Bucs, Eagles clash for first time since 1974

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 8, 2023) – Only 80 miles separate the ETSU and Carson-Newman campuses, but the two football teams will meet for the first time since 1974 on Saturday inside William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium. Kickoff for the Buccaneers' home opener is set for 5:32 p.m. 

FEELS GOOD TO BE HOME

Date: Saturday, Sept. 9

Time: 5:32 p.m.

Location: Johnson City, Tenn. | William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium

Teams: ETSU (0-1) vs. Carson-Newman (1-0)

Weather: 81° | Partly Cloudy, Scattered Storms | Winds Light and Variable

Live Video: ESPN+

TV Crew: Keith Brake (pbp); Mark Hutsell (analyst)

Live Audio: WXSM-AM 640 | 104.9 NASH ICON

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

Live Stats: ETSUBucs.com (StatBroadcast)

Twitter: @ETSUFootball

Game Sponsor: BrightRidge 

ABOUT THE BUCS

The Buccaneers opened their 89th season in program history last Saturday at Jacksonville State ... In their 89 openers, ETSU has gone 44-42-3 ... The Blue and Gold defeated Mars Hill 44-7 last year and took down Vanderbilt 23-3 in 2021 … ETSU is 6-3 in season openers since restarting the program in 2015. 

GREENE STADIUM OPENERS

Saturday marks the seventh opener inside Greene Stadium … Since opening the stadium in 2017, ETSU has won its six home openers inside the new on-campus stadium … ETSU opened the stadium with a 31-10 win over Limestone … The Bucs then beat Mars Hill 28-7 in 2018, Shorter 48-10 in 2019, Samford 24-17 in the spring of 2021, UVA Wise 45-14 in the fall of 2021 and Mars Hill 44-7 last year … Overall, ETSU is outscoring its competition 220-65 in the six openers inside Greene Stadium. 

BUCS ON THIS DATE  

Today marks the fifth time ETSU will be playing on this date with the Bucs going 0-4 in the previous contests … The last time ETSU played on Sept. 9 was in 2017 when the Bucs took on No. 1 James Madison (52-10) … The Bucs lost at Colorado State in 2000 (41-7), fell 41-20 at Toledo in 1995 and dropped a 41-6 decision to MTSU in 1989. 

A ROAD LESS TRAVELLED

This season marks the first time since 1973 the Bucs are playing non-conference games against two in-state teams … The Bucs take on Carson-Newman and Austin Peay this season, while in 1973, the Blue & Gold played Carson-Newman and Chattanooga. 

END THE DROUGHT

In its last two games dating back to last year's season finale at Mississippi State, ETSU has been held without an offensive touchdown … The Bucs scored on a blocked punt at Mississippi State and last weekend the Blue & Gold were held to a 22-yard Ewan Johnson field goal … The last time ETSU has been held without an offensive touchdown in back-to-back games was back in 2015 when ETSU lost 21-9 at Robert Morris on Nov. 7 and suffered a 28-3 setback at Gardner-Webb on Nov. 14 … In the Robert Morris game, JJ Jerman made three field goals and he made the lone attempt at Gardner-Webb the following week. 

TEN BUCS PLAY FIRST COLLEGIATE GAME

Ten Buccaneers played their first collegiate games last weekend at Jacksonville State … The 10 Bucs who made their collegiate debuts include: WR Xavier Gaillardetz, DB Mike Jenkins Jr., DL Jaylen George, K Ewan Johnson, DB Tyree Rainey, LB Ray Coney, LB Dre Delinois, LB Cade Fleeman, DL Isaiah McGaha and Brenden LeBlanc. 

HOPE ON THE HORIZON

Chris Hope opened the 2023 season with a career day in his home state … The Madison, Ala. native tallied a career-high 12 tackles last Saturday at Jacksonville State … Of the 12 tackles, 11 were solo hits … Hope, who registered his first career double-digit tackle game, leads all FCS players with 11 solo tackles, while his 12 tackles rank 21st … Hope is the first Buccaneer to record double-digit tackles in a season opener since Stephen Scott and Karon Delince both finished with 10 tackles in the win at Vanderbilt in 2021. 

