Tennessee Tech lost more than a game to Northern Iowa on Sept. 27, it lost its entire offensive strategy.

Entering his eighth season as the Golden Eagles’ coach Watson Brown introduced a new wrinkle into the Tennessee Tech offense. Listed on his roster was the “QW” position, meaning both of his quarterbacks, Darian Stone and Jared Davis, would be on the field at all times. One quarterback lined up at the traditional position, the “Q” while the other lined up as a wide receiver, the “W.”

The offense was structured to work around the tight ends, Brown said. In Cedar Falls, Iowa, Tennessee Tech lost 50-7, its tight ends and its playbook.

“When we went to Northern Iowa and lost all of our tight ends in that game we just had to quit doing it because it was built around the tight end,” Brown said.

Since then, the “QW” position has been obsolete, as Brown put Stone back as the starting quarterback.

An entire new offense has also been put in place. After losing three games in a row, the Northern Iowa loss being the third, Tennessee Tech has gone 2-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

“We had to completely change offenses because when you don’t have a tight end and now you’re playing with wide receivers and running backs and anybody that plays us, I’m sure is saying, ‘my gracious this isn’t the same team that it was four weeks ago,’” Brown said.

Since Stone has been placed as the full-time starter, he has been up and down, throwing four touchdown passes, while throwing four interceptions. He does have the ability to run and leads Tennessee Tech with 306 rushing yards this season.

Eastern coach Kim Dameron said the Golden Eagles could be explosive on offense. Tennessee Tech was able to score 29 unanswered points in the fourth quarter against Eastern Kentucky to win 39-31. Dameron said the one weapon he is paying attention to the most is running back Ladarius Vanlier.

“Very explosive, I mean he can run,” Dameron said. “He’s a little gut that can make you miss and all that. Stone and Vanlier are most of their firepower. They don’t really have a ton of guys outside that just scare you to death.”

Vanlier, a 5-foot-8 junior, is one of the smallest backs Eastern has encountered so far this season, Dameron said, as most of the previous rushers have been bigger, with the ability to power past defenders. Vanlier not only has two rushing touchdowns this season, he has also been a weapon on special teams, scoring two punt returns for touchdowns and he also returned a kick off 99 yards for a touchdown.

“He’s by far the quickest we’ve seen this year,” Dameron said. “With bigger guys, obviously you try to tackle them low and get a lot of people to the football and it’s the same thing with little guys, it’s just you have to be careful of not going too low and letting him step over you. Your target moves up a little bit.”

Brown said his offense is now based around two running backs and three wide receivers, but that it has been difficult coming up with running plays without a viable option at a blocking tight end.

The Golden Eagles rank No. 7 in rushing offense in OVC play, averaging 127.6 yards per game. Overall, their offense averages 354.2 yards per game. With a new system implemented after the fourth game of the season, Brown said he is proud of how his team has responded.

“To change stuff like we’ve changed and to be decent, you know, we’re not looking like a Chinese fire drill,” Brown said. “I’m proud of these kids. They have really sucked their guts up and done a good job with it. I’m not saying we’re one of the best offenses in the league, but we’ve hung in there pretty good.”

Tennessee Tech’s offense welcomes Eastern, starting at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Cookeville, Tenn., where the Panthers bring the OVC’s No. 1 scoring defense.

Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21)can be reached at 581-2812 or asoto2@eiu.edu.