JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 11, 2025) – The ETSU football team used an outstanding performance by its defense and connected enough plays in the other two phases of the game to power past VMI on Saturday afternoon, 45-10. ETSU improves to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in SoCon play after Saturday's victory over the Keydets.
Saturday's clash began with ETSU winning the contest for the sixth time in its seventh game of the season. After deferring until the second half, the Buccaneer defense forced its first of quite a few three-and-outs to start the day, forcing VMI to punt. Xavier Gaillardetz hauled in VMI's punt at the ETSU 20-yard line and brought it back for an 80-yard touchdown. It was his first career punt return touchdown and the first by an ETSU player since 2018 (Quay Holmes vs. VMI – 69 yards).
Neither team did much else through the rest of the first quarter. ETSU received a sudden jolt of momentum as
Brian Alston forced a fumble and
Teddy Wilson pounced on it to give the Bucs a possession on VMI's 22-yard line.
Izay Bridges had a 12-yard run to start the drive before
Devontae Houston ran it into the end zone from 10 yards out to begin the second quarter and make the score 14-0 ETSU.
As the second quarter wore on, the Bucs got another takeaway as
Ty Anderson intercepted a pass. While the ETSU offense did not punch it across for a touchdown,
Ewan Johnson connected on a 33-yard field goal to grow the ETSU lead to 17-0.
The Bucs would add to their lead after a poor 20-yard punt by VMI gave ETSU a drive that started at the Keydet 40-yard line. A pair of runs by
Khalil Eichelberger and a pass interference call set up a 17-yard touchdown pass from
Jake McNamara to
Jeremiah Harrison. For McNamara, it was his first collegiate touchdown pass. The 24-0 lead was the score as the two teams broke to the locker room for halftime.
The third quarter was one of ETSU's most dominant of the season in terms of yardage difference. The Bucs outgained VMI 232-10 in the third. McNamara found
Ephraim Floyd on a 12-yard touchdown pass to extend the ETSU lead to 31-0. VMI, however, got on the board as a pass from McNamara was intercepted and returned for a touchdown.
ETSU promptly answered with big plays by Harrison (42-yard pass) and
Jason Albritton (21-yard rush) to put the Bucs back in the red zone. Albritton, who accounted for 33 of the team's 75 yards on the drive, would find the end zone for the fourth time this season to push the ETSU lead back to 31, 38-7.
With a commanding lead, the Bucs dominated the time of possession in the fourth quarter. ETSU held the ball for over nine minutes (9:08) of the final 15 minutes of play. Ben Shrewsbury, a native of nearby Jonesborough, Tennessee, connected on a 52-yard field goal to make it 38-10. ETSU had one more score in it before the game ended as freshman
Jackson Byrd ran for his first career touchdown from 20 yards out to put an exclamation point on the day for the Bucs.
Saturday's Standouts
- Up until very late into the fourth quarter, the Buccaneer defense had some single-game program records within its sights. ETSU held VMI to 82 offensive yards (1.4 yards per play) on Saturday and held the Keydets to 1-for-17 on third down. The offensive yardage and yards per play allowed on Saturday came close to the records set back in 1994 vs. Catawba (76 yards, 1.2 yards per play). As for the third-down stat, VMI converted its last third-down attempt of the game, but before that was 0-for-16. That would have been the most third-down attempts without a successful conversion for an ETSU opponent since 1992 vs. Charleston Southern (0-for-11).
- ETSU did not allow VMI's offense to score a touchdown on Saturday. It is the first time that the Bucs have not allowed an offensive touchdown since last September against UVA-Wise. The last time ETSU held a Division I opponent out of the end zone offensively was in 2022 against Robert Morris.
- The Bucs also caused two more turnovers against the Keydets, bringing their total to 14 on the season, which ranks among the best in the FCS. The interception by Ty Anderson was his first in an ETSU uniform, and the fumble recovery by Teddy Wilson was also his first as a Buc.
- A week after rushing for 251 yards at Furman, the Bucs once again surpassed 200 yards on the ground on Saturday with 284. That is the ninth time in the last two seasons that ETSU has rushed for 200 or more yards in a game. Houston led the charge with 76 yards on 12 carries. Albritton and Eichelberger both topped 50 yards on the day as well.
- The 45 points scored by ETSU on Saturday are the most ever in a game vs. VMI. In the 30 previous meetings, the most points the Bucs have scored in a game was 44 in 2022.
Next Up – ETSU will be back in action next Saturday when it visits Chattanooga in the annual Rail Rivalry Game. Kickoff between the Bucs and Mocs is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
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ETSUBucs.com and click on the football tab.
