BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Nov. 7, 2025) – Following a 14-10 win over Wofford two weeks ago and its bye week, the ETSU football team will return to the gridiron on Saturday with a road trip to Samford. Kickoff between the Buccaneers and Bulldogs is set for 3:30 p.m. eastern time from Birmingham.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, November 8
Time: 3:32 p.m. ET
Location: Birmingham, Ala. | Pete Hanna Stadium
Teams: ETSU (4-5, 2-3 SoCon) at Samford (1-8, 1-6 SoCon)
Weather: 75 degrees, partly cloudy
Live Video: ESPN+
TV Crew: Blake Gardner (pbp), Damian Mitchell (analyst), Christina Chambers (sideline)
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 (Statbroadcast)
X:
@ETSUFootball
THINGS TO KNOW – Please click
HERE for all the "Things to Know" for Saturday's matchup with the Bulldogs, presented by Citizens Bank.
LAST TIME OUT - The Bucs knocked off Wofford by a score of 14-10 on October 25 at home in their last contest. With the win over the Terriers, the Bucs improved to 4-5 overall (2-3 SoCon) this season.
ANOTHER BIG DAY FROM DEVONTAE - Both of ETSU's touchdowns against Wofford came from running back
Devontae Houston. Houston finished the afternoon with 94 yards on 18 carries (5.2 avg.) and a pair of touchdowns. The graduate running back currently leads the SoCon with 688 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns. With 312 more yards on the ground, Houston would become just the seventh different ETSU running back to reach 1,000 yards in a season. Furthermore, with two more rushing touchdowns, Houston would be the fifth ETSU back to have 10 or more in a season joining Quay Holmes, George Searcy, Jacob Saylors, and Brandon Walker. Houston also surpassed 2,000 career rushing yards in the win over the Terriers.
TAKING THE BALL AWAY - A strength of ETSU's defense has been its ability to take the ball away. ETSU currently paces all SoCon defensive units with 15 turnovers gained. Only Tarleton State (28), South Dakota State (19), Dayton (18), UTRGV (18), and Monmouth (16) have gained more turnovers than the Bucs.
PASSING GAME HITTING ITS MARK - The passing duo of Cade and
Jake McNamara was extremely efficient in the win over the Terriers. The two brothers combined to go 26-for-31 through the air with 200 yards. Collectively, ETSU's quarterbacks are completing 65.1 percent of their passes this season compared to 54.3 percent in 2024 and 44.5 percent in 2023. If the season ended today,
Cade McNamara would break the single season completion percentage record of 63 percent held by Pete Wilson in 1953.
Cade McNamara is currently completing 67 percent of his passes.
LOOKING TO FINISH STRONG - With three games remaining in the 2025 season, the Bucs have a chance to win seven games for the second season in a row. If ETSU can pick up wins this week at Samford, at Western Carolina in two weeks and then The Citadel to close out the season, Head Coach
Will Healy will be tied for the second-most wins by a first-year coach in program history with Paul Hamilton in 1997 and Tre Lamb in 2024. Only Randy Sanders won more games in his first season (eight) than that. Additionally, it'll be the 12th ETSU team ever to win seven or more games in a season. It would also be the first time since the 1996-97 seasons that the Bucs have won seven or more games in back-to-back seasons.
ABOUT SAMFORD - Samford will enter the matchup with ETSU sporting an overall record of 1-8, which includes a 1-6 mark against SoCon competition. The Bulldogs are coming off a 26-16 loss on the road at Wofford. Samford's lone win in 2025 was back on October 18 at VMI, 24-22. Despite the loss to the Terriers, Samford had one of its better offensive days of the season. The Bulldogs out-gained Wofford 351-191. The downfall of the Bulldogs was fueled in large part to four interceptions thrown by their quarterbacks with two of those picks being returned for touchdowns. With those four interceptions, Samford has now turned the ball over an FCS-most 24 times.
SERIES REWIND AGAINST THE BULLDOGS - Saturday will be the 13th all-time meeting between the Bucs and Bulldogs on the gridiron. The Bulldogs have won eight of the previous 12 clashes, but the Bucs won last season's matchup in Johnson City, 31-28. ETSU will also be looking for its second-ever win at Samford with the first coming in 2021 by a score of 55-48 in overtime.
For more information on Buccaneer football, visit
ETSUBucs.com and click on the football tab.
