Tag: Tennessee Tech

Former Vol joins Tennessee Tech’s coaching staff

Former Vol running back joins Tennessee Tech’s coaching staff.

Bryce Brown announced he has joined Tennessee Tech’s coaching staff.

Brown will oversee the Golden Eagles’ running backs.

“I am excited to announce that I have accepted a position as the running backs coach at Tennessee Tech University,” Brown announced Thursday. “I am grateful and excited for the opportunity, and I can’t wait to get to work. My family and I are honored to represent both the university and the community in Cookeville, Tennessee.”

Brown played running back for the Vols in 2009. He appeared in 12 games, totaling 460 rushing yards, three rushing yards, 137 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.

He transferred to Kansas State following the 2009 season.

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Lady Vols win home-opening game against Tennessee Tech

Tennessee softball wins home-opening game against Tennessee Tech.

The No. 17 Tennessee (10-6) won its home-opening game Wednesday.

The Lady Vols defeated Tennessee Tech (9-6), 11-1, in five innings at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.

The victory ended Tennessee’s three-game losing streak.

Tennessee scored five runs in the second inning. Amanda Curran recorded a pinch-hit three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Curran’s home run was one of four in the game for Tennessee. Amanda Ayala, Rylie West and Zaida Puni also hit home runsfor Tennessee.

Ayala, the Lady Vols’ left fielder, went 3-for-3 with a home run and a triple. She scored one run and drove in a career-high five.

West went 2-for-3 with one home run, one double, two runs scored and one RBI.

Pitcher Erin Edmoundson improved to 6-1 this season. She pitched five innings, striking out four, while surrendering one hit and one walk.

Ryleigh White appeared in relief in the fourth inning and surrendered an RBI single to Sydney Dukes.

Hollis Fanning’s story of becoming blind to starting for Tennessee

Pitcher Hollis Fanning’s story of becoming blind to starting for Tennessee baseball.

Sophomore pitcher Hollis Fanning started for the Vols Tuesday against Tennessee Tech at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The 6-foot-7, 220-pound Hollis is blind in his left eye.

He came to the Vols from Tullahoma High School in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Phillip King served as Fanning’s head coach at Tullahoma from 2017-19 before going to Warren County High School in the same capacity in 2020.

King discussed how his former pitcher has battled through an eye injury in high school to now pitching in the Southeastern Conference at Tennessee.

“I got a phone call from his dad and they were out clipping some fence wires,” King told Vols Wire of when Fanning’s eye injury occurred. “Sure enough he was not wearing protective goggles and he clipped a wire. That wire kind of flipped back and completely pierced his eye. It was fairly traumatic, obviously.”

King said Fanning’s character and determination following an unexpected injury has helped him be successful.

“All of sudden he cannot see out his left eye,” King continued. “Talking back and forth with his parents quite a bit, over his surgeries and things like that, to his credit where a lot of kids would take that as something devastating, and life changing in a negative way.

“The character and the type of kid that he was, and still is, he just kind of took it and ran with it to do the best he can being blind, working on his craft and be the best pitcher he can be.”

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Vols notch comeback win over Tennessee Tech

Tennessee notches comeback win over Tennessee Tech.

Tennessee shook off a slow start to notch a comeback victory against Tennessee Tech Friday.

No. 15 Tennessee overcame a halftime deficit for an 80-69 victory over the Golden Eagles at Thompson-Boling Arena.

UT (4-1) overcame early offensive struggles and a 35-34 halftime deficit to win over an in-state opponent.

The Vols had five players post double figures against Tennessee Tech (2-4).

Olivier Nkamhoua led the Vols with 18 points. He also had four rebounds in the contest.

Kennedy Chandler added 15 points and four assists, while John Fulkerson finished with 14 points and six rebounds.

Guard Santiago Vescovi chipped in with 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Vols, who host Presbyterian College Tuesday. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. EST.

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield had 12 points and four rebounds for UT.

The Golden Eagles Jr. Clay had 19 points to lead all scorers.

JaVonta Payton details scoring first touchdown at Tennessee

JaVonta Payton details scoring first touchdown at Tennessee.

Senior wide receiver JaVonta Payton transferred to Tennessee from Mississippi State ahead of the 2021 season.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound wide receiver scored his first touchdown of the season in Week 3 against Tennessee Tech.

“It was an amazing experience,” Payton said. “With this being my first touchdown here at Tennessee, I just took it all in. This is actually my second touchdown in the SEC, so it was all just amazing.

“With it actually being here at home for my first one, it was just a great experience. All of my teammates there to meet me in the end zone and celebrate with me. It was a great experience.”

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Hendon Hooker details needing ‘to be a lot cleaner in intermediate game, taking care of the ball’

Hendon Hooker details needing to be a lot cleaner in intermediate game, taking care of the ball.

Tennessee (2-1) defeated Tennessee Tech (0-3), 56-0, Saturday at Neyland Stadium.

Hendon Hooker started at quarterback for the Vols, replacing the injured Joe Milton III.

Hooker completed 17-of-25 passes for 199 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. He totaled 64 rushing yards and one touchdown on nine attempts.

Following Tennessee’s win, Hooker met with media and discussed his performance against the Golden Eagles.

