COOKEVILLE, TN. — Eastern Kentucky University sophomore quarterback T.J. Pryor tied a school record with four touchdown passes in leading the Colonels (5-5, 4-2 OVC) to their third straight victory as EKU defeated Tennessee Tech 42-29 in a shootout at Overall Field at TTU Saturday afternoon.
Pryor tossed two touchdown passes to sophomore wideout Orlandus Harris of 13 and 55 yards and two more scoring tosses of 39 and five yards to sophomore wide receiver Tyrone Goard. Pryor also scored on a 37-yard run, while junior tailback H.B. Banjoman ran 34 yards for the final EKU tally.
“I’m proud of our guys to come in here and beat a tough, well-coached team like Tennessee Tech on their Homecoming,” said third-year EKU head coach Dean Hood. “We had great effort on offense all day long and our defense really picked it up in the second half, allowing just that a couple of field goals and that last touchdown when the game had already been decided.”
On the afternoon, Pryor hit 14-24 passes for 279 yards and four TD’s, while also adding 100 yards on the ground on 18 carries with one TD. Harris had his second straight 200-yard game receiving for the Colonels as he had 205 yards in the 49-37 win over Jacksonville State last week and came back with 200 yards receiving on nine receptions versus Tennessee Tech (4-6, 3-4 OVC). Goard added three catches for 57 yards and two TD’s. Banjoman had his career best game for the Colonels, rushing the ball 13 times for 103 yards with one score.
Tech was led by junior tailback Jocques Crawford with 128 yards on the ground. Senior quarterback Cass Barnes hit 18-30 passes for 273 yards and one TD and added 68 yards on 16 carries with one rushing TD.
EKU led Tech 21-20 at the break could not put the game out of reach until Pryor hit Harris for a 55-yard TD pass on a third and eight from his own 45-yard line with 2:38 left to put the Colonels ahead, 42-23.
Eastern was led on defense by senior linebacker Jordan Dalrymple who had 10 hits, a tackle for loss and a deflected pass. Senior tackle Andrew Soucy had four tackles, including one for a loss and a blocked extra point. Junior linebacker Tyson Patrick also had five hits, including two tackles for loss, while linebacker Antonio Fredrick, end Anthony Brown and safety Brooklyn Fox totaled seven, six and six tackles, respectively.
EKU closes the season next week by hosting Austin Peay at Roy Kidd Stadium at 1:00 p.m., while Tech hosts Jacksonville State in its season finale.
