JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 11, 2024) – The ETSU football team will play its final home game of October on Saturday when it welcomes Samford to Johnson City as a part of Hall of Fame weekend. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. from Bank of Tennessee Field at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, October 12
Time: 3:32 p.m.
Location: Johnson City, Tenn. | Bank of Tennessee Field at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium
Teams: Samford (2-2, 1-0 SoCon) at (RV) ETSU (3-3, 1-1 SoCon)
Weather: 73° | Sunny | Winds: 4 mph
Game Sponsor: Hometown Plumbing
Live Video: ESPN+
TV Crew: Keith Brake (pbp), Mark Hutsell (analyst)
Live Audio: WXSM-AM 640 | HD radio can listen on 101.5 WQUT HD-2
Radio Crew: Jay "Voice of the Bucs" Sandos (pbp), Matt Wiljelm (analyst), Robert Harper (sideline), Don Helman (stats)
Live Stats: ETSUBucs.com (StatBroadcast)
X: @ETSUFootball
THINGS TO KNOW – Please click
HERE for all the "Things to Know" for Saturday's matchup with Samford, presented by Citizens Bank.
LAST TIME OUT - ETSU fell to Chattanooga last Saturday by a score of 17-10. The loss moves ETSU's record to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in SoCon action.
BIG DAY FOR AJ & DEVONTAE -
AJ Johnson had his best receiving game as a Buc totaling four receptions for 70 yards and hauled in ETSU's lone touchdown on the day.
Devontae Houston, who missed the last few games, led the charge on the ground with 59 rushing yards on 11 carries (5.4 average).
DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MATCHUP AGAINST THE MOCS - Defensively,
William McRainey totaled 12 tackles to lead the charge.
Chris Hope added eight tackles of his own with a sack.
Nick Hunter recorded ETSU's lone interception on the day. It was his second pick of the 2024 campaign. McRainey's 12 tackles against Chattanooga boosted his career total to 376, which ranks third behind only Fordham's James Conway (400) and South Dakota State's Adam Bock (380) among active FCS players. Hunter is the only SoCon player this season with two or more sacks and two or more interceptions.
SIMS ADDS TO HIS PASS BREAKUP TOTAL - Cam Sims added to his pass breakup total and is up to nine this season. Sims is third in the FCS in that category trailing only Jalen Jones of William & Mary (12) and DaJean Wells from Eastern Washington (10).
BRACKETT NAMED SOCON SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Nate Brackett helped ETSU change field position multiple times in Saturday's rivalry game vs. Chattanooga. Brackett, an All-SoCon First Team selection last season, averaged 48.3 yards per punt on six attempts. Furthermore, Brackett had a season-long 65-yard punt in the fourth quarter of Saturday's clash with the Mocs. Three of Brackett's six punts went 50 yards or further and he pinned the Mocs inside the 20-yard line three times as well. With his effort on Saturday, Brackett now ranks fifth among active FCS punters averaging 42.5 yards per punt. For his efforts, Brackett was named the SoCon Special Teams Player of the Week.
BUC FAITHFUL SUPPORTING THE BLUE & GOLD - Saturday's attendance was 10,534 fans, which is the third-most in Bank of Tennessee Field at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium's history trailing only the North Dakota State game earlier this season (11,040) and a game vs. Mercer in 2021 (10,594). The Bucs have now had capacity crowds in 15 of their last 17 games and 30 of the 40 total games played inside Greene Stadium.
RIGHT AT HOME IN THE REDZONE - The Buccaneers went 2-for-2 in redzone trips against the Mocs to improve to 22-for-24 on redzone chances this season. With six games to go in the regular season, the Bucs have already passed last season's total of redzone scores (21).
MOVING THE CHAINS - Despite having a season-low 12 first downs offensively vs. Chattanooga on Saturday, the Bucs are still pacing all SoCon teams with 118 first downs this season. In comparison, the Buc offense totaled 154 first downs all last season. ETSU is also the lone SoCon squad averaging over 400 yards a game of offense (412.7) this season.
RUSHING GAME FOR THE BUCS - Even being held under 180 yards on the ground for the first time this season, the Bucs enter week seven as the SoCon's top rushing team averaging 231.3 yards per game. As a team, ETSU's rushing average ranks eighth in the FCS. Furthermore, senior running back
Bryson Irby remains the conference's rushing leader (515 yards – 19th nationally), yards per carry (7.25 – 10th nationally) and rushing touchdowns (5 – 30th nationally).
DIALED IN DEFENSIVELY - The Buccaneer defense has been stepping up recently as no opponent has scored more than 17 points in the last three games. ETSU, which ranks 20th in FCS in scoring defense (20.7 PPG), has not had a three-game stretch like this since the start of the 2021 campaign when they allowed just three points to Vanderbilt, 14 points to UVA Wise and six points to Delaware State.
SERIES REWIND AGAINST SAMFORD - The Bucs and Bulldogs have met a total of 11 times over the years with the first clash coming back in 1989. Samford has won eight of the 11 previous matchups, including a 42-28 victory a year ago in Birmingham. ETSU's victories against Samford came in 2016 (15-14), spring season in 2021 (24-27) and in the fall campaign later in the year (55-48 in overtime).
ABOUT SAMFORD - Samford is coming off back-to-back home victories against Alabama State (12-7) and VMI (27-3). The Bulldogs will come to Johnson City sporting an overall record of 2-2 and a SoCon mark of 1-0. A strength for the Bulldogs through four games this season has been their ability to not beat themselves. Samford sits only behind Columbia and Harvard in fewest penalties this fall. Additionally, the Bulldogs have thrown just two interceptions so far in 2024, which ranks as the third-fewest nationally. Samford (30:45) also is one of three SoCon schools that are averaging over 30 minutes of time of possession joining Mercer (33:55) and Chattanooga (30:37). The offense for the Bulldogs is very balanced. Through four games, Samford has ran the ball 146 times and has thrown 130 passes. Samford's Head Coach is Chris Hatcher, who is in his 25th season as a collegiate head coach. With Saturday's win over VMI, Hatcher has now won 180 games as a college football coach.
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