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November 3, 2009

Going to the big time

TTU, McIntosh prepare to play Georgia

By Larry Fleming

It’s homecoming weekend at Georgia.

Tennessee Tech University is the Bulldogs’ opponent.

TTU’s sophomore linebacker Jake McIntosh, who played prep football at Dalton High, believes the Bulldogs will be an angry bunch on Saturday after taking a 41-17 spanking at the hands of No. 1 Florida last week.

Still, the Golden Eagles of the Ohio Valley Conference are eager to play in Sanford Stadium.

“It’s going to be fun,” McIntosh said Tuesday in a telephone interview from Cookeville, Tenn. “Every week is big for us, but this game is a little more special. A lot of guys on our team are from Georgia. And while I grew up an Alabama fan because of my dad (John McIntosh played at Alabama), I always liked Georgia. We’d like to prove we can play with guys at that level.”

Well, don’t count on TTU coach Watson Brown to bring up the only other meeting between the two schools. Georgia shellacked Tennessee Tech, 67-0, in 1943 in Athens. Saturday will mark the first time the Bulldogs have played at home in 35 days and the Bulldogs are 68-17-2 on homecoming since 1922.

The odds for TTU seem long.

“It’s definitely not one of those games you just go pick up a check and come home,” McIntosh said. “They’ve got a good football team and have some great athletes. We know they haven’t been doing so good in the SEC, but that’s a very capable team. We want to go down there and give it our best shot.”

Tennessee Tech (5-3) is in third place in the OVC standings with a 4-2 league record. The Eagles trail Eastern Illinois (5-1) and Eastern Kentucky (5-2). TTU lost to the EIU, 23-15, and EKU, 17-7. They also ventured to Kansas State on Sept. 26 and were thumped, 49-7, by the Wildcats.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 230-pound McIntosh said he had watched enough tape on Georgia to know quarterback Joe Cox is a solid threat when he’s on.

“He’s got a good arm and Georgia runs the ball pretty good,” McIntosh said. “I think we have to try and stop the run first with them. They’re probably going to try and beat us down, but I hope they don’t.”

McIntosh is the Eagles’ third-leading tackler with 49 — 15 solos and 34 assists — and has broken up one pass and deflected another. He has recorded 2 1/2 tackles for loss, a total of 5 yards.

He is the Eagles’ starter at renegade linebacker.

McIntosh sat out the first three games in 2008, but earned a chance to play against Western Michigan when one player ahead of him on the depth chart was injured and another “wasn’t getting the job done,” he said. He had three tackles against Western Michigan and was in the starting lineup the next week and stayed there for the final eight games and the first eight this season.

“Western Michigan is a Division I school and I was a little nervous about that game,” said McIntosh, a three-year Daily Citizen All-Area selection and unanimous choice in 2007.

“But I went in there and did OK. It wasn’t a great game or anything like that, but it was as good as a freshman could do.”

McIntosh is happy with his choosing Tennessee Tech.

“I love it up here (Cookeville) and coach Brown is an awesome coach,” he said. “I’ve got some great friends, including my roommate, Tre Lamb who is from Calhoun. Tre is the second-team quarterback and playing some too.”

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