JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 4, 2024) – After back-to-back weeks on the road, the ETSU football team will make its return to Bank of Tennessee Field at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium on Saturday when it hosts Chattanooga in the annual Rail Rivalry game. It will also be the Homecoming game for the Bucs. Kickoff between the Buccaneers and Mocs is set for 3:30 p.m.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, October 5
Time: 3:32 p.m.
Location: Johnson City, Tenn. | Bank of Tennessee Field at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium
Teams: (RV) Chattanooga (1-3, 0-1 SoCon) at No. 23 ETSU (3-2, 1-0)
Weather: 78° | Sunny | Winds: N 4 mph
Game Sponsor: Food City
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 Chattanooga, presented by Citizens Bank.
LAST TIME OUT - The Bucs came away with a 34-17 victory on the road at The Citadel last Saturday. Saturday's win boosts ETSU's record to 3-2 on the season. Saturday's win also matches the program's win total in each of the last two seasons (3). It is also the first time ETSU has started a SoCon schedule 1-0 since 2021.
SUCCESS AWAY FROM JOHNSON CITY - After winning against both Elon and The Citadel on the road, it is the first time ETSU has won back-to-back road games since 2021 when they defeated Furman (17-13) and Western Carolina (56-35) in consecutive road trips.
PLENTY OF RUSHING TD'S - With four more rushing touchdowns in Saturday's win over The Citadel, the Bucs have now rushed for four touchdowns in each of the past three games bringing their season total to 15. That was also the team's rushing touchdown total from the entire 2023 season.
A+ ON THE PUNT RETURN - In a big play on special teams,
Xavier Gaillardetz reeled off a 46-yard punt return. It was not only the longest punt return by a Buc this season but also it set a new career-best for Gaillardetz. Furthermore, the Bucs are third in the FCS averaging 20.67 yards per punt return in 2024.
BUCCANEERS BLOCKED ANOTHER KICK - In the third quarter of Saturday's win in Charleston, the Bucs blocked their first kick of the season as
Cam Sims was able to block a Bulldog field goal try. ETSU also blocked a field goal in last season's matchup vs. The Citadel and that block was by
Max Evans. Over the past two seasons, the Bucs have blocked a total of seven kicks, which ranks second in the FCS behind only New Hampshire (12).
DYNAMIC DUO FROM THE BUCCANEER BACKFIELD – In the win over The Citadel, the Bucs had a pair of 100-yard rushers in
Bryson Irby (126 yards) and
Khamran Laborn (117 yards). It is the first time ETSU has had two players surpass 100 yards rushing in the same game since November 13, 2021, against Western Carolina when former Buccaneers Jacob Saylors and Quay Holmes ran for 266 and 212 yards, respectively.
BIG PLAY FROM BOWDRY -
Jimmy Bowdry intercepted a pass on Saturday and took it back for a touchdown. It is ETSU's second defensive touchdown of the season after
Nick Hunter had a pick-six in the win over UVA Wise. Only Grambling (4), Mercer (3) and San Diego (3) have more defensive touchdowns so far this year than the Bucs. Additionally, both of ETSU's interceptions this season have been returned for touchdowns.
EXCITING ETSU OFFENSE - The Buccaneer offense has been much improved this season. ETSU paces all SoCon teams with 106 first downs this season. In perspective, the Bucs had just 154 first downs all of last season in 11 games. ETSU also has the top scoring offense in the league (34.8 PPG), which nearly double what the team averaged a season ago (18.2). ETSU also ranks among tenth the FCS averaging 450.2 yards of total offense per game.
BUCCANEER RUSHERS RANK AMONG THE BEST IN THE FCS - With over 300 yards rushing in Saturday's win over the The Citadel, the Bucs have now topped 200 yards rushing in four straight games. The Blue & Gold are averaging 254.2 yards per game rushing this season ranking behind only Davidson, Montana State, Montana, William & Mary and Central Arkansas in the FCS.
ANOTHER BIG PERFORMANCE FROM BRYSON IRBY - Senior running back
Bryson Irby logged his second 100-yard rushing game of the season on Saturday. Irby is the SoCon's rushing leader in 2024 with 480 yards. The Douglasville, Georgia native also paces all SoCon rushers in yards per carry (7.5), touchdowns (5) and rushing yards per game (96.0).
SERIES REWIND AGAINST CHATTANOOGA - ETSU will return home this weekend to host Chattanooga. The Bucs are 19-25-1 all-time against the Mocs and Chattanooga has won four straight entering this week's matchup. ETSU's last win over the Mocs came on September 29, 2018 by a score of 17-14.
KHAMRAN LABORN NAMED SOCON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK - The Southern Conference announced that ETSU's
Khamran Laborn was named the Conference's SoCon Offensive Player of the Week on earlier this week. Laborn is the second straight Buc to earn a weekly award from the SoCon after
Ewan Johnson was tabbed the League's Special Teams Player of the Week (Sept. 24). Laborn had one of the most explosive offensive games in recent memory in ETSU's 34-17 win over The Citadel on Saturday. Laborn caught two passes for nine yards but most of his damage came rushing. Laborn totaled just five carries against the Bulldogs but two of them ended in touchdowns. The Norfolk, Virginia native totaled 117 yards (23.4 avg.) on those five carries with runs of 40, 33, 26 and 20 yards, respectively.
ABOUT CHATTANOOGA - Chattanooga enters this week's game with the Bucs sporting a 1-3 record overall and a 0-1 in SoCon play. The Mocs are coming off a 45-30 win over Portland State on Saturday. Chattanooga has faced a tough schedule with two of their first four games coming against FBS programs in Tennessee and Georgia State. The Mocs' lone FCS loss came to nationally-ranked Mercer by a score of 10-3. A strength for the Mocs offense has been their passing game. The Mocs rank fourth in the FCS averaging 15.76 yards per completion behind only Arkansas Pine Bluff (17.64), Harvard (16.40) and Holy Cross (15.94). They also rank slightly behind Western Carolina (260.3) for the top passing offense in the SoCon averaging 260 yards through the air per game. Chattanooga was predicted to win the SoCon this season in the annual preseason poll.
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