Week 3 Opponent Preview: Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles

An in-depth look at Tennessee's opponent in Week 3 of the 2021 season.

Tennessee has a mixed bag of opponents for the 2021 season. There are the obvious juggernauts in Georgia and Alabama that will make for hard weeks, but occasionally there are lay-ups like Tennessee's Week 3 foe in Tennessee Tech.

Visiting Neyland from right at a 90-minute drive from Cookeville, TN, are the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. TN Tech will be entering their second season of 2021 come this fall, as COVID-19 left the Golden Eagles season-less in 2020. Tech's seven game "2020" season in the spring resulted in a 2-5 record, with all seven opponents being OVC foes. 

The Golden Eagles got off to a good start in the spring with a 27-21 Week 1 victory against the 2019 OVC champion Austin Peay, but it was downhill from there. Four straight losses were next on the docket for Tech, and their second and final win of the season came against Tennessee State in the penultimate week of the season. 

The Tennessee Volunteers and Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles will meet for the seventh time in history at Neyland Stadium on September 18 at 12 p.m. in what will be an easy win for the Vols to close out their Neyland trifecta to start the season. Tennessee has beaten Tennessee Tech by an average of 46 points with their latest meeting coming in 2016, a 55-0 drubbing by the Vols. Although this contest will make for a fun day at Neyland and will not produce an ounce of fear for Tennessee, there are some Golden Eagles who are worth taking a look at.

What to Look for on Offense

Tech Head Coach Dewayne Alexander comes into his fourth season with a 9-21 record. While that ratio is not sexy, a six-win 2019 season was impressive considering the Golden Eagles had a paltry 2-20 record in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The source of Tennessee Tech's 2019 success was their offense led by QB Bailey Fisher. Fisher earned OVC Freshman of the Year honors in 2018 and set the program's single season passing yards and touchdowns record in 2019. 

Fisher was only able to play three games in the spring season due to injuries, but Fisher will be back this fall to be the bright spot on this Golden Eagle squad yet again. 

Fisher is not the only talent on Tennessee Tech's offense, as WR Quinton Cross had an impressive spring and dual-threat RB Kurt Taylor Jr. will look to build off the spring when he led the Golden Eagles in rushing. 

What to Look for on Defense

The Golden Eagle pass rush should not be taken lightly, as DE Chris Tucker and DL Jale'n Gladney are no strangers to getting behind the line of scrimmage with 15.5 sacks combined in their collegiate careers. 

Safety Josh Reliford serves as the bright spot in the Golden Eagle secondary, as he earned Second-Team All-OVC honors in the spring with 41 tackles, two picks and five pass-breakups. 

The captain of Tennessee Tech's defense is LB Seth Carlisle, as his impressive collegiate career at Tennessee Tech is highlighted by his 2019 season with 88 tackles, four-and-a-half tackles for loss and three interceptions. 

The Bottom Line

Tennessee Tech has promise to have a rebound fall season with Bailey Fisher back under center in the OVC, but in Week 3 they play Tennessee, an SEC team with undeniably more talent than the Golden Eagles. Fisher is good, and Tech's pass rush is decent, but neither are a match for Tennessee's defense and offensive line. The Golden Eagles might be able to get on the scoreboard this time, but this Week 3 contest could very well be the Vols' biggest margin of victory in the 2021 season. 

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