JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 22, 2024) – The ETSU football team will wrap up the 2024 regular season on Saturday when it visits VMI. Kickoff between the Bucs and Keydets is set for Noon.

GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, November 23
Time: 12:02 p.m.
Location: Lexington, Va. | Foster Stadium
Teams: (RV) ETSU (6-5, 4-3 SoCon) at VMI (1-10, 1-6 SoCon)  
Weather:  51° | Cloudy | Winds: 14 mph
Live Video: ESPN+
TV Crew: Wade Branner (pbp), Chip Tarkenton (analyst), Guerin Austin (sideline reporter)
Live Audio: WXSM-AM 640 | HD radio can listen on 101.5 WQUT HD-2
Radio Crew: Jay "Voice of the Bucs" Sandos (pbp), Mark Hutsell (analyst), Robert Harper (sideline)
Live Stats: ETSUBucs.com (Sidearm Stats)
X: @ETSUFootball
 
THINGS TO KNOW – Please click HERE for all the "Things to Know" for Saturday's matchup with the Keydets, presented by Citizens Bank.
 
LAST TIME OUT - The Bucs, who entered last week ranked No. 21 in the Stats Perform Top 25 Poll, fell in their home finale on Saturday to Furman by a score of 24-21. The loss moved ETSU's overall record to 6-5 and its SoCon record to 4-3.
 
HAVE A DAY DEVONTAE - Devontae Houston was one of the top players for ETSU's offense against the Paladins. The junior running back notched his second 100-yard rushing game of the season finishing with 103 yards on 12 carries (8.6 avg.) and a touchdown. Houston, who also caught a pass for eight yards, ranks seventh in the SoCon in rushing with 544 yards despite missing two games. Houston's 100-yard rushing game on Saturday was the first time that a Buc has crossed century mark on the ground since September 28 at The Citadel when Bryson Irby and Khamran Laborn both reached that mark.
 
DEFENSIVE STANDOUTS VS. FURMAN - Defensively, Ray Coney and William McRainey led the charge with 12 tackles each. Coney also had ETSU's lone sack in the game, while Jaden Woods added six tackles, forced a fumble to go with an interception. It was his first career interception.
 
ANOTHER 200-YARD RUSHING GAME FOR THE BUCS - ETSU finished with 200 yards rushing against the Paladins. It is the sixth time that the Bucs have ran for 200 or more yards in a game and the ninth time running for 150 yards or more. With the 200 rushing yards, that brings the season total to 2,135 yards. That is the eighth-most in program history. The 194.1 yards a game the Bucs are averaging on the ground are the sixth-most. Entering the final week of the regular season, the Bucs are the SoCon's top rushing team with that 194.1 yards per game average and ETSU has never led the conference in rushing for a season.
 
THIRD TO FIVE THOUSAND YARDS - With 425 yards of the total offense on Saturday, the Bucs have now totaled 4,563 yards offensively in 2024. Only the 2021 (5,319 yards) and the 1996 (5,041 yards) teams have outgained the 2024 Buccaneers.
 
KING CLOSING IN ON 500 YARDS RUSHING - Jaylen King ran for 16 yards on Saturday bringing his season total to 422. With 78 yards, King would become the second ETSU quarterback to run for 500 or more yards in a season joining Jeff Morgan in 1987.
 
SENSATIONAL SACK TOTALS - The one sack by ETSU on Saturday boosted its season total to 35 on the season. Those 35 sacks are tied for the sixth-most in SoCon history with the 2014 and 2022 teams from Chattanooga. The all-time record is 49 set by Furman in 1988. With five sacks against the Keydets, the 2024 Bucs will join that Paladin team and the 1994 and 2005 Appalachian State teams (44 - 1994, 40 - 2005) to reach 40 sacks in a season.
 
FINE FIRST YEAR FOR BUCCANEER HEAD COACH - A win on Saturday at VMI, will give ETSU seven wins for the 11th time in school history. Another milestone reached with an ETSU win would be Head Coach Tre Lamb will tie for the second-most wins by a first year head coach tying Paul Hamilton's seven wins in 1997. Randy Sanders holds the record with eight wins in 2018.
 
PROGRAM'S TOP PASSING SEASON - With 225 passing yards on Saturday, the Bucs have now thrown for 2,428 yards this season. That total is tied for the tenth-most in the history of the program with the 1993 team. ETSU needs just 117 more passing yards for the most in a season since the program returned in 2015. Furthermore, they need 403 more yards to eclipse the program record of 2,830 set in 1996.
 
BIG CHUNKS FOR THE BUCS IN THE PASSING GAME - Along with the passing yardage record within reach, this Buccaneer team has averaged 14.37 yards per completion in 2024. That ranks seventh in the nation behind only Davidson (14.83), Houston Christian (14.54), Idaho (14.53), Chattanooga (14.47), Arkansas Pine Bluff (14.46), and South Dakota (14.41). A big play threat to keep an eye on for the Bucs is Hakeem Meggett, who is averaging a SoCon-best 20.3 yards per catch in 2024.
 
CONEY IN RARE COMPANY - Entering the 2024 season finale, sophomore linebacker Ray Coney is ETSU's leading tackler with 89 to go with 12 tackles for loss, five sacks and four pass breakups. With 11 more tackles vs. the Keydets, Coney would join Dylan Weigel (2015, 2016) and Donovan Manuel (2021) as Bucs that have reached 100 tackles in a season since the program returned in 2015. Furthermore, Coney also has a chance to rank second in ETSU single season history with three more tackles for loss. If Coney were able to reach that mark, only Matt Palmer's 25.5 tackles for loss in 2003 would rank higher.
 
