TTU FOOTBALL: Golden Eagles to host Central Arkansas in FCS first round

by Thomas Corhern

COOKEVILLE -- Watson Brown stood in front of his Tennessee Tech football players Sunday morning. He pointed at the Ohio Valley Conference championship trophy they had won not even 18 hours earlier.

"This is done -- move on from this," Brown said. "Our second season is just starting. It's time to get to work."

And with that the Golden Eagles began their first quest for the NCAA Division I football championship in earnest as they prepare to take on Central Arkansas at home in Tucker Stadium. Kickoff is 2 p.m. Saturday.

"It's really exciting to get the home game," Brown said. "It's fantastic. I appreciate our university doing whatever they could to help us with that. Our conference has lost its last 16 appearances, so we have a chance to break another long string here. This is just a neat time."

The FCS playoff appearance is the first for both teams. UCA's last postseason appearance was in 2005 when the Bears were still a Division II program. They reclassified the following year.

UCA (8-3) finished second in the Southland Conference with a 6-1 conference record behind Sam Houston State. The Bears' three losses this season came to Sam Houston State, Louisiana Tech and Arkansas State -- the latter two in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

The road doesn't get any easier after the first round, though. The winner of the Tech-Central Arkansas game will travel to play the Montana Grizzlies on Dec. 3.

With the road ahead, it's not that the Golden Eagles are forgetting what got them to this point with the OVC title.

"We can talk about that for many years to come," Brown said. "That's over and done. I've been in the playoffs before and I know how you've got to treat them. It's a new season and you absolutely forget about everything that's happened, start from scratch and see what you get done."

Tech won't be the only team from the OVC making a playoff trip as Eastern Kentucky will also appear in the championship tournament, although in the other side of the bracket. The Colonels will host James Madison out of the Colonial Athletic Association.

"That's neat to me because it gives the conference credibility," Brown said. "They have such a great tradition there. They've been in it (20) times and have won national championships. They had seven Division I wins and lost to Kansas State 10-7. That's one of the things they didn't discuss, but that's a big deal because Kansas State is very good. EKU's quarterback (T.J.) Pryor didn't play in that game. He was hurt. They started a true freshman quarterback and lost 10-7. I promise you, that had a lot to do with it."

It's still a big feather in Tech's cap as the Golden Eagles get to host their first playoff game in school history.

"The home game is just so great," said TTU President Bob Bell. "It gives our team home-field advantage. Our guys will play on a field they know in front of crowds that love them. It was really important. (TTU athletics director) Mark Wilson deserves the credit. We worked early on in the week to make sure we had a competitive bid, and it turned out to be a good one."

The downside is that the game is being played on Thanksgiving weekend as many of the students will be off-campus. The university is trying to counter that by allowing the students admission into the game for free with their student ID cards.

The university still expects a great crowd for this historic game.

"We want to see it continue this week," Wilson said. "We know it's Thanksgiving weekend, but the team is deserving of people's support, it's deserving of the students' support at Tech. We really need everyone to come on out and give us that home-field advantage against a really good Central Arkansas team."

Now it's Tech's turn to stake its claim toward a national championship.

"We don't represent just Tennessee Tech now," Wilson said. "We represent all of our peers in the Ohio Valley Conference as well, all of our colleagues. We have a job to do to put our best foot forward to win this game for the entire conference."

Read more: Herald Citizen - TTU FOOTBALL Golden Eagles to host Central Arkansas in FCS first round