COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Gardner-Webb heads to Cookeville, Tenn. to face off against Tennessee Tech in the final away game of the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 11.
Gardner-Webb (5-4, 3-1 Big South-OVC) at Tennessee Tech (3-6, 1-3 Big South-OVC)
Saturday, Nov. 4 - 2:30 PM Eastern
Tucker Stadium - Cookeville, Tenn.
Watch (ESPN+) (Dylan Vazzano, Metz)
Listen (WGNC 1450 AM/101.1 FM/ Varsity Network App / gwusports.com) (Dave Friedman, Mark Covert)
Live Stats
THE GAME
The Runnin' Bulldogs head to the old stomping grounds of head coach Tre Lamb for their final road game of the regular season, facing Tennessee Tech in a Big South-OVC matchup. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. eastern. Dylan Vazzano and Metz will handle the call on ESPN+. Dave Friedman and Mark Covert will have the radio call on WGNC 1450 AM/101.1 FM or online via the Varsity Network App and at gwusports.com.
SERIES NOTES
This is the third meeting all-time between the Golden Eagles and Runnin' Bulldogs. Tennessee Tech leads the series 2-1. The two squads last met in 2008 in the season opener, as Tennessee Tech took a 28-12 victory. Gardner-Webb's lone win came in 2006, a 30-26 win for the Runnin' Bulldogs. DuVaughn Flagler finished with 10 catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
SCOUTING TENNESSEE TECH
Tennessee Tech enters the game 3-6 overall and 1-3 in the Big South-OVC following a 44-41 loss in overtime to UT Martin last week. Freshman quarterback Jordyn Potts went 24-38 for 209 yards and five touchdowns. Metrius Fleming and Justin Pegues both had two touchdown receptions in the game. Tennessee Tech leads the conference and ranks third in the FCS in defensive touchdowns, with four so far this season. The Golden Eagles have recorded 10 interceptions, the third-most in the conference. Tim Coutras leads the FCS with four interceptions this season. Daniel Rickert ranks 17th in the FCS with 7.0 sacks this season. Rickert also ranks 15th in the FCS with 12.0 tackles-for-loss. The Golden Eagles defense has been strong in the redzone this season, allowing teams to score just 79.2 percent of the time, the third-best mark in the conference.
THE HEAD COACHES
Gardner-Webb head coach Tre Lamb is the second-youngest skipper in Division I football at age 34. He is 18-19 in his brief tenure, with seven of those losses coming to 85-scholarship FBS programs. Dewayne Alexander is 19-42 in his six years at Tennessee Tech, and 60-75 overall in 13 years of coaching. Alexander spent seven seasons at NAIA Cumberland, going 41-33, leading the Bulldogs to a pair of 8-3 records and a Mid-South Conference championship in 2008.
LAST TIME OUT
Gardner-Webb enters this week's contest 5-4 overall and 3-1 in the Big South-OVC following a 45-44 win in overtime over Bryant. After going up 24-10 at halftime, GWU trailed 38-24 in the fourth quarter. Gino English and Jaylen King led a game-tying drive with 18 seconds left, and William McRainey knocked down a pass to the endzone on Bryant's two-point conversion attempt in overtime. English connected with AJ Johnson on a two-yard touchdown pass, and Jay Billingsley's field goal gave Gardner-Webb the victory. King earned Big South-OVC Freshman of the Week honors after running the ball 24 times for 108 yards, scoring twice. Through the air, King went 18-for-36 for 160 yards and two touchdowns.
WELCOME BACK
Gardner-Webb head football coach Tre Lamb is familiar with Tennessee Tech, as Lamb played quarterback at Tennessee Tech from 2009-2012, serving as team captain his final three seasons. He led the Golden Eagles to an OVC title in 2011, the program's first since 1975, and a spot in the NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs for the first time. Lamb was outstanding during his team's title run, directing an offense that set nine school records, including single-season marks for points scored (355), scoring average (32.3 ppg) and most first downs in a season (238). The program's Robert Hill Johnson Award winner, Lamb set three individual school records himself in 2011, establishing new marks for single-game attempts and completions and the single-season record for total offense with 2,555 yards. He finished his career with 5,301 passing yards, which ranks third in program history. He passed for a school-record 481 yards vs. Southeast Missouri State as a senior.
Lamb was also part of a coaching staff at Tennessee Tech in 2019 that engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in Division I FCS nationally. The Golden Eagles won just two games combined in 2017 and 2018, but bumped that win total to six games this past season. Lamb's offensive mastery was on full display in the 2019 opener, as the Golden Eagles racked up 671 yards of total offense in a 59-58 win over Samford. Tennessee Tech went on to score more than 30 points five times in 2019 and finished second in the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring offense (29.0 ppg) and offensive plays (893). The Golden Eagles ranked third in the conference in pass offense and pass efficiency, fourth in rushing offense – and led the OVC in time of possession.
