BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Sept. 29, 2023) – Coming off its bye week, the ETSU football team returns to action as the Buccaneers gear up for eight straight weeks of Southern Conference play starting Saturday afternoon when the Blue & Gold take on Samford in Birmingham. 

SOCON OPENER

Date: Saturday, Sept. 30

Time: 1 p.m. ET

Location: Birmingham, Ala. | Seibert Stadium

Teams: ETSU (1-2, 0-0) at (RV) Samford (1-3, 0-2)

Weather: 89° | Mostly Sunny | Winds NE @ 6 mph

Live Video: ESPN+

TV Crew: Blake Gardner (pbp); Damian Mitchell (analyst); Christina Chambers (sideline)

Live Audio: WXSM-AM 640 | 104.9 NASH ICON

Radio Crew: Jay "Voice of the Bucs" Sandos (pbp), Mark Hutsell (analyst), Robert Harper (sideline)

Live Stats: SamfordSports.com (StatBroadcast)

Twitter: @ETSUFootball

SOCON OPENERS

Saturday marks the 33rd SoCon opener for the Bucs … ETSU is 16-16 in the previous 32 SoCon openers, while the Bucs are 4-3 in SoCon openers since rejoining the league in 2016 … ETSU opened last year at The Citadel where the Bucs suffered a tough 20-17 in Charleston on Sept. 10, 2022 … This marks the third time since rejoining the conference in 2016 where ETSU is playing Samford in the conference opener … The Bucs won 24-17 in the spring opener in 2021 and then ETSU won 55-48 in overtime in the fall 2021 opener on Sept. 25.

BUCS IN THE FCS RANKINGS

Nate Brackett ranks eighth nationally in punting as he's averaging 45.1 yards per punt … Brackett's 70-yard punt against Carson-Newman is tied for the fifth-longest among FCS players this season … Chris Hope is 27th in solo tackles. (5.7), while Stephen Scott ranks 34th (9.0) and Hope is 48th (8.7) in total tackles … Isaiah McGaha is 43rd in sacks (0.67) and 31st in forced fumbles (0.33) … Khalil Anderson is 42nd in interceptions per game (0.3). 

TEAM FCS RANKINGS

ETSU ranks eighth nationally in punt returns (19.83) and 18th fewest penalties (16) … The Blue & Gold are also 26th in first downs defense (60).

T0 30 AND BEYOND…

ETSU is 18-4 when scoring at least 30 points since restarting the program in 2015 … ETSU had won its last 13 games when scoring at least 30 points following the lone setback at Furman on Sept. 30, 2017, before falling to No. 11 Mercer, 55-33, No. 15 Samford 55-45 and Wofford 48-41. 

PERSONAL MILESTONES

A pair of Buccaneers reached personal milestones last time out at Austin Peay as linebackers Zach West and Stephen Scott notched their 100th career tackles … Zach West landed right on the number with his two hits against the Govs, while Stephen Scott – who posted a career-high 12 tackles at Austin Peay – has 105 for his career … Max Evans is six tackles away from registering his 100th career tackle. 

RED ZONE SUCCESS

Since the start of the 2016 season, ETSU is 218-of-255 (85%) in red zone scoring ... The Bucs have scored 1,255 points during these 255 trips (147 TDs/71 FGs) ... ETSU was 48-of-53 in 13 games in the 2021 season with 289 points scored - 36 touchdowns and 12 field goals.

HUZZIE REACHES THE 2K MARK

Speaking of personal milestones, ETSU redshirt senior wide receiver Will Huzie made history in the Bucs' win over Carson-Newman as he became just the third Buccaneer receiver to eclipse the 2,000 receiving yard mark for a career … Huzzie has now totaled 2,061 receiving yards in 41 career games with the Bucs … B.J. Adigun (1994-97) is the all-time Buccaneer leader with 2,802 receiving yards and Cecil Moore (1999-02) is second with 2,488 yards … Huzzie also has 156 receptions, which rank third all-time … Huzzie needs six catches to pass Moore for second and 17 catches to break B.J. Adigun's school record of 172 … In his 41 games played, Huzzie has posted 17 touchdown receptions … The Duluth, Ga. native needs two more touchdown catches to move into the top three Buccaneer leaders and 10 to break Adigun's record of 26.