“I feel like I had a pretty good showing,” Hooker said. “I have some things I can clean up. I need to be a lot cleaner in my intermediate game and taking care of the ball.”

Tennessee kicks off Southeastern Conference play Saturday at Florida (2-1). Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. EDT and ESPN will televise the matchup.

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Tennessee Tech head coach Dewayne Alexander recaps Golden Eagles’ performance against Vols

Tennessee Tech head coach Dewayne Alexander recaps Golden Eagles’ performance against the Vols.

Tennessee Tech (0-3) lost at Tennessee (2-1), 56-0, Saturday at Neyland Stadium.

Following the Golden Eagles’ loss, Tennessee Tech head coach Dewayne Alexander met with media and recapped his team’s performance.

“Give credit to Tennessee,” Alexander said. “They’re a very good football team. I thought (Hendon) Hooker, the quarterback came in and played outstanding. He played last week in the game. He came in and did some nice things. I’m very proud of our Golden Eagle team and their effort. We played hard. The biggest challenge that I gave our team is ‘We’re going to play with Golden Eagle pride. We’re going to play hard. We’re going to play all four quarters. We’re going to give great effort. We’re going to stay competitive. We’re going to compete every play. I thought our guys did that.

“Defensively, early on I couldn’t have been more pleased. They made some stops. We actually played good third down defense. Our problem was fourth down defense a few times in the first half. They converted some fourth downs to keep drives alive. We did have a big fourth down stop. We caused a fumble and returned the fumble down deep into their territory. We had a couple of scoring opportunities with a short field in the first half and weren’t able to get any points out of that. I think any field goal there in the first half would have been a big momentum thing for us and our football team. We came out in the second half and we did some things you cannot do. You can’t turn the football over the way that we did. Again, that’s something we’ve done three games in a row, is turn the football over deep in our territory. Giving any kind of football team a short field is always going to be tough. I thought our guys were excited to play. They were prepared to play. They came in, played hard and played with good effort. We just didn’t play well enough to win the football game.”

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Hendon Hooker leads Vols to win over Tennessee Tech

Hendon Hooker leads Vols to win over Tennessee Tech.

Tennessee (2-1) posted a dominant performance Saturday at Neyland Stadium, defeating Tennessee Tech 56-0.

The Vols remain undefeated against Tennessee Tech, recording five shutouts in seven meetings.

Quarterback Hendon Hooker made his first start for the Vols and completed 17-of-25 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns.

He was also Tennessee’s leading rusher. Hooker, who started in place of the injured Joe Milton III, rushed for 64 yards and scored one touchdown on nine  attempts.

Third string quarterback Harrison Bailey played late and recorded a touchdown run for the Vols, who also received rushing scores from Jaylen Wright and Tiyon Evans.

Velus Jones Jr., Jacob Warren and JaVonta Payton recorded touchdown receptions for the Vols.

Defensively, Aubrey Solomon and Byron Young, playing his first game for the Vols, totaled six tackles apiece.

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Josh Heupel discusses Vols’ team identity as level of competition steps up

Josh Heupel discusses Tennessee’s team identity as the level of competition steps up.

Tennessee (2-1) enters Southeastern Conference play in Week 4.

The Vols play at Florida (2-1) Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. EDT and ESPN will televise the matchup.

Tennessee has defeated Bowling Green and Tennessee Tech, while losing to Pittsburgh ahead of SEC play.

Following Tennessee’s 56-0 win against Tennessee Tech (0-3) in Week 3, first-year head coach Josh Heupel met with media and discussed his team as “the level of competition is going to step up next week” at Florida.

Heupel further discussed if he knows what the identity of Tennessee is yet following three games.

“I think we are playing with great effort and energy in all three phases of the game,” Heupel said. “We’re not quite clean enough on the offensive side of the ball, some positive things we’ve done defensively. Creating negative plays, getting after the quarterback, and I think you continue evolve as your personnel changes.

“Your matchups, you have to be able to protect the guys you need to protect as you go through a football game based on who you’re seeing and be able to take advantage of matchups.”

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Josh Heupel recaps Vols’ victory against Tennessee Tech

Josh Heupel recaps Vols’ victory against Tennessee Tech.

Tennessee (2-1) defeated Tennessee Tech (0-3), 56-0, Saturday at Neyland Stadium.

Following Tennessee’s Week 3 win, first-year head coach Josh Heupel met with media and discussed the Vols’ performance.

“First of all, I thought the fans were fantastic today,” Heupel said. “Third straight home game, noon ball game, the Vol Walk was energetic, it was awesome. The environment for our players running out today, I thought the people that showed up were into the football game early and did a great job, so we appreciate that.

“I thought the team did a lot of the things we were asking them from the previous week, but still played with great effort and energy. In particular, the defense and special teams. I thought we played cleaner, way fewer penalties. I thought we handled that the right way. Then, we were able to take care of the football for the most part during the football game, and defensively were able to force four. Did a great job there. I thought we took some positive steps. There’s a bunch of plays out there, offensively, that at some point we will need to take advantage of. Obviously, the level of competition is going to step up next week. Our players are excited about that opportunity, a big challenge for us as a program., but we have to make some strides this next week.”

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