Bio Blast: Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles

Kentucky’s long losing SEC home losing streak is now a thing of the past after last week’s beatdown of Florida at Kroger Field. Now the Wildcats (4-5, 2-5) are looking to put together a winning streak at home. The FCS game in 2025 has finally arrived in Week 12. This one is much more trickier than those in the past.

Head coach Bobby Wilder is bringing his Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles three hours up the road as a top-five team in the FCS. The OVC-Big South Champion has a legit shot at a national title in 2025, but first, they get to take a swing at Kentucky before the postseason arrives.

Not many — if any — in the Big Blue Nation are familiar with Tennessee Tech. KSR is here to catch you to speed. Our first close look at the Golden Eagles has arrived.

An established head coach has led a big turnaround

Bobby Wilder played quarterback at Maine from 1983-86 before beginning his coaching journey. The 61-year-old was a graduate assistant at Boston College in 1988 and 1989 before spending 17 seasons at his alma mater working as defensive line coach, wide receivers coach, tight ends coach, quarterbacks coach, and offensive coordinator. Wilder then left a place he knew well to become a head coach.

Old Dominion hired Wilder after the 2006 season to start their football program from scratch. The head coach spent the first two years recruiting starting a program before the Monarchs joined the FCS in 2009. Despite the long wait, Wilder led ODU to a 9-2 finish in year one and a 8-3 finish in year two. The program then joined the Colonial Athletic Association in 2011 and made the FCS quarterfinals in 2012. ODU then made another jump to FBS when the school joined C-USA in 2013. The Monarchs finished with 10 wins in 2016 and made the program’s first bowl game.

After three consecutive losing seasons from 2017-19, Wilder decided to resign after nine seasons in Norfolk. He finished his long run at ODU with a 77-56 record. The head coach resurfaced at Tennessee Tech after four years off and immediately led the Golden Eagles to a conference title in year one. It was this program’s first winning season since 2011. Tennessee Tech is a national championship contender in year two. Wilder will be coaching in the FCS Playoffs for the first time since 2012 this season.

Dominant football on offense and defense offense

Offensive coordinator Brian Smith came to Tennessee Tech from New Hampshire where current Minnesota Vikings quarterback Max Brosmer was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award. NFL running Dylan Laube was also on that team. Smith was a finalist for the Broyles Award in 2016 when ODU averaged 35.1 points per game during a 10-win seasons when he worked for Wilder.

This head coach and offensive coordinator pairing has a track record. They are doing some of their best work in 2025. This is the best offense in the FCS.

• Scoring: 45.2 (No. 1 in FCS)
• Yards Per Play: 7.20 (No. 3 in FCS)
• Yards Per Rush: 6.11 (No. 3 in FCS)
• Yards Per Pass: 8.67 (No. 14 in FCS)

The Golden Eagles have scored 40-plus points six times this season and have never scored less than 21 points in a game so far in 2025. Only one game on their schedule has been decided by one-possession. This is a group that is rolling.

Eastern Washington quarterback transfer Kekoa Visperas is having a monster season with 2,104 passing yards on a 65.4 percent completion rate plus 440 rushing yards on 5.7 yards per rush. Visperas has accounted for 25 total touchdowns and is pacing the offense.

That's a 🎯 for a TOUCHDOWN!

Visperas ➡️ Robinson‼️

Tech 52
LWU 28
1:48 – 4Q
📺 @ESPNPlus #AimHigh | #WingsUp pic.twitter.com/y9F38BbXAU

— TTU Football (@TNTechFootball) October 18, 2025

Quintell Quinn and Q’Daryius Jennings have combined for 1,152 rushing yards on 7.1 yards per rush with 19 rushing touchdowns. Four different wideouts have 20-plus receptions with each player over 300 yards. The Golden Eagles are a well-balanced and explosive offense.

Tennessee Tech is also playing dominant football on defense. Defensive coordinator Chase Mummau was just a graduate assistant at Wake Forest two years ago. The young coaching was promoted to play-caller in the offseason and is delivering terrific results.

• Defensive Touchdowns: 5 (No. 1 in FCS)
• Tackles For Loss: 90 (No. 1 in FCS)
• Yards Per Play: 4.02 (No. 2 in FCS)
• Third Down Conversion Percentage: 29.6% (No. 4 in FCS)
• Scoring: 15.3 (No. 4 in FCS)

Linebacker Theron Gaines has 71 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, and 25 pressures. Defensive tackle Chima Iwuagwu has 8.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, and 16 pressures. This defense is disruptive, can tilt the scoreboard, and has allowed more than 21 points just once this season.

Tennessee Tech is playing winning football on both sides of the football. The offense gets most of the credit but this defense making a big impact in each game.

A long winning streak will be on the line at Kroger Field

For the third consecutive Saturday, we saw the Kentucky football program end a streak last weekend at Kroger Field. The two touchdowns or less streak (vs. Tennessee), the long SEC losing streak (vs. Auburn), and the home power conference losing streak (vs. Florida) all were ended. Another streak will be on the line this weekend.

Not only has Tennessee Tech started the season with 10 consecutive wins but it has occurred after a very strong finish to the 2024 season. After a 2-5 start, the Golden Eagles won five consecutive games to end the season with a ranked upset over UT Martin in a rivarly game. Bobby Wilder will be bringing his team to Lexington with a 15-game winning streak. That is the longest current winning streak in FCS football.

The trophy game with UT Martin is on deck. The playoffs are not far away. Tennessee Tech still has a lot to play for this season. They are going to look to continue their historic season for a program that has only made the FCS postseason once. This is a group doing some special things in Cookeville.

UK will try to end another streak on Saturday.