Tucker Stadium finale brings back memories for Tech alumni
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – As Tennessee Tech faces Gardner-Webb on Saturday, it will mark a milestone as it will be the final game in this configuration of Tucker Stadium. After the completion of the season, the west grandstands will be demolished, to be replaced with a new complex. While it’s not the end of Tucker Stadium, it is the end of it as we know it. At the beginning of the season, we asked for some of your favorite memories of Tucker Stadium and as we enter the final home game of the venerable structure, here are some of the responses:
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – As Tennessee Tech faces Gardner-Webb on Saturday, it will mark a milestone as it will be the final game in this configuration of Tucker Stadium. After the completion of the season, the west grandstands will be demolished, to be replaced with a new complex.
While it's not the end of Tucker Stadium for good, it is the end of it as we know it.
At the beginning of the season, we asked for some of your favorite memories of Tucker Stadium and as we enter the final home game of the venerable structure, here are some of the responses:
Brent Brown (Class of '97, Nolensville, Tenn.): The cannon firing after touchdowns!
Fred Curtis (Class of '79, Holly Springs, Ga.): The game against Georgia Southern with it snowing and sleeting, Tech's 'barefoot' kicker kicked the game-winning field goal.
Derek Dodson (Class of '80 and '82, Lebanon, Tenn.): Working at night on the crew that put new turf down around 1974, then playing on that turf in high school and college. Lived with the Tuckers for a few months in 1977 while waiting for an apartment to become available. Also ran track there in high school for Cookeville High (PCHS).
John Glasscock (Volunteer, Cookeville, Tenn.): Being around the team. I've been around the Tech games since I was a kid and have always loved Tech football. Getting to be on the sideline reminds me how much I love my Tech football family.
Dan Haskins (Class of '69, Old Hickory, Tenn.): I was a student when Tucker Stadium first opened. At that time, the Agriculture Department's milking barn was where the Volpe Library is today. It was not unusual during the fourth quarter of a home game to see cows making their way to the barn for evening milking.
Greg Hunnicutt (Class of '03, Cartersville, Ga.): I have two favorite memories. My first is when my brother, Jeff, scooped and scored when I was visiting in high school. I can't remember the opponent. My favorite as a player was whooping up on TSU on TV in 2001. They were favored and we beat them 63-13. Fun times.
Carole Jackson (Class of '66, Hendersonville, Tenn.): I was a Golden Girl in the 1962-63 school year. When the band would come down the field to the Ben-Hur March, I would get goosebumps all over. Ot was wonderful.
Michael Kemble (Class of '76, Cranston, R.I.): The band stepped off from the end zone, playing the theme from The Rockford Files. Athletic, spirited cheerleaders – with big smiles – pumped up the faithful. And Coach Don Wade's football team upending No. 2-ranked Western Kentucky in '74 and winning the OVC championship in '75. The band, the cheerleaders, the football team – 1974-75, two great years in Tucker Stadium.
Kevin LaRoche (Cookeville, Tenn.): Growing up in Cookeville, playing catch outside the end zone during games, track day during middle school, training for soccer, Death at Dawn. I never attended a class at Tech, but Tucker Stadium has provided so much. I'm grateful to grow up with Tennessee Tech and Tucker Stadium.
Marc Lewis (Class of '89, Smyrna, Tenn.): Fall camps with Coach Ragland and the Hawaiian Tropic suntan oil. You could smell the suntan oil before you seen him!
Lisa McIntire (Class of '01, Golden, Colo.): My first – and fondest – memory of Tucker Stadium was in the fall of 1996. I was an incoming freshman on the volleyball team, and we were on the track running our times miles, sprints and stairs. I remember thinking, 'This place is huge! I cannot wait to see a football game here!' Of course, it was a lot more exciting to sit comfortably and watch a TTU football game, rather than be the one working out on the field.
Eddie and Jan Nunley (Class of '76 and '86): In October of 1974, TTU was playing Western Kentucky for Homecoming. After a bleak 2-8 season in 1973, not many people thought we had a chance to beat Western and many questioned why we were playing them on Homecoming. TTU players came ready to play. It was a beautiful sunny day in Cookeville, a perfect day for Homecoming. My husband (we were already married) Eddie was knocked unconscious during the game. I was sitting in the stands and – lo and behold – I see his mother going on the field! I knew he had to be knocked out or otherwise he would have had a fit with her on the field! We've laughed about this many times. It was just one of many amazing games at Tucker Stadium. Many wonderful memories were made there.
Dan Shoemaker (Class of '87, Wartburg, Tenn.): During my time at Tech, ROTC did PT at Tucker Stadium and our warm-up was often running the stadium. Some times only one side, other times running both sides. Nothing like a cold winter morning watching the sun rise while running the stadium.
Norris Skelley (Class of '79 and '01, Cookeville, Tenn.): I have a short list –
- Homecoming 1977… unbeaten and No. 2-ranked – Division II at that time – beats Morehead State 24-22 before a packed Tucker Stadium crowd. Cecil Fore powers into the end zone with six seconds left to secure the win.
- 2011… Tech routs Austin Peay 49-7 to secure its first OVC championship since 1975. Tech also hosts an FCS playoff game for the first time in school history
- Nov. 20, 1993… Tech ends a nine-game losing streak to Middle Tennessee with a 35-14 win over 'those people from Murfreesboro…'
- Aug. 31, 2019… Tech 59, Samford 58 in overtime. Down 16 with 2:20 left in the fourth quarter, Tech rallies to win it in overtime.
Lots of other games through the years, but a couple other things: Eagle Bait, the Tech spirit truck that would circle the field on the track after a Tech score before the cannon was introduced; seeing former Notre Dame head coach Gerry Faust on the sidelines as the head coach of the Akron Zips; and seeing these OVC Hall of Fame coaches on the sidelines of Tucker Stadium – Don Wade, Roy Kidd, Jim Felix and Boots Donnelly.
Bruce Winningham (Class of '86, Jamestown, Tenn.): Beating Morehead and snapping a long losing streak with fans storming the field, tearing down one of the goalposts.
It's not too late to join in with some of your favorite Tucker Stadium memories. Submit yours here.
