JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Aug. 30, 2025) – In front of another sellout crowd at Bank of Tennessee Field at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium, the ETSU football team started the 2025 season with a convincing 45-17 win over Murray State on Saturday evening. ETSU is off to its first 1-0 start since 2022, and the 45 points scored are the most since 1987 (49).
 
Saturday's Standouts – A year after leading the SoCon in rushing, the Bucs' ground game was in midseason form in Saturday's season opener. ETSU rushed for 392 yards and five touchdowns on 58 carries (6.8 per carry). Devontae Houston led the charge with 128 yards on 14 carries (9.1 avg.) with two touchdowns. Houston, who ripped off a 51-yard run against the Racers, was joined in a productive ETSU backfield by D'Marius Rucker (65 yards, one touchdown), Khalil Eichelberger (54 yards, two touchdowns), Jason Albritton (47 yards), and Jaiden Daniels (36 yards). All five Buccaneer tailbacks averaged better than five yards per carry. The 392 rushing yards are the most in a game by the Bucs since November 13, 2021, against Western Carolina when they ran for 461 yards.
 
ETSU's quarterback duties were split by graduate quarterbacks Jacolby Criswell and Cade McNamara. McNamara went 12-for-17 for 146 yards and a touchdown, while Criswell was 5-for-8 as a passer for 34 yards to go with 46 more yards on the ground.
 
Ephraim Floyd led ETSU's pass catchers with four receptions for 35 yards. Jeremiah Harrison made a splash in his first collegiate game with three catches for 56 yards and a touchdown from McNamara.
 
Defensively, the Blue and Gold had four sacks, picked off two passes, and forced one fumble. Murray State averaged just 4.1 yards per play in the contest compared to ETSU's mark of 6.9. Ty Anderson led all Buccaneer defenders with eight tackles in the
 
How it Happened
First Quarter
ETSU 7, MSU 0 – After a couple of possessions without points, the Bucs would break through on their third drive of the contest. 41 yards on the ground from Eichelberger fueled most of the drive, with an eight-yard run by Criswell and an 11-yard pass from Criswell to Floyd helping the cause as well. The drive was punctuated by a five-yard touchdown run by Eichelberger, his first in an ETSU uniform.  
 
ETSU 14, MSU 0 – The Buccaneer ground game continued to roll when the offense came back out on the field. Criswell ran for 42 yards to open things up. The rest of the production came from Houston, and then the veteran running back found the end zone for the first time in 2025, from one yard out, to make the score 14-0 Bucs with 1:03 to go in the opening quarter.
 
Second Quarter
ETSU 14, MSU 3 – After being held in check for the first 15 minutes, the Racers started to make some plays offensively in the second. Murray State got the ball down to the ETSU three-yard line, but a clutch sack from Ryan Barrett pushed the Racers back to the 10-yard line. Backed up slightly, Murray State had to settle for a short field goal, which it converted to make the score 14-3.
 
ETSU 21, MSU 3 – The Buccaneer passing game found a groove during ETSU's next scoring drive. McNamara went a perfect 4-for-4 on the drive and hit Harrison on a pair of 20-plus yard passes. One of those long connections found paydirt, and the Bucs extended their lead to 18, 21-3.
 
ETSU 24, MSU 3 – In their final drive of the first half, the Bucs grinded a 16-play, 54-yard drive that took nearly six minutes off the clock. After missing a 44-yard attempt earlier in the game, Ewan Johnson split the uprights from 33 yards out to put ETSU up by three touchdowns heading into halftime.
 
Third Quarter
ETSU 24, MSU 10 – The Racers jumped on the Bucs coming out of the locker room. A kickoff that went out of bounds gave Murray State good field position to start things off. The Racers then put together a six-play, 65-yard drive to finish off their first touchdown drive of the matchup and cut the Bucs' advantage to 14, 24-10.
 
ETSU 24, MSU 17 – A fumble by ETSU gave Murray State its best field position of the night, starting its next drive at the Bucs' 35-yard line. The Racers needed just four plays to go the 35 yards and make it a one-score game, 24-17.
 
ETSU 31, MSU 17 – With the momentum shifting to Murray State, the Bucs got it back quickly thanks to a 51-yard run by Houston. A pass from McNamara to Kingsport native Charlie Browder put ETSU in the red zone, and then Houston found the end zone for the second time to extend ETSU's lead back to double digits.
 
ETSU 38, MSU 17 – ETSU used another double-digit play drive to add to its lead. A drive once again dominated by the running game. The tandem of Rucker and Eichelberger combined for over 40 rushing yards. Eichelberger matched Houston with his second score of the evening.
 
Fourth Quarter
ETSU 45, MSU 17 – The final scoring drive of the evening for ETSU began on the Racers' 41-yard line. This time, it was Albritton and Rucker combining to carve through Murray State's defense. The duo accounted for all 41 yards on the drive that ended with Rucker's first collegiate touchdown.
 
Other Notables on the Bucs
·       Saturday's win continues ETSU's impressive streak of remaining undefeated in home openers at Greene Stadium (now 9-0).
·       ETSU picked off two passes in the win over the Racers. In all of 2024, the Bucs had just five interceptions all season. It is the first time ETSU's defense had intercepted multiple passes in a game since September 30, 2023, at Samford. Both of ETSU's interceptions on Saturday came from newcomers Jivon Oggs and Jason Duclona.
·       The 45 points by ETSU on Saturday were the most in a season opener since 1987, when it scored 49 in a win over William & Mary. Through the first week of the season, only Western Carolina can match ETSU's point total among SoCon schools, as they also scored 45 in a loss to Gardner-Webb earlier today.
·       ETSU's offense totaled 572 yards in Saturday's win. The last time the Bucs had that many total yards was in last year's home-opening win over UVA Wise, when they had 614. It marks just the fourth time in the past four seasons that the Bucs have surpassed 500 yards of total offense in a single game.
·       With 9,122 fans in attendance on Saturday, the Bucs have reached or exceeded capacity in 18 of their last 20 home games and 34 of the 45 games played at the stadium in total.
 
Next Up – The Bucs will venture out on the road for the first time this fall next week when they make the short trip to Knoxville to take on nationally-ranked Tennessee. Kickoff between the Bucs and Vols is set for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+/SEC Network Plus from Neyland Stadium.
 
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