Darrius Stafford

• Article
• November 21, 2019

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Twenty-one Tennessee Tech football players will put on their uniforms for the last time on Saturday as the Golden Eagles close out the 2019 campaign against Tennessee State. But the tears aren’t being shed just yet nor the memories being recollected as there’s still plenty of business at hand for Tech in this 12th and final game of the season. Kickoff from Tucker Stadium is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. Dylan Vazzano and Sam Brooks will handle play-by-play coverage on ESPN+ (subscription required), while Roger Ealey and Buddy Pearson will tackle radio duties on 98.5 KISS FM.

• Article
• October 24, 2019

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – By the time kickoff rolls around on Saturday, it will have been two weeks since the Tennessee Tech football team last took the field. The open date allowed the Golden Eagles to put a tough loss to UT Martin in the rearview mirror and look forward to the final five games of the 2019 regular season. After all, Tech has so much still to play for. The Golden Eagles host Austin Peay on Saturday afternoon with kickoff scheduled for 1:35 p.m. Dylan Vazzano and Sam Brooks will provide the call on ESPN+ (subscription required), while Roger Ealey and Buddy Pearson will handle the radio duties on 98.5 KISS FM.

• Article
• October 10, 2019

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Following last week’s 43-37 double-overtime loss to Football Championship Subdivision No. 23 Southeast Missouri, the loss was tough for the Tennessee Tech football team, but one couldn’t help but feel optimistic for the rest of the season. After all, the Golden Eagles had literally stood toe-to-toe with one of the favorites to win the Ohio Valley Conference championship and had a play here or there gone another way, could have seen the result come out the other way. Needless to say, the loss helped build confidence within the Golden Eagles. Through their work last season and this year to this point, Tech has shown itself to be a contender in the Ohio Valley, but its work is far, far from finished. The Golden Eagles will have to prove that this week as they host UT Martin Saturday night at Tucker Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

• Article
• October 06, 2019

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – For Tennessee Tech, 5-1 didn’t happen. The Golden Eagles come home 4-2, but there’s no reason to hang their heads. Tech played one of its grittiest games of the year, coming up with play after play when it needed to and fell in double overtime, 43-37, to Football Championship Subdivision No. 23 Southeast Missouri, a team that made an appearance in the FCS playoffs a season ago. “I’m proud of this team,” said Tech coach Dewayne Alexander. “I couldn’t be any prouder of this team, even if we did win the game tonight. Three weeks on the road and to do what our guys have done, then to play a double-overtime game, I couldn’t be any prouder.

• Article
• October 03, 2019

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – It’s been eight years since the Tennessee Tech football team has been in this position – four wins, one loss. That year, Tech opened the season with a 34-7 loss at Iowa, then fired off four consecutive wins, topping Maryville College and Southeast Missouri at home, then Eastern Illinois and UT Martin on the road. However, Tennessee State snapped the string with a 42-40 decision. The 2011 Golden Eagles, however, didn’t stay down long – they knocked off Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky on the road to help secure an Ohio Valley Conference championship and automatic berth to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

• Article
• September 28, 2019

CHARLESTON, Ill. – There must be something about O’Brien Field when it comes to quarterbacks. The field saw Tony Romo and Jimmy Garoppolo put up huge numbers. Even Grant Swallows, back in 2001, saw some magic there as he set the Tech single-season touchdown record there. The record, tied again by Swallows and by Stephen Britton in 2005, stood for 18 years, until Bailey Fisher also found some magic at O’Brien. The Golden Eagle sophomore threw for a school-record six touchdown passes as Tech improved to 4-1 for the first time since 2011, as well as broke a seven-game losing streak to Eastern Illinois with the last win coming in that same year with a 40-29 victory over the Panthers.

• Article
• September 25, 2019

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – As the next game day approaches for the Tennessee Tech football team, another organization has recognized a Golden Eagle for their efforts. The Tennessee Sports Writers Association selected Tech sophomore quarterback Bailey Fisher as its Offensive Player of the Week on Wednesday, his second selection this season. The sophomore out of Rabun County (Ga.) High had 404 yards of total offense and five touchdowns – three rushing and two passing -- in the Golden Eagles’ 38-24 win Saturday at Western Illinois, Tech’s first non-conference road win since 2013 and giving the Golden Eagles their first 3-1 start since 2011.

• Article
• September 23, 2019

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech football is starting to gain a little traction nationally as the Golden Eagles received votes in this week’s American Football Coaches Association Poll for the Football Championship Subdivision. That marks the first time the Golden Eagles have been in or received votes in one of the two major FCS polls since receiving votes in the AFCA Poll in 2016 following a 33-30 win over Eastern Kentucky. Tech last appeared in the STATS FCS poll in 2014.