DEFENSE ON THIRD & FOURTH DOWN – Entering the final regular season game, the Buccaneer defense is one of the top units in the nation in terms of defense on third down and fourth down. ETSU's opponents are converting just 31.1 percent of the time on third down and 35.0 percent on fourth down. The Blue and Gold's third down defense ranks 11th nationally, while their fourth down mark leads the SoCon and is 20th in the country.
 
FRESHMAN TAKING SNAPS FOR ETSU - True freshman quarterback Baylor Hayes is in the conversation to start for ETSU this weekend vs. VMI. Hayes made his collegiate debut last Saturday vs. Furman going 3-for-5 for 62 yards. Should Hayes get the starting nod on Saturday, he'll be the first true freshman to start at quarterback for the Bucs since November 20, 1993, when Greg Ryan started against Georgia Southern, which was 11,326 days ago.
 
SACK RECORD WITHIN REACH FOR BUCCANEER SENIOR LEADER - Playing in his final collegiate game on Saturday, senior Zach West has a chance to etch his name into the ETSU record books. With 2.0 sacks against the Keydets, West would break the single season program record for sacks held by James Russell who had 10 in 1994 and 1996. West's 8.5 sacks already are the most for a Buc in the last decade, while he and Marshall are the only two Bucs to record eight or more sacks in a season since it became an official stat in 1984.
 
BUCCANEER NEAR THE TOP OF THE NATIONAL LEADERBOARD - Senior cornerback Cam Sims has been a staple for ETSU's defense this season. Sims currently ranks second in the FCS with 17 pass breakups, which sits only behind Jalen Jones of William & Mary's and his 19 PBU's. Sims also has one interception and ranks fifth on the team with 38 tackles.
 
TOP 25 OFFENSE AND DEFENSE - As the regular season ends, the Bucs are one of seven FCS programs to rank among the top 25 in both total offense and total defense. ETSU is currently 25th in total offense (415.5 yards per game) and 18th in total defense (314.0 yards per game). ETSU joins #1 North Dakota State, #2 Montana State, #3 South Dakota State, #4 South Dakota, #23 South Carolina State and Delaware (which is transitioning to FBS) as programs ranked among the top 25 in both categories.
 
RARE RUN DEFENSE - Entering Saturday's clash with VMI, ETSU's defense is allowing 102.2 rushing yards per game. If ETSU can hold VMI to that mark or lower, it'll be a new school record breaking the previous record of 104.4 held by the 1984 team. Nationally, ETSU is eighth in run defense behind Mercer (66.9), Nicholls (78.5), Tennessee Tech (83.2), Saint Francis (85.2), UT Martin (88.6), South Dakota State (95.6) and Delaware (101.8). ETSU is also for fourth in the country in yards per carry (2.8) behind only Mercer (2.2), Saint Francis (2.4) and Tennessee Tech (2.6). 
 
ABOUT VMI - VMI will enter Saturday's game with ETSU with an overall record of 1-10 and 1-6 in SoCon play. VMI's lone win in 2024 was on November 2 when it upended Furman, 21-17. The Keydets are coming off a 58-28 loss on the road at Western Carolina last Saturday. The most consistent offensive player for the Keydets this season has been running back Hunter Rice. Rice has 713 rushing yards and seven touchdowns this season to go with 17 catches for 100 yards. His rushing total ranks third in the SoCon, while his seven rushing scores are tied for the most in the league. The Keydets also have one of the SoCon's top defensive players in Eric Rankin. Rankin leads all SoCon defenders with 103 tackles (11 for loss) to go along with six sacks and a pair of forced fumbles. Rankin is coming off a 17-tackle game at Western Carolina on Saturday. A strength for VMI this season can be found on its special teams and blocking kicks. The Keydets rank third in the FCS with three blocked punts this season. Only Alabama State (5) and Dayton (4) have blocked more punts in 2024 than the Keydets. VMI has also blocked two other kicks for a total of five, which is tied for third nationally as well. VMI has also been stellar in forcing fumbles with 13 in 11 games. Kouri Crump has forced three of those fumbles, which leads the SoCon.
 
SERIES REWIND VS. VMI - Saturday will be the 30th all-time meeting between the Buccaneers and Keydets. ETSU has the historic edge in the series winning 18 of the 29 previous meetings. VMI won last season's matchup, 31-24, in Johnson City. In the loss, the Bucs ran for a season-high 286 yards. Trey Foster ran for a career-high 172 yards, while fellow Buc Torey Lambert also had his best rushing day of his career to date (90 yards) in 2023. The Bucs are 8-3 against the Keydets since 2000, including an 8-7 mark in Lexington. ETSU has come away with a win in each of its last three trips to VMI.
 
MORE ON THE BUCS VS. SOCON'S MILITARY SCHOOLS - ETSU has compiled a record of 38-24 against the SoCon's two military institutions, VMI and The Citadel. The Bucs downed the Bulldogs earlier this season in Charleston by a score of 34-17. If the Bucs come away with a win over the Keydets on Saturday, it'll mark the 12th time in school history that they've swept the league's two military schools and the fourth time since 2018.
 
BIG GAME FOR A BUCCANEER VS. VMI - One of the best performances in ETSU football history came in a game vs. VMI. Former Buc receiver Jeff Johnson broke the single school records for receptions (16) and receiving yards (239) to go with three touchdowns in a 31-21 win for ETSU in 1994. 
 
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