JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 7, 2024) – The ETSU football team had a dominant home debut on Saturday evening against UVA Wise as the Bucs defeated the Highland Cavaliers by a score of 61-0 in front of 9,155 fans at Bank of Tennessee Field at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium. With Saturday's win, the Bucs even their record at 1-1.

ETSU played well on both sides of the ball to fuel the win. The offense totaled 27 first downs, 254 rushing yards, 360 more yards through the air for a total of 614 yards on the day. Furthermore, the Bucs matched a program record with five touchdown passes (first time since 2022 vs. Samford) in the win to five different receivers.

Defensively, the Bucs recorded three sacks and forced a pair of turnovers with one of those being an interception return for a touchdown. Overall, ETSU held UVA Wise to 113 yards and just five first downs over 60 minutes of action but perhaps most impressively of all, forced UVA Wise to punt 12 times. The 12 punts by the Highland Cavaliers on Saturday are the most ever by a Buccaneer opponent in a single game.


How it Happened – ETSU wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard on Saturday. UVA Wise started the game with the ball but on the second play of Wise's drive Ray Coney forced a fumble and Jaylen George jumped on top of it to give ETSU an early chance with the ball deep in opponent's territory.
 
It took the Bucs just two plays to reach the endzone as a Jaylen King threw his first of four touchdown passes on the day to give the Bucs the lead less than a minute into the contest as he found Cameron Lewis for a 12-yard score. The Blue & Gold defense forced the Cavaliers into a three-and out to give the ball promptly back to ETSU. The Bucs went on a five-play, 57-yard touchdown drive capped by a nine-yard pass from King to Ephraim Floyd for his first touchdown catch as a Buc to put the home team up 14-0 with 11:10 to go in the first.
 
Protecting a 14-0 lead, the Bucs would build their cushion more in the second quarter. AJ Johnson hooked up with King on an eight-yard score to make it 21-0 ETSU with 12:07 to go before halftime. The defense would get a score of their own next as Nick Hunter would deflect a pass, catch it and run it into the endzone for yet another ETSU touchdown.
 
ETSU's offense kept clicking along as King hit Xavier Gaillardetz on a slant perfectly in stride and he found the paydirt for the first time in 2024 from 37 yards away. The strike to Gaillardetz was King's fourth touchdown pass of the half, a new personal-best for the ETSU signal caller, to make the score 34-0 ETSU.
 
Coming out of the halftime break, Gino English found Jonathan Burns for his first touchdown catch as a Buc on a 33-yard connection. Kicker Ewan Johnson added to the ETSU advantage with made field goals from 27 and 36 yards out. Furthermore, the Bucs also ran in two more touchdowns in the second half from Trey Foster and Torey Lambert to close out the scoring.

 
Other Notables on the Bucs
·       The 61 points scored by ETSU is the most for the program since it was reintroduced in 2015. Furthermore, it is the most by a Buccaneer team since November 15, 2003, when the Blue & Gold scored a school record 68 points against Chattanooga.
·       The 61-point margin of victory narrowly missed out on being a program record for the Bucs. The program's largest ever win came on October 10, 1992, when they blanked Charleston Southern by a score of 62-0.
·       Saturday's win marks the second straight season that the Bucs have had a shutout in their home opener (2023 vs. Carson-Newman – 42-0).
·       Balance was key for ETSU in the win. 14 different receivers caught at least one pass, and 10 different Bucs registered at least one rushing attempt. Burns led the charge for Buccaneer pass catchers with 76 yards on three receptions and a touchdown, while Bryson Irby paced the Bucs on the ground with 71 yards on seven attempts.
·       It is Head Coach Tre Lamb's first win in leading ETSU. Lamb won 20 games for Gardner-Webb over the past four seasons before coming to Johnson City.
 
Next Up – The Buccaneers will be back home next Saturday when they host No. 2 North Dakota State. Kickoff between the Bucs and Bison is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Get your tickets by visiting ETSUTickets.com. 

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