CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Sept. 12, 2026) – The ETSU football team dropped its first road game of the season on Saturday to North Carolina by a score of 35-3. With Saturday's loss, the Buccaneers move to 1-2 on the season.
ETSU finished the day with 255 yards of total offense against North Carolina.
Mason Mims finished the day going 23-for-31 with 178 yards through the air. Mims' top target was
Suderian Harrison, who finished with a career-high seven catches for 44 yards.
Charlie Browder paced the Bucs with 50 receiving yards. On the ground,
TJ Peyton paced the Bucs with 13 carries for 52 yards. The Bucs also went 8-for-16 on third-down conversions in the matchup.
Defensively,
Dre Delinois led ETSU in tackles for the third straight game with 10 stops. Fellow senior
Mike Jenkins was not far behind with seven tackles and a pass breakup.
Qua Birdsong also logged the lone sack for the Bucs on the day.
After winning the coin toss for the first time this season, the ETSU defense forced the Tar Heel defense to go three-and-out on their first possession. The Buccaneer offense did a great job in the first quarter moving the chains and holding onto the ball, as ETSU held possession for 10:43 of the first 15 minutes of play. However, ETSU's first drive ended in an interception that quickly turned into a touchdown for North Carolina.
A lengthy 11-play drive that burned over seven minutes off the clock did not yield points for the Blue and Gold. However, a punt by
Luke Stewart was downed at UNC's one-yard line by
Xavier Gaillardetz.
Starting a drive in the shadow of its own goal line, the Tar Heels used 10 plays to score their second straight touchdown to grow their lead to 14-0.
ETSU received a big jolt with a 44-yard connection between Mims and
Charlie Browder. The 44-yard catch by Browder, which was a new career-long, brought the Bucs into the red zone for the first time on Saturday at UNC's 17-yard line.
A pair of penalties and a sack pushed ETSU back to UNC's 32-yard line. A 49-yard field goal try by
Ewan Johnson clanked off an upright to keep the score at 14-0 North Carolina.
Following the missed field goal, both defenses stepped up to force punts. North Carolina tacked on one more touchdown to its lead before the first half ended. Two big pass plays that covered 48 yards set the Tar Heels up inside the 10-yard line before Demon June scored on a nine-yard touchdown to grow UNC's lead to 21-0 as the game moved to halftime.
As the second half got underway, the Bucs received the kickoff. The drive lasted one play as a fumble turned the ball back to North Carolina. UNC needed just four plays to find the end zone for the fourth time in the afternoon, with June crossing the goal line for the second time in the contest.
ETSU gained 36 yards on its next drive but had to punt.
Josh Buckhalter downed another good punt by Stewart at UNC's eight-yard line. As they did in the first half, the Tar Heels moved the ball over 90 yards and punched it across the goal line to add to their advantage. June ran it in from a yard out for his third rushing score of the day.
The two teams wrapped up play in the third quarter before lightning delayed the game for about 90 minutes.
When the two teams returned to the field to play the fourth quarter, UNC's first drive ended with a missed field goal. ETSU then put together a 15-play, 46-yard drive that took over eight minutes off the game clock. The lengthy drive ended with a 41-yard field goal by Johnson to make it 35-3, which became the final score.
ETSU will return home next Saturday when it welcomes West Georgia to William B. Greene Jr. Stadium. Kickoff between the Bucs and Wolves is set for Noon.
For more information on Buccaneer football, visit
ETSUBucs.com and click on the football tab.