GETTING CLOSER
Ty French recorded a strip sack last week against #13 UT Martin, allowing Ty Anderson to return the ball 36 yards for a touchdown. French is now 0.5 sacks shy of tying former GWU Runnin' Bulldog and Green Bay Packer Gabe Wilkins (1990-93) for the most in school history (29.0). French also has 12.0 tackles-for-loss this season, the 13th most in the FCS For his career, French has 52 tackles-for-loss, tied with Tory Atkins (1998-2001) for the third-most in program history.
RECORD BREAKER
Running back Narii Gaither (5-10, 181, R-Sr.) now has 3,042 career rushing yards, becoming just the second player in program history to rush for at least 3,000 yards. Gaither also has 100 career receptions, passing Philip Keefe for the most career pass receptions by a running back in Gardner-Webb history, while his nine receiving touchdowns are the most in program history. Gaither's 840 career receiving yards are also the most by a running back in program history.
BACK IN BLACK
Last season, Gardner-Webb opened the year with new black helmets, defeating Limestone 56-21 in the season opener. The Runnin' Bulldogs donned the black helmets in all five conference games last season, culminating in the program's first Big South Conference championship since 2003. The black magic continued for GWU in the first round of the FCS Playoffs, rolling to a 52-41 victory over Eastern Kentucky in the 2022 FCS Playoffs. While the streak ended at #5 William & Mary the next week, GWU broke out the black helmets again on Oct. 21, 2023, defeating EKU 35-32. GWU has worn the black helmets in their last three games, winning all three. Gardner-Webb is now 9-1 all-time in the new black helmets.
WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S A TACKLE
For the past two years, William McRainey has been a head hunter for the Runnin' Bulldogs, recording over 100 tackles the past two seasons. Last year, McRainey led the team with 104 tackles, with 9.0 TFL and 5.5 sacks. McRainey has started all 37 games he has played in since earning the starting linebacker job in the 2021 spring season. This season, McRainey has 77 total tackles, picking up 11 tackles in back-to-back games against Austin Peay and Robert Morris, and 14 tackles, along with an interception, against EKU. McRainey now has 309 tackles for his career, as he is just the 20th player in program history to record at least 300 tackles.
BIG SOUTH STATS
Gardner-Webb is 49-58 all-time in Big South Conference or Big South-OVC play since joining the conference in 2002. Gardner-Webb has gone undefeated in conference play three times, in 2002 (3-0), 2003 (4-0), and 2022 (5-0). The Runnin' Bulldogs did opened their time in the Big South with six straight seasons without a losing record in conference play, going 15-8 in conference games from 2002-2007, winning seven conference games in a row before falling to Liberty 17-9 on Oct. 2, 2004. Last season's 5-0 record in Big South play ended a stretch from 2017-2021 where Gardner-Webb failed to record a winning record in conference play, going just 5-21 in that time span.
KING ME
Jaylen King has started to earn recognition over the past few weeks, as the true freshman has gone 3-1 in his first four career starts, winning three in a row. King earned his first career conference honor from the Big South-OVC Football Association, after recording 254 yards of total offense and three touchdowns, as the quarterback helped lead Gardner-Webb to a 38-34 upset victory over #13/14 UT Martin. King came up big on the final drive of the game, leading a 16-play, 90-yard drive to score a 10-yard rushing TD with 0:13 left in the contest. The Runnin' Bulldogs also converted three fourth downs on the final drive. The Folkston, Ga. native showed off his arm as well, finding Jayden Brown for a 71-yard passing touchdown in the first quarter, and also ending the first half with a one-yard strike to Karim Page to put GWU up 31-20 at the break. Against one of the best defenses in the FCS, King was 16-for-33 with 216 passing yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, King had 17 rushes, for 38 yards with the game-winning rushing touchdown.
King has earned FedEx Ground FCS National Freshman Honorable Mention honors in three straight weeks. His first honor came on Oct. 23, after going 14-for-18 for 185 yards with one touchdown pass and rushing for 46 yards and a touchdown in Gardner-Webb's 35-32 win over Eastern Kentucky.
JUST GO (FOR) IT
In their last two games, Gardner-Webb has gone 12-for-13 on fourth down attempts (92.3 percent). The Runnin' Bulldogs were a perfect 5-for-5 on fourth downs against UT Martin and went 7-for-8 against Bryant. This year, GWU has converted 24 total fourth downs, tied with North Alabama for the most in the FCS. GWU is 24-for-36 on fourth down this season, with their 66.7 percent conversion rank tied for 15th in the FCS.
BRICK WALL
The Gardner-Webb rushing defense has been a brick wall this season, holding teams to just 117.1 rushing yards per game. Twice this season, the Runnin' Bulldogs have held teams to under 100 rushing yards in a game, holding Robert Morris to just 33 rushing yards and held Bryant to just 68 rushing yards. UT Martin running back Sam Franklin entered the contest between GWU and the Skyhawks leading the Big South-OVC averaging roughly 140 yards per game. Gardner-Webb held Franklin to just 70 yards for the game.
UP NEXT
Gardner-Webb returns to Spangler Stadium to close out the regular season, hosting long-time rival Charleston Southern for Military Appreciation Day on Saturday, Nov. 18. Kickoff is set for 1:00 PM. Fans can purchase tickets online at gwusports.com
