Know Your Foe: In Tennessee Tech, UK gets an unexpectedly difficult FCS foe
Scouting Kentucky football’s next opponent, the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles:
Game details for Kentucky vs. Tennessee Tech
Kentucky (4-5, 2-5 SEC) will face Tennessee Tech (10-0, 7-0 OVC-Big South Association) on Saturday at Kroger Field (seating capacity of 61,000) on the campus of the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
The game will kick off at 1:30 p.m. EST and be streamed by the SEC Network+.
Coach Bobby Wilder and the Golden Eagles won 21-9 at Eastern Illinois on Saturday.
Kentucky-Tennessee Tech history and trends
Kentucky leads the all-time series with Tennessee Tech 1-0.
UK coach Mark Stoops has never coached against the Golden Eagles.
Tennessee Tech head man Bobby Wilder has not coached against Kentucky.
Under Stoops, UK is 11-0 all-time against Football Championship Subdivision opponents. However, two of those outcomes, a 34-27 overtime win against Eastern Kentucky in 2015 and a 28-23 victory against Chattanooga in 2021, came in one-score games.
In its last 10 games against Football Bowl Subdivision foes, Tennessee Tech is 0-10 and has been outscored by an average of 39 points.
The Golden Eagles will come to Lexington on a 15-game winning streak dating back to last season.
Most recent Kentucky-Tennessee Tech football game
Playing only in the first half of a rout, Kentucky All-America quarterback Vito “Babe” Parilli completed 11 of 16 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns and the Wildcats amassed 646 yards of total offense in the game and blasted Tennessee Tech 72-13 on Sept. 15, 1951, at Stoll Field in Lexington.
Kentucky-Tennessee Tech: Three things to know
1. According to FBSchedules.com, it was in 2018 when Kentucky signed the contract to play Tennessee Tech at Kroger Field in 2025 for a financial guarantee of $600,000.
In the 2018 football season, the Golden Eagles went 1-10 for the second straight year. From 2019 through 2023, Tennessee Tech went a combined 19-33.
Alas, that Tennessee Tech is not who the Wildcats will face Saturday.
Prior to the 2024 season, Tech hired former Old Dominion head man Bobby Wilder, who has rejuvenated the Golden Eagles football program. Under Wilder, Tennessee Tech is 17-5 overall and 13-2 in league games.
Wilder served as ODU head man from 2014 through 2019, going 31-42. In 2016, Wilder coached the Monarchs to a 10-3 mark that included a 24-20 win against Eastern Michigan in the Bahamas Bowl. However, Old Dominion went a combined 10-26 over the ensuing three seasons, costing Wilder the job.
2. Kentucky will be the third FBS opponent Tennessee Tech has faced under Wilder. Last season, the Golden Eagles almost beat Middle Tennessee State of Conference USA, falling 32-25 on the road in the 2024 season opener.
Tech lost in spite of outgaining MTSU 341-328.
The following week, Tennessee Tech dipped its toe into the Southeastern Conference, facing Georgia at Sanford Stadium. The Golden Eagles lost 48-3 and were outgained 498-134 by Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs.
3. Tennessee Tech will arrive in Lexington with one of the most high-powered offenses in the FCS. The Golden Eagles rank first in the FCS in scoring (45.2 points a game), seventh in rushing (219.5 yards a game), 35th in passing (231.4 yards a game) and 13th in total offense (450.9 yards a game).
This story was originally published November 10, 2025 at 6:45 AM.
