The Tennessee Tech football win over Tennessee State in 2024 set in motion one of the nation’s biggest turnarounds in the FCS.
The Golden Eagles (3-0) have won nine of 10 games since the middle of last season and are currently ranked No. 11 in the national poll. They are tied with Presbyterian for the longest winning streak in the FCS at eight games.
TSU (1-2), meanwhile, is trying to get back to where it was in 2024, which was on the way to the national playoffs.
The rivals play on Sept. 27 at Nissan Stadium (3:30 p.m. CT, ESPN+) in their final meeting as foes in the OVC/Big South. Tennessee Tech is moving to the Southern Conference in 2026.
“Tennessee Tech is playing really well right now, scoring a lot of points,” TSU first-year coach Reggie Barlow said. “They’re explosive on offense and extremely aggressive on defense. They’re a really legit team, and I look forward to seeing how we measure up.”
Can Tennessee State stop scoring juggernaut Tennessee Tech?
Tennessee Tech leads the FCS in scoring, averaging 60.7 points per game, and is third nationally in total offense (553.0 yards per game).
Not only did the Golden Eagles start the season 3-0 for the first time since 1977 by beating Davidson 72-14 on Sept. 13, they set a single-game modern program record for points scored.
Coach Bobby Wilder said he found the necessary personnel to turn the Eagles into a scoring juggernaut when he arrived in 2024. It was simply a matter of assembling a system that allowed those players to thrive.
The unit features quarterback Kekoa Visperas, who transferred from Eastern Washington, where he had a completion percentage of 74.3%, and threw for 2,171 yards with 17 touchdowns and three interceptions.
“Brian Scott, our offensive coordinator, and I have been together a long time and we have a philosophy that we’re going to build a system around the players that we have,” Wilder said. “We were really fortunate with the players we had returning and then signing a quarterback like Kekoa Visperas, who is accurate. We also signed some really good players on the offensive line to add to the players we had coming back.”
Scoring points has been a challenge for TSU, however. The Tigers are 104th in scoring offense (16.0 points) and 114th in total offense (239.7 yards). The defense, which allows an average of 34.3 points and 396.7 yards per game, also faces a tough task.
“The good thing is we’re coming off a bye week, which allowed our guys to mentally and physically get refreshed along with getting some work,” Barlow said.
Tennessee State makes personnel changes on offense
TSU shuffled quarterbacks Byron McNair and Jonathan Palmer in and out of the lineup until McNair, a transfer from Kansas Wesleyan, locked down the starting position on Sept. 13 against Alabama A&M.
The Tigers tried out some other offensive players in new spots in an effort to energize the unit.
“Obviously, we had the quarterback situation where we were playing two guys and now we settled on Byron,” Barlow said. “There are other positions we had to let play out in the first three games and have made changes that will benefit our team.”
Backup running back Zack Simmons-Brown will get more playing time and Middle Tennessee State transfer Shamar Crawford, who was not on the depth chart, will be the starting right tackle. Joel Van-Tagoe moved from right tackle to right guard, and Gardner-Webb transfer Jesse Igwe will shift from right guard to center.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSU football playing Tennessee Tech, which averages 60 points a game