• Article
• September 22, 2019

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – As the Tennessee Tech football team heads into Ohio Valley Conference play with its first 3-1 start since 2011, the Golden Eagles added some accolades on Sunday after coming home in the wee hours of the morning from their 38-24 win over Western Illinois. Bailey Fisher was named the Ohio Valley Conference’s co-Offensive Player of the Week, splitting the honor with Jacksonville State wide receiver Josh Pearson (149 yds. on seven catches, three touchdowns), while Fisher also earned FCS National Player of the Week honors from the College Sports Madness website for his second national honor this season. Sophomore linebacker Seth Carlisle was named the OVC’s Defensive Player of the Week, while true freshman wide receiver/return specialist Metrius Fleming has named the conference’s Newcomer of the Week for the third time in four weeks.

• Article
• September 21, 2019

MACOMB, Ill. – The song may say that the waiting is the hardest part. For the Tennessee Tech football team, the Golden Eagles started its first drive then had to wait as a lightning delay forced the teams back into the locker rooms. So they waited. And waited. And waited some more.

• Article
• September 19, 2019

MACOMB, Ill. – As the Tennessee Tech football team loads up the buses on Friday to hit the road for its longest road trip of the year – a visit to Western Illinois – the Golden Eagles know they’ll be in for a challenge as they close out the non-conference portion of the schedule. Tech will take on the Fighting Leathernecks at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on 98.5 KISS FM with Roger Ealey and Dylan Vazzano providing the call, while the game will also be streamed online on ESPN3, with Brendan Reidy and Michael Harms handling those duties.

• Article
• September 05, 2019

OXFORD, Ohio – As the Tennessee Tech football team puts Week 1 in the rear view and focuses on their next opponent, the schedule doesn’t get easier. Tech makes its annual foray into the Football Bowl Subdivision this weekend with a visit to Miami (Ohio) out of the Mid-American Conference. Kickoff on Saturday is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Central. Roger Ealey and Dylan Vazzano will provide broadcast coverage on 98.5 KISS FM, while the game will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required) with Robert Lee and Dustin Fox handling play-by-play and color duties.

• Article
• August 31, 2019

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – After watching an early 12-point lead disappear, the Tennessee Tech football team kept falling further and further behind. Late in the third quarter, the Golden Eagles trailed by 23 points. With 2:20 left in the contest, Tech was down by 16. Most prognosticators would probably have put the game squarely in Samford’s pockets. The Golden Eagles, however, weren’t listening. The total touchdowns ties the Tech record for touchdowns responsible for in a game. Tech’s 671 yards is also a new school record, breaking 644 yards against Valparaiso in 2002. After Samford scored on the first half of the second extra session, Andrew Goldsmith scored the final touchdown on a 14-yard run, then Fisher found David Gist in the end zone for the game-winning score.

• Article
• August 29, 2019

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It’s hard to believe it’s been 12 years since Tennessee Tech last faced Samford on the gridiron. It was a completely different scenario then – the Golden Eagles were 32 years removed since their previous Ohio Valley Conference championship (Tech later broke its drought four years later) and both teams were under the direction of new coaches (Watson Brown for the Golden Eagles facing long-time assistant Pat Sullivan across the way – who went on to become Samford’s all-time winningest head coach. Now, Dewayne Alexander enters his second year at the helm of the Tennessee Tech program, while a familiar foe comes into Tucker Stadium leading Samford as former Murray State skipper Chris Hatcher enters his fifth campaign as the Bulldogs’ top dog. Tech will open its 98th football campaign Saturday night at 6 p.m. from Tucker Stadium.

• Article
• July 24, 2019

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – This time last year, Bailey Fisher was a true freshman. Sure, he had the opportunity as an early enrollee to go through spring practice with the Tennessee Tech football team and got a bit of a jump start, but it was a transition nonetheless. Now, with a season as the Golden Eagles’ starting quarterback under his belt, Fisher is now focused on year two. “I’m feeling pretty good about it,” Fisher said. “We put in a lot of work during the offseason. We’ve gotten better up front. I really feel like we’ve addressed our needs at running back and at receiver. We’ve added a lot of depth. The tight ends have been putting in a lot of work. With all the effort around the field, I feel pretty confident about this season. “We all know that it isn’t going to happen overnight. It’s a process, but we’re working day-in, day-out to get better, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

• Article
• April 05, 2019

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – If one listened to Tennessee Tech head coach Dewayne Alexander talk to his Golden Eagle players following Friday’s Spring Game at Tucker Stadium, they heard the veteran coach explain why the windshield was larger than the rear view mirror. To keep focused on what’s ahead more than what’s behind. After back-to-back 1-10 seasons and the transition from a coaching change, the focus is on the future of the Tech football program, and that’s what the 2019 spring practices were about. With the 15 sessions in the books, the inherent focus was to get the team ready to improve on what they started in the 2018 campaign and try to bring the Tech football program back to good graces.