BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Nov. 8, 2025) – The ETSU football team jumped out to a 21-0 lead on the road at Samford on its way to a 38-14 victory over the Bulldogs. With Saturday's win over Samford, ETSU improves to 5-5 overall and 3-3 in SoCon action.
Jacolby Criswell returned to the lineup for the Blue and Gold after missing a pair of games. Criswell finished the night 19-for-30 passing for 261 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The graduate quarterback also ran for 31 more yards on six carries (5.1 avg.).
Devontae Houston had another stellar game out of the ETSU backfield. Houston ran for 151 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 18 carries (8.4 avg.). With those pair of rushing scores, Houston is up to 10 rushing touchdowns in 2025, and he is the fifth Buc tailback to rush for 10 or more touchdowns in a season joining Quay Holmes, George Searcy, Jacob Saylors, and Brandon Walker.
Nine different Buccaneer receivers caught a pass in the win. In terms of yards,
Xavier Gaillardetz led the charge with 113 yards on three receptions and a touchdown. Not far behind was freshman
Jeremiah Harrison with four catches for 95 yards.
Karim Page and
Charlie Browder also hauled in receiving touchdowns against the Bulldogs.
Defensively, the Bucs held Samford 312 yards on the night. ETSU's defense also held the Bulldogs to 56 rushing yards on 37 carries. That rushing total was aided by a season-high six sacks from the Buccaneer defense.
Ty Anderson had two sacks, while
Trevor Moffitt,
Kaven Call,
Chris Davis Jr., and
Nick Hunter had one a piece.
William Wells hauled in his first career interception, while
Dre Delinois was team's leading tackler in the win with eight stops.
SCORING PLAYS
FIRST QUARTER
- ETSU 7, Samford 0 – Samford won the toss and deferred until the second half. The Bucs received the opening kickoff and wasted little time striking first. A 28-yard strike from Criswell to Ephraim Floyd got the ball rolling before Houston ripped off a 45-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 Bucs.
- ETSU 14, Samford 0 – After the ETSU defense forced Samford to go three-and-out on its first drive, the Bucs again struck quickly. On the first play of its second drive, ETSU drew up a trick play with Floyd throwing a pass to Xavier Gaillardetz. Gaillardetz would make a Bulldog miss and took it 70 yards for another Buccaneer touchdown with 12:45 still to go in the opening quarter. That pass play was ETSU's longest in 2025.
- ETSU 21, Samford 0 – ETSU's third drive of the afternoon began on Wells' interception. After the pick by Wells, the Bucs used a pair of big plays to find the end zone for the third time. Criswell found Harrison for a 31-yard gain on the first play. Criswell continued to lead the Bucs down the field, but it looked like a holding call could make the Bucs settle for a field goal try. However, Criswell found Page in the end zone from 26 yards out to grow the Buccaneer advantage to 21-0.
- ETSU 21, Samford 7 – After their first two offensive drives lasted just six plays total, the Bulldogs were able to sustain a 10-play, 83-yard drive to score their first points of the contest. Quincy Crittendon found CJ Evans on a swing pass and Evans did the rest running in it across the goal line for a 20-yard touchdown.
SECOND QUARTER
- ETSU 24, Samford 7 – A high-scoring first quarter was followed by a low-scoring frame in the second. The only points scored was a 46-yard field goal by Ewan Johnson. Johnson improved to 4-for-5 on field goals between 40-49 yards this fall.
THIRD QUARTER
- ETSU 31, Samford 7 – After the Buccaneer defense forced a quick punt by Samford's offense to begin the second half, ETSU's offense marched down the field and found the end zone again. A pair of short completions to Browder and Harrison led into a big 51-yard reception by Harrison to put ETSU at Samford's 10-yard line. Criswell then found Browder for a 10-yard touchdown to grow ETSU's lead to 31-7. It was Browder's second touchdown of the season.
- ETSU 38, Samford 7 - ETSU's defense again quickly got its offense back on the field with another three-and-out. Houston started the drive with a seven-yard run up the middle and then Criswell found Hakeem Meggett across the middle for 13 more yards. Houston then found a crease in the Bulldog defense and ran it 40 yards for another ETSU touchdown.
FOURTH QUARTER
- ETSU 38, Samford 14 – Like it did on its other touchdown drive, Samford put together a lengthy drive to find pay dirt again. It took the Bulldogs 12 plays to journey 93 yards to push it across the end line and make the score 38-14 Bucs with 4:55 to go in regulation.
Other News and Notes from Today's Game
- Today's win over Samford marks the second ever for the Bucs in Birmingham with the other coming in 2021. Additionally, ETSU has now won back-to-back against the Bulldogs for the first time since 2021 when it won the matchup in the Covid-shortened season (24-17) and the usual matchup later in the year (55-48 in overtime).
- Houston's 151 yards against Samford marks the fourth time that he has topped 100 yards on the ground this season and the seventh time in his ETSU career. His four 100-plus yard games this fall is the most by a Buc since Jacob Saylors had five in 2022.
- Gaillardetz set a new career-high with 113 receiving yards against Samford. It is the second 100-plus yard receiving day in his career with the last coming against The Citadel in the 2023 season finale.
- With three more receptions against the Bulldogs, Floyd is up to 55 catches this season. Those 55 receptions are the ninth-most by an ETSU pass catcher in a season and the most since Will Huzzie had 58 in 2021.
- ETSU's receivers had 363 yards on the day with 193 of those coming after the catch (53 percent).
- The six sacks by ETSU's defense were not only a season-high but it was also the most by the Bucs since their matchup with Western Carolina last November (eight).
- Overall, the Buccaneers racked up 600 yards of total offense (363 passing, 237 rushing) in the afternoon. That was also a season-high and marked the fourth time this year that the Bucs have surpassed 500 yards of total offense. In perspective, the Bucs passed that mark just three times in the previous three seasons combined.
Next Up – The Bucs will hit the road for the final time in 2025 next Saturday when they visit rival Western Carolina. Kickoff in the annual Blue Ridge Border Battle is set for Noon from Cullowhee.
For more information on Buccaneer football, visit
ETSUBucs.com and click on the football tab.
