JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 27, 2025) – The ETSU football team held a 34-24 lead on No. 23 Mercer entering the fourth quarter, but the Bears battled back to earn a 38-34 victory against the Bucs on Saturday from Bank of Tennessee Field at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium. Saturday's loss moves ETSU's record to 2-3 this season, which includes a 0-1 mark in SoCon play.
Saturday's Standouts
- ETSU quarterback Cade McNamara put together one of the best statistical days a Buccaneer signal caller has ever had on Saturday. McNamara, who matched a single-game program record with 30 completions last week vs. Elon, threw 398 yards on a 29-for-46 day passing with four touchdowns. McNamara's 398 yards on the day were not only a new career-high for him but also the second-most ever in a game by an ETSU quarterback, trailing only Austin Herink's 434-yard day against Furman in 2017. Furthermore, McNamara became the seventh different Buccaneer quarterback to throw four or more touchdowns in a game, joining Tyler Riddell, Greg Ryan, Alan Chadwick, Jatavis Sanders, Mark Hutsell, and Jaylen King.
- One of McNamara's top targets was Hakeem Meggett. Meggett hauled in five passes for 119 yards and three receiving touchdowns, all of which were new career-bests. Meggett is the first ETSU wideout to catch three or more touchdowns in a game since Will Huzzie in 2022. He is the sixth Buc ever to accomplish this feat.
- A few weeks after breaking the single-game program record for first downs in a game against Murray State, this Buccaneer team broke it again on Saturday by moving the chains 32 times against the Bears. ETSU ran a total of 80 plays against the Bears and averaged 5.8 yards per play, including 13.7 yards per completion.
- Defensively, Jivon Oggs continues to be a playmaker for the Bucs. Oggs totaled seven tackles, which nearly led the team behind only Ty Anderson's and Brenden LeBlanc's eight tackles on the night, and also forced and recovered a fumble in the contest. Overall, Oggs is sixth on the team with 16 tackles to go with a pair of interceptions so far in 2025.
- ETSU's fans continue to be one of the most loyal in the SoCon, drawing a season-best attendance of 10,567. That is the fourth-largest in Greene Stadium history, trailing only 12,109 (2024 vs. Western Carolina), 11,040 (2024 vs. North Dakota State), and 10,594 (2021 vs. Mercer).
Saturday's game began with punts from each team. Mercer would crack the scoreboard first on a 49-yard field goal from Reice Griffith. ETSU quickly answered with a three-play, 71-yard drive capped by a 14-yard touchdown pass from McNamara to Meggett.
Before the first quarter was done, ETSU grinded out a 15-play, 71-yard scoring drive.
Ewan Johnson nailed a 21-yard field goal through the uprights to make the score 10-3 ETSU.
The second quarter had both teams trade multiple touchdown drives in a row. Mercer answered with two touchdowns in the second with two of their own. McNamara found
Charlie Browder for a 20-yard touchdown, which was Browder's first of his college career.
McNamara followed that by finding Meggett again on a 35-yard strike. With the two teams matching each other, a shift of momentum seemed to happen as Oggs forced and recovered a fumble that set the Bucs up with excellent field position inside of two minutes to go before halftime. While that timely turnover didn't end up in a touchdown for the Blue and Gold, it did receive another made field goal from Johnson (this one from 36 yards) to go up 27-17 at the half.
A fumble by the Bucs set up Mercer's next scoring drive in the third quarter. The Bears, who held the ball for nearly 10 minutes in the third quarter, punched in a touchdown from a yard out, making it a three-point game, 27-24. McNamara and Meggett linked up for their third touchdown of the night later in the frame to grow the Bucs' lead back to double digits, 34-24, heading to the final quarter.
Another ETSU turnover sparked another score by the Bears. Like it did in the third quarter, Mercer possessed the ball for the majority of the fourth (10:14) and ran a balanced attack (48 rushing yards, 46 passing yards) in the fourth. The start of this production was punctuated with a 19-yard touchdown from Braden Atkinson to Brayden Smith. An ETSU punt on its next drive promptly gave the ball back to the Bears. Mercer's running back CJ Miller ran for 41 of the team's 65 yards on the drive and found paydirt to give his squad their first lead of the contest, 38-34.
The Bucs had two more possessions to try and regain the lead in the game's final minutes, but neither turned into points as the Bears held on for the 38-34 victory.
Next Up – The Bucs will begin the month of October with a road trip to Furman next Saturday. Kickoff between the Bucs and Paladins is scheduled for 2 p.m. from Greenville, S.C.
For more information on Buccaneer football, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the football tab.
