Box Score
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COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Caleb Mitchell intercepted two Eastern Illinois passes on Saturday night scoring a touchdown on one of them and ending a late EIU fourth quarter drive with the other as Tennessee Tech won 34-20 on Saturday night.
TTU improved to 3-4 overall, 2-2 in the OVC while EIU fell to 0-7 on the year, 0-5 in the OVC. It marked the first win for TTU over EIU since the 2004 season. The Panthers will host Murray State next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. for the Panthers homecoming game.
Eastern Illinois opened the contest with a few tricks up its sleeve on special teams as the Panthers opened the game with an onsides kick which TTU recovered on the EIU 42. Two plays later the Golden Eagles fumbled and Artavious Dowdell recovered his third fumble in the last two weeks.
Special teams would contribute to the Panthers first score as Rashad Haynes returned a punt 46-yards for a touchdown with 7:27 to go in the first quarter. It was the first punt return for a touchdown by the Panthers since Oct. 30, 2004 when Jermaine Mobley returned one against Tennessee State.
EIU attempted an onsides kick on the next kickoff and was unsuccessful for a second time. This time TTU missed a 47-yard field goal attempt by Matt Barker.
Special teams would help set up the next score as TTU punter Nick Campbell pinned the Panthers at their own 1-yard line. A few plays later Mitchell picked off a Jimmy Garoppolo pass and returned it 36-yards to tie the score at 7-7 at the 12:07 mark of the second quarter.
Lorence Ricks put the Panthers in business on the next drive as he returned the ball to midfield. A screen pass to Cody Bruns put the Panthers at the TTU 18-yard line but Garoppolo's second interception of the game ended the drive. The Golden Eagles would eventually capitalize with a 43-yard Barker field goal.
A third EIU turnover of the half set TTU up with the ball at the EIU 18-yard line with 3:05 left in the half. Jocques Crawford extended the TTU lead to 17-7 scoring from 1-yard out with 18-seconds left. Brandon Large would drive the Panthers into scoring range as Cameron Berra ended the half with a 42-yard field goal to make the halftime score Tennessee Tech 17, Eastern Illinois 10.
The Panthers would open the second half with a long drive as Large hit Bruns for a 4-yard score to tie the game at 17-17. TTU would answer with a 72-yard drive as Tre' Lamb dove in from 2-yards out to put TTU up for good at the 6:16 mark of the third. Crawford added another short touchdown run and Barker tacked on a 25-yard field goal with 12:56 left to push TTU's lead to 34-17.
EIU closed the gap to 34-20 with a Berra 43-yard field goal but the Panthers were inside the five yard line before back-to-back sacks the Golden Eagles defense. TTU finished the day with 8 sacks for 56 yards which tied a record for sacks in a game.
Mitchell closed out the game for TTU making his second interception of the day in the final three minutes to turn away the last EIU attempt.
EIU was held to 39 yards rushing on 36 carries, the second straight week the team has been held below 40 yards rushing. Large was 17-of-30 for 183 yards but had two interceptions and one fumble. Garoppolo was 5-of-9 for 46 yards with two interceptions.
Gordy Kickels led the EIU defense with 11 tackles while Nick Nasti had 10.
Crawford led TTU with 127 yards on the ground as the Golden Eagles finished with 233 yards rushing.
