Cunningham, Byrd pace Golden Eagles in first scrimmage
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech football team used its first scrimmage as a dress rehearsal on Saturday night, practicing as if it was Sept. 1's opener against Wofford. But it was a learning experience for head coach Marcus Satterfield.
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
Video: Post-scrimmage interview with head coach Marcus Satterfield and Dontez Byrd
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech football team used its first scrimmage as a dress rehearsal on Saturday night, practicing as if it was Sept. 1's opener against Wofford.
But it was a learning experience for head coach Marcus Satterfield.
"I have no idea," Satterfield joked. "It was the weirdest thing I've ever experienced. That was my first true scrimmage as a head coach. I didn't call any plays, I just stood out here and I saw everything that was wrong. It's never going to be as bad as you think it is or as good as you think it is. I know the defense did some great things (Saturday), our running backs made some nice runs in the second half.
"I just look forward to getting into the meeting room and watching the tape to see what happened."
In the scrimmage, the Golden Eagles' first of two, Josh Cunningham and Dontez Byrd both had strong performances, while the defense also made good efforts.
"I thought it went well for the first scrimmage," Byrd said. "On offense, we had a lot of procedure penalties that we're going to cut out when we get back to practice on Monday. In this last stretch, we're going to focus on the details, learn the process and get ready to win the championship."
Cunningham caught a 26-yard pass from Michael Birdsong for 26 yards as he pulled down the pass and made a reverse spin back to the sideline to evade a defender. Putting his foot on the pedal, Cunningham blasted away from all of the defenders and dove in for the touchdown.
Dorian Carter also scored on a two-yard run, while Roderick Napper broke away for a 29-yard touchdown run.
Byrd, a transfer from Louisville, had four catches for 58 yards and also had a 46-yard kick return.
"Josh and Dontez, it's no accident," Satterfield said. "They've had a great summer. They've worked extremely hard and they were always around with Michael throwing the ball around. All that hard work is starting to pay off."
Byrd wanted to make an impact after coming over from the Football Bowl Subdivision program, especially with the talent on the team.
"With us having a lot of receivers," Byrd said, "there's always competition. We've got Brock McCoin, who was an All-American last year and I'm competing with him daily. They never handed me anything, so it's just competing every day for my spot. I don't want anything to be handed to me."
It wasn't all positives though as there were some penalties that slowed the Golden Eagle offense down.
"We had 12 administrative penalties," Satterfield said. "That means there were people on the ball who should have been off the ball or people going offsides. We cranked the music up in the first half where it was really hard to hear. In the first 17 plays, we had eight administrative penalties. That's going to happen in the first scrimmage, but it's unacceptable. That's how you beat yourselves. We'll get that fixed. That's part of growing up when you have a young team. We'll be OK. We'll make some strides over the next week."
The team used music in the spring, and they employed the tactic again Saturday night to prepare the players for the sights and sounds of college football.
"It's huge," Satterfield said. "It was the first time I didn't allow any coaches anywhere near the huddles, which is tough on them. Some of the offensive linemen really haven't played football and Kyron Hart was just moved to the offensive line a few days ago. We really sent them out there to get their butts kicked and learn from it.
"It was good to see the defense respond. They've been yelling and screaming in practice, but they had to use hand signals tonight and they did a really nice job of communicating. They were in the right spots, so, without watching the tape, both sides had a lot of good things happen because of the music with having to communicate."
The Golden Eagles get the day off on Sunday before returning to practice on Monday. Tech will host its annual Gathering of Eagles on Thursday night, then will host its final scrimmage on Saturday.