HUZZIE REACHING THE 2K MARK

ETSU redshirt senior wide receiver Will Huzie enters his final year in the Blue & Gold nearing a personal milestone … Huzzie has totaled 1,987 receiving yards in 39 career games with the Bucs … With 13 more receiving yards, Huzzie will become just the third Buccaneer of all-time to reach 2,000 career receiving yards … 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 149 receptions, which rank third all-time … Huzzie needs 13 catches to pass Moore for second and 24 catches to break B.J. Adigun's school record of 172 … In his 39 games played, Huzzie has posted 16 touchdown receptions … The Duluth, Ga. native needs three more touchdown catches to move into the top three Buccaneer leaders and 11 to break Adigun's record of 26. 

ABOUT CARSON-NEWMAN

• Carson-Newman opened the season with a 35-3 win over Virginia-Lynchburg last Thursday night
• The Eagles held the Dragons to 75 total yards, marking the third-lowest total in school history … It was also the fourth time in program history the Eagles held an opponent to two yards or fewer per play as the Dragons averaged just 1.9 yards per play
• Carson-Newman held VUL to just five first downs and all but seven of its offensive yards came from the Dragons' scoring drive, resulting in a 24-yard field goal in the second quarter
• C-NU finished the game with 426 yards of total offense on 79 plays … The Eagles rushed for 280 yards and threw for 146 … C-NU completed nine of its 20 passes and Zane Whitson was intercepted once … Running back Cam Ferguson led the team with 68 rushing yards (one touchdown), while Tyler Curtis rushed for two scores on 42 yards
• C-NU held the ball for nearly 41 minutes and converted on 10 of its 16 third down chances … The Eagle defense forced two turnovers (both interceptions)
• Carson-Newman was picked to finish seven in the South Atlantic Conference and third in the Mountain Division
• Six Eagles landed on the South Atlantic Conference's preseason All-Mountain Division Team … Running backs TJ King and Tyree Nelson, offensive lineman Christian Jones, placekicker Christian Erwin, long snapper Andrew Bradshaw and safety Major Williams all earned preseason honors
• Carson-Newman returns five starters on offense, seven on defense and two specialists from last year's team that went 6-5 overall and 5-4 in league play
• The Eagles' two-deep features five offensive players from FCS teams and two from FBS programs … On defense, they have three from FCS programs and two from FBS schools … Overall, 10 players on the Eagles' roster came from FCS programs and nine from FBS programs
• Quarterback Zane Whitson, who played at Dobyns-Bennett, came to C-NU from MTSU, while fellow quarterback Tre Luttrell played at Lenoir-Rhyne
• The Eagles have won a league-best 21 SAC titles and have been picked the conference favorite in all but nine of the last 34 preseason rankings … Carson-Newman has also won five national championships (1989, 1988, 1986, 1984, 1983) 

SERIES HISTORY

• With less than 80 miles separating the two campuses, Saturday marks the 32nd all-time meeting between ETSU and Carson-Newman
• Carson-Newman leads the all-time series 20-10-1 and the Eagles have won the last four meetings in the series
• Saturday marks the first game between the two programs since Sept. 14, 1974 (17,893 days between games) when Carson-Newman won 17-7
• ETSU's first-ever game was against Carson-Newman back in 1920 with the Eagles winning, 55-0
• ETSU's last win in the series came in 1955 when the Bucs won 22-13 in Johnson City
• ETSU's longest win streak in the series was five straight between 1951-55, while Carson-Newman won the first seven games in the series from 1920-33
• The Bucs' largest win in the series came in 1951 when ETSU won 33-2, while the Eagles' largest win came in 1926, 74-0 

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 Matt Wilhjelm 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 Keith Brake (play-by-play) and Mark Hutsell (analyst) on the call. 

UP NEXT

ETSU wraps up non-conference play when the Bucs head to Clarksville to take on Austin Peay … Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET. 

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