ABOUT SAMFORD

• After opening the season with a 69-14 win over Shorter, Samford has lost its last three games and sit 1-3 overall and 0-2 in SoCon play 
• Samford's three losses have been at Western Carolina (30-7), at Auburn (45-13) and vs. Chattanooga (47-24)
• In their three losses, the Bulldogs are being outscored 122-44 … Samford is allowing 40.7 points and 512.3 yards per game during this stretch (308.3 passing/204.0 rushing) … The Bulldogs have allowed eight rushing touchdowns and five passing touchdowns over this three-game run … Samford has turned the ball over six times in this three-game losing skid, resulting in the opposition to turn those miscues into 23 points … Samford has thrown four interceptions and lost two fumbles
• Overall, Samford is averaging 28.3 points per game and allowing 34.0 … The Bulldogs are averaging 403.0 yards per game (299.0 passing/104.0 rushing), while allowing 438.3 yards (278.5 passing/159.8 rushing) … Samford has scored on eight rushing and eight passing touchdowns
• Samford ranks seventh nationally in passing offense (299.0), 13th in fewest penalties per game (4.5), 17th in completion percentage (67.1%), 19th in first downs offense (87), 21st in third down conversion (45.1%), 23rd in fewest penalties (18) … The Bulldogs also rank second in punt return defense (-2.00)
• Samford is plus-1 in scoring over the first three quarters (106-105); however, the Bulldogs are being outscored 31-7 in the fourth quarter
• The Bulldogs are led by reigning SoCon Offensive Player of the Year Michael Hiers … Hiers has thrown for 1,130 yards and eight touchdowns this season … He's completing 68 percent of his passes (100-of-148) and has thrown four interceptions … In his 17 career games with Samford, Hiers has thrown for 4,674 yards and 44 touchdowns, while completing 453 of his 609 passes with eight interceptions … In all of last season, Hiers threw four picks in 461 attempts, while he has already matched that number in 148 passing attempts
• Hiers ranks third nationally in passing yards, passing yards per game (282.5), 10th in passing TDs, 13th in total offense (283.5) and 17th in points responsible for (54)
• Four different players have totaled 10+ receptions with Chandler Smith leading the group at 22 catches for 297 yards and three touchdowns … Ty King has 17 catches for 233 yards and one touchdown, while D.J. Rias and Brendan Jenkins each have 11 receptions … Overall, 19 players have made at least one reception this season
• Smith ranks 11th nationally in receiving touchdowns and 22nd in receiving yards
• Defensively, Samford has forced three takeaways (two INTs/one fumble recovery) … Kourtain Marsh and Jaden Mosley have the interceptions, while Marsh also has the fumble recovery … Marsh has 21 total tackles, while Noah Martin has a team-leading 33 tackles and seven tackles for loss … The Bulldogs have totaled four sacks this season with Joseph Mera accounting for two of those hits
• Martin ranks 11th nationally in tackles for loss and 14th in solo tackles per game (6.0)
• Samford's opponents have registered 11 sacks on the season
• Samford is the reigning SoCon Champion after going unbeaten in league play last season 

SERIES HISTORY

• ETSU has won two of the last three meetings but Samford leads the all-time series, 7-3
• Samford won last year in Johnson City, 55-45, despite Tyler Riddell passing for a career-high 389 yards and five touchdowns
• The Bucs defeated the Bulldogs in the spring of 2021 (24-17, Feb. 20 in Johnson City), while also winning a wild overtime thriller in Birmingham, 55-48 back in 2021 … ETSU led 17-13 at halftime before the teams combined for 73 second-half points, including overtime as the Bucs rallied for their first-ever win over Samford in Birmingham
• In 2021, the game featured four lead changes in the fourth quarter and a game-tying field goal by Tyler Keltner at the end of regulation … In overtime, Quay Holmes rushed for a 13-yard touchdown, while the Buccaneer defense stopped the Bulldogs on their possession to secure the victory … The teams combined for 1,259 yards of total offense with ETSU posting 531 yards … The game saw 185 combined plays – 111 by Samford and 74 by ETSU … The 103 combined points were the most in an ETSU game since Nov. 3, 1990 (110 vs. Wofford), while the 55 points were the most scored by the Bucs since the return of football in 2015
• The win at Samford was the Bucs' first ever-victory over the Bulldogs in Birmingham (1-3 all-time) 

MORE ON THE SAMFORD SERIES

• In the last two games against Samford, the teams have combined for 203 total points and 2381 yards of total offense in the last two meetings … The teams combined for 355 plays and 17 touchdowns … Of the total offense, 1735 yards have been via the air and 646 on the ground … Samford has accounted for 205 of those 355 plays
• In four career games against Samford, Tyler Riddell is 60-for-105 for 866 yards with nine passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown … In the last two games, Riddell is 46-for-78 for 680 passing yards with eight passing touchdowns and one rushing score
• Will Huzzie has played in four career games against Samford and has 22 receptions for 334 yards and four touchdowns … In the last two games, Huzzie has 16 catches for 241 receiving yards and four touchdowns 

COVERAGE

The Buccaneer Sports Network (BSN) will provide ETSU fans with complete pregame, in-game and postgame coverage on the Bucs' flagship station WXSM-AM 640 and affiliate station 104.9 FM NASH ICON. Click here for live audio. 

BSN begins its pregame programing one hour and 30 minutes prior to kickoff with the 30-minute Tennessee Lottery Tailgate Show, followed by the Pregame Show presented by Lafayette Heat & Air, which will lead up to 30 minutes prior to kickoff. The Appalachian Orthopedic Countdown to Kickoff will then lead into the final moments before kickoff.     

The broadcast team of "Voice of the Bucs" Jay Sandos, analyst Mark Hutsell and sideline reporter Robert Harper will provide ETSU fans all the information they need to complement their game-day activities. 

At halftime, the crew will have the Mr. Electric Halftime Show, while fans can tune into the Mullican Flooring Post Game Show for a full wrap up, with game statistics, players and coach interviews and other post-game information.  

Saturday's game will also be broadcast on ESPN+ with the team of Blake Gardner (play-by-play), Damian Mitchell (analyst) and Christina Chambers (sideline) on the call. 

UP NEXT

ETSU returns home for the first time in a month when the Bucs host Mercer on Homecoming next Saturday … Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. inside Greene Stadium. 

For more information on Buccaneer football, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the football tab.