JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 14, 2024) – In front of the largest crowd in the history of Bank of Tennessee Field at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium (11,040 fans), the ETSU football team had one of the premier programs in college football on the ropes on Saturday night in No. 2 North Dakota State. Unfortunately for Buc fans, the Bison scored two touchdowns in the final two minutes of action to outlast ETSU, 38-35. The loss moves ETSU's record to 1-2 on the 2024 campaign.
ETSU continues to be one of the top rushing teams in the FCS as it racked up 270 yards on the ground on Saturday.
Bryson Irby was especially good for the Bucs totaling a career-high 147 yards plus three touchdowns on 15 carries (9.8 yards per carry). Quarterback
Jaylen King also added 79 yards of his own to help the Bucs' rushing total.
Cameron Lewis was King's top target again as he caught five passes on nine targets for a career-high 73 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, six different Bucs had five tackles or more.
Jaden Woods led the charge with nine stops with
Chris Hope (eight tackles)
Jimmy Bowdry (seven tackles) and
Ty Anderson (seven tackles) not far behind for the defensive leaders for ETSU.
How it Happened – ETSU won the coin toss but chose to defer until the second half giving NDSU the football first in the contest. The Bison offense, which scored 52 points last week vs. Tennessee State, went on an efficient nine-play 82-yard drive that culminated in a touchdown to put the Bucs in an early hole.
Even trailing early, the Bucs immediately answered with a touchdown drive of their own. Irby pushed across the goal line from three yards out to pull ETSU even with the visitors from Fargo, 7-7. The back-and-forth battle continued as NDSU put together another lengthy drive (eight-play, 75-yards) to regain the lead, 14-7, with 1:12 to go in the opening quarter.
As the second quarter began, the Bucs matched the Bison yet again with another touchdown. The 75-yard drive was capped off by Anderson, normally a linebacker, ramming it across the goal line from a yard out. The streak of four straight touchdown drives was stopped by the Buccaneer defense. Even with the stop by the Buc defense, NDSU's kicker Eli Ozick connected on a 54-yard field goal to give NDSU the lead back, 17-14.
Another touchback from the Bison on the kickoff made ETSU drive 75 yards again to find the endzone. And the Buc offense did it again. Fourteen rushing yards from King led into a 61-yard burst by Irby to give the Bucs their first lead of the night, 21-17.
Following Irby's second touchdown run of the game, both defenses were able to force the opposing offenses to punt for the first time in the matchup and the Bucs led at the half, 21-17.
As the second half began with the Buccaneers on offense, ETSU had a golden opportunity to put NDSU in a two-score deficit for the first time since November 4, 2023, vs. No. 1 South Dakota State. King found Lewis for a pair of key passes totaling 38 yards. King and Irby continued to slash through the Bison defense on the ground as well. Irby found the endzone for the third time (matches career-high) from 10 yards away to give ETSU its two-score lead, 28-17, with 8:21 to go in the third quarter. ETSU's fourth touchdown drive of the night lasted nearly half the quarter (6:39).
Facing its largest deficit of the season, NDSU's next drive lasted 13 plays and took over seven minutes off the clock. NDSU quarterback Cam Miller ran it in from a yard out. The Bison then attempted a two-point conversion, but the Buccaneer defense made the stop to make it 28-23 in favor of ETSU.
On the Bison's next possession, they attempted a 56-yard field goal that hooked left. With great field position, the Bucs pushed their advantage back out to 12 points. A key roughing the passer penalty coupled with a 33-yard from Irby set up a 19-yard touchdown pass from King to Lewis.
The 12-point lead for ETSU held up until late in the fourth quarter. Despite muffing a punt by Brackett near midfield, NDSU still managed to keep possession as John Gores corralled the loose ball with just under three minutes to play. A six-play drive for 51 yards culminated in a three-yard touchdown by TK Marshall to make the score 35-30 with 1:59 to go in regulation. A key 38-yard completion to Gores on 4th-and-10 kept the game alive for the Bison as they went to score one play later to pull within five.
An onside kick attempt followed and NDSU was able to recover it to give its offense a chance to win the game. Starting at their own 45-yard line, NDSU used eight plays to find paydirt and regain the lead. The Bucs had NDSU 3rd-and-4, but Miller found an opening and crossed the goal line to put the Bison back out front, 36-35. A two-point conversion followed and ETSU had 50 seconds to try and tie the score or potentially win the game.
King ran for 26 yards and found Lewis to convert a fourth down to keep the drive going. However, the Bison intercepted a pass to seal the game, 38-35. It marked ETSU's first turnover this season.
Other Notables on the Bucs
· Saturday's attendance of 11,040 marked the largest attendance in the history of Bank of Tennessee Field at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium … The previous record was 10,594 against Mercer back on Nov. 20, 2021
· The Bucs have had capacity crowds inside Greene Stadium in 14 of their last 16 games and 29 of the 39 total games played inside ETSU's on-campus stadium that was opened in 2017
· ETSU's 270 rushing yards were the most allowed by an NDSU team in the regular season since April 17, 2021 when South Dakota State ran for 305 yards
·
Bryson Irby, who wasn't tackled behind the line of scrimmage in his 15 carries on Saturday, rushed for a career high 147 yards and three touchdowns … Irby tied his career mark with the three rushing touchdowns as he also accomplished the feat last season at Samford
· The average starting field position for ETSU was its own 24-yard line, while NDSU's average starting field position was its own 37-yard line … In the second half, the Bucs' average start was their own 25, compared to the Bisons' average starting field position being their own 42-yard line
· NDSU won the time of possession by nearly 14 minutes as they had the ball for 36:41, compared to ETSU's time being 23:19
· ETSU was 4-of-4 in red zone chances – all of them resulting in touchdowns
· The Buccaneer defense totaled three sacks – the most against an NDSU opponent this season
· ETSU's defense generated eight pass breakups with
Cam Sims registering three of them
· To go with his rushing touchdown,
Ty Anderson added seven tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss
Next Up – ETSU will face off against another nationally-ranked foe next Saturday as it travels to take on Elon in their final non-conference game of the season. Kickoff between the Buccaneers and Phoenix is set for 6 p.m.
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