 85th consecutive sellout dating back to 1999.
   
Oregon's No. 4 spot in the poll matches the highest-ranked opponent in Tech history -- the Golden Eagles visited No. 4 TCU in the 2010 season.
    
Both teams have fared well in the first two weeks of the season and bring 2-0 records into the game. And, both have shown explosive offenses which typically take less than two minutes per scoring drive.
   
The Golden Eagles currently rank first in the Ohio Valley Conference and seventh nationally (FCS) in total offense and are forst in the league and 20th nationally in total defense. Quarterback Tre Lamb ranks first in the OVC passing, total offense and passing efficiency, and is among national leaders in all three. He is second in the country in passing efficiency, fifth in passing and eighth in total offense. Senior runningback Adam Urbano is first in the league and second in the nation in rushing and leads the league while ranking 11th nationally in all-purpose yards.
   
On defense, Tech boasts four of the top eight tacklers in the conference, led by senior linebacker Howard Griffin and sophomore safety Austin Tallant.
   
On special teams, newcomer Chad Zinchini is first in the OVC in punting.

Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (2-0, 0-0 OVC)
at #4 Oregon Ducks (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12)
Saturday, Sept. 15 • 2:00 p.m. CT
Autzen Stadium (54,000) • Eugene, Ore.
TV: .....................................................................................Pac-12 Network
Live Stats: .......................................................................http://bit.ly/zNov8
Series Record: ........................................................................ First meeting
Last Meeting: ....................................................................................... n/a
Watson Brown at Tennessee Tech: .............................................27-31 (6 yrs.)
Watson Brown Overall: ................................................. ..121-182-1 (28 yrs.)
Chip Kelly at Oregon: ................................................................36-6 (4 yrs.)
Chip Kelly Overall: ............................................................................. same
Tennessee Tech Last Week: .................................W, 42-14 vs. North Greenville
Oregon Last Week: .................................................W, 42-25 vs. Fresno State


GAME NOTES: After starting the season 2-0 for the first time since 1989, Tennessee Tech will play its first game away from Tucker Stadium on Saturday when they visit the fourth-ranked team in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the Oregon Ducks. It is the first-ever meeting between the two schools. The game is the first non-Thursday game of the season for Tennessee Tech.

SCOUTING TENNESSEE TECH: After a home win over FCS foe Hampton to start the 2012 season, Tennessee Tech followed it with a 42-14 win over Division II North Greenville last Thursday night. It marks just the fourth time in the past 32 years that the Golden Eagles have started the season 2-0. Senior running back Adam Urbano was potent once again, carrying the ball 14 times for 122 yards (8.7 yards/game) and two touchdowns. It marked his second 100-yard game of the season and Urbano now ranks second nationally in rushing (140.0 yards/game) and 11th in all-purpose yards (151.5 yards/ game). Senior quarterback Tre Lamb was solid again, completing 18-of-26 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns. Lamb now has 4,045 career passing yards, making him only one of fi ve players in TTU history with 4,000 or more passing yards. After two starts Lamb ranks second nationally in passing efficiency (187.36) and eighth in total offense (317.0 yards/game). One of Lamb's favorite targets as been his former high school teammate Da'Rick Rogers, who joined the team after transferring from Tennessee prior to the season. Against North Greenville Rogers caught five passes for 88 yards and a touchdown. Despite limited practice time with the team Rogers has caught
eight passes for 163 yards (20.4 yards/catch) in two weeks. Will Johnson led the Tech defense with a career-best 13 tackles while Austin Tallant added 11 stops and William Dillard and Cory Webber each recorded their fi rst career interceptions. Junior punter Chad Zinchini averaged 44.2 yards/punt.

SCOUTING OREGON: Oregon opened the 2012 season with a 57-34 victory over Arkansas State (a game that saw the Ducks score 50 points in the first half) and followed that with 42-25 victory over Fresno State this past Saturday. In that game senior running back Kenjon Barner ran for 201 yards and three touchdowns in leading No. 4 Oregon to the victory. De'Anthony Thomas added 102 yards and two touchdowns as the Ducks tallied 366 total yards on the ground. Thomas also caught a team-high four passes for 26 yards. Through two games Thomas is averaging 16.6 yards/rush and tops the team with 81 receiving yards (10.1 yards/catch). Redshirt freshman quarterback Marcus Mariota was 19-of-27 for 166 yards and a score. Oregon has gotten off to quick starts this season, outscoring opponents 43-3 in the first quarter and 85-16 total in the first half.