Bucs look to snap two-game skid in SoCon-Big South showdown

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (Sept. 23, 2022) – For the second time this season, ETSU football gears up for non-conference play as the Buccaneers travel to Pittsburgh to take on Big South foe Robert Morris on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is set for noon inside Joe Walton Stadium.

SOCON-BIG SOUTH SATURDAY SHOWDOWN

Date: Saturday, Sept. 24

Location: Moon Township, Pa. | Joe Walton Stadium

Teams: ETSU (1-2) at Robert Morris (0-2)

Gametime Temperature: 62° | partly cloudy

Live Stats: RMUColonials.com

Live Video: ESPN+

TV Crew: Chris Shovlin (play-by-play); Ray Thomas (analyst)

Live Audio: WXSM-AM 640 |104.9 NASH ICON

Radio Personnel: Jay “Voice of the Bucs” Sandos, Mark Hutsell (analyst), Robert Harper (sideline), Don Helman (stats)

Twitter: @ETSUFootball

Game Sponsor: First Horizon

STOP THE STREAK

ETSU enters Saturday’s game with back-to-back losses as the Bucs are coming off a 27-14 home setback to Furman last Saturday and fell 20-17 at The Citadel two weeks ago … The Bucs haven’t dropped back-to-back games since losing six straight from Sept. 28-Nov. 9, 2019 … During this two-game skid, the Bucs are only averaging 15.5 points on 351.5 yards of offense (220 passing, 131.5 rushing) … ETSU has turned the ball over five times during this run (four INTs, 1 fumble), while the Blue and Gold are averaging seven penalties per game in this stretch of games … ETSU has only converted on three of its six trips inside the red zone, compared to the opponents hitting on an 83 percent clip (5-of-6) … In addition, the Bucs are only converting on 29 percent on third down (7 for 24), while opponents are being held to 31 percent (8 of 26).

LAST TIME ON THE ROAD IN NON-CONFERENCE REGULAR SEASON PLAY

The last time ETSU was on the road for a non-conference regular season game, the Bucs pulled off the 23-3 upset at Vanderbilt last season in Nashville … ETSU held Vanderbilt to 321 yards of total offense, including just 85 yards on the ground … The Bucs forced three turnovers and cashed those miscues into 10 points … Quay Holmes rushed for 149 yards on 23 carries, while Tyler Riddell connected on a touchdown pass to Malik Murray … Stephen Scott also enjoyed a 27-yard touchdown on a fumble return … This marked only the second time in 15 chances the Bucs knocked off a Power-5 opponent (only other win was at NC State in 1987).

HEADING HOME

Shaun Hastings, ETSU’s starting left guard, is making a Homecoming this Saturday .. Hastings is from Camp Hill, Pa. which is 200 miles away from Pittsburgh … Hastings transferred to ETSU from St. Francis where he spent the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons … Hastings played high school ball at Cedar Cliff High School and led the Colts to a 9-2 record and a share of the conference title … He was a first team all-state offensive lineman in Class 5A by Pennsylvania Football News.

MARTIN THE TACKLING MACHINE

ETSU redshirt freshman linebacker Chandler Martin has been a tackling machine the past two games … Two weeks ago, at The Citadel, Martin set a new single-game program record with 23 hits (three solo, 20 assisted), including one tackle for loss … Last Saturday, Martin tied for the team lead with 12 tackles and two tackles for loss … Martin, who broke Nakia Thomas’ mark of 22 (set against Appalachian State in1993), was named Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, Sept. 12 and then SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week on Wednesday, Sept. 14 … The marketing & analytics major has a 3.32 GPA and was named to the SoCon Honor Roll last season … Martin’s 23 tackles are the most by a SoCon player since Western Carolina’s Rock Williams totaled 24 at The Citadel back on Oct. 13, 2012 … The 23 tackles are also tied for the most by any FCS and FBS player this season … Chandler, who leads the club with 41 tackles, ranks second nationally in tackles per game (13.7).

ETSU CAREER LEADERS

Jacob Saylors enters Saturday’s game needing 83 rushing yards to pass Brian Edwards for third all-time … Saylors has rushed for 2,848 yards over his career, while Edwards is at 2,930 … Will Huzzie needs 151 receiving yards to move into the top-five all-time as he has totaled 1,621 receiving yards on 120 catches … Jeff Johnson is fifth all-time with 1,772 yards on 142 catches … Huzzie’s 120 receptions is six shy of passing Chris Beatty for fifth all-time … Chris Beatty had 125, set from 1991-94.

MR. 3000

Jacob Saylors is on pace to become just the third running back in program history to eclipse 3,000 career rushing yards! Last season, the talented back paired up with Walter Payton finalist Quay Holmes to become ETSU’s first-ever 1,000-yard rushers in the same season … Saylors set a career high in rushing yards with 1,019 and posted 10 rushing touchdowns … Saylors is now just 152 yards away from cracking 3,000 career yards, while his 2,848 rushing yards rank fifth-most among active FCS career leaders … The Tennessee native is also known as an all-purpose specialist, recording 25 kick returns last season for 720 yards (28.8 average) … Saylors’ 4,745 all-purpose yards rank third-most among FCS active leaders and his 6.5 yards per rush lead all active FCS leaders. 

T0 30 AND BEYOND…

ETSU is 16-1 when scoring at least 30 points since restarting the program in 2015 … ETSU has won its last 12 games when scoring at least 30 points following the lone setback at Furman on Sept. 30, 2017. 

ABOUT ROBERT MORRIS

• Robert Morris is coming off its bye week after suffering losses to Dayton (22-20) and Miami (Ohio), 31-14, in the first two weeks of the season 

• The Colonials are coming off a 2021 season where they went 4-6 overall and 3-4 in the Big South … RMU won four of its five home games last season … RMU has won eight of its last 11 games played in Joe Walton Stadium 

• As a team, RMU is averaging 17.0 points and 272.5 yards of total offense per game … The Colonials are posting 237.5 passing yards per game and 35.0 rushing yards per contest 

• The Colonials’ defense is allowing 26.5 points and 362.5 yards per game (223.0 rushing/139.5 passing 

• RMU ranks first nationally among FCS teams in red zone offense (100.0), fifth in passing yards allowed (139.5), 11th in first downs defense (39), 12th in red zone defense (.667), 18th in turnover margin (1.00), 20th in fumbles recovered (3), 24th in kickoff return defense (16.0), 25th in third down conversion defense (.321) and tackles for loss allowed (4.50) 

• Offensively, RMU has turned the ball over three times – all interceptions – while the Colonials’ defense has forced four turnovers (two INTs, two fumbles) … RMU has fumbled the ball four times but hasn’t lost any of those cough ups 

• RMU is 5-for-5 in red zone scoring (all touchdowns), while the Colonials are just 7-of-27 (25.9%) on third down 

• The Colonials have used a pair of quarterbacks through the first two games as Anthony Chiccitt is 28-for-42 for 327 yards and one touchdown (three INTs) … Jake Simmons is 17-of-30 for 148 yards and one touchdown (zero INTs) … Chiccitt ranks 16th nationally in completion percentage (.667) and 30th in yards per pass attempt (7.79) … RMU graduated George Martin, who became the first quarterback in program history to throw for over 2,000 yards in a season since 2008 

• Fifteen RMU players have made at least one reception with Parker Fetterman and Devon Mondy both leading the team with eight catches … Fetterman has eight receptions for 73 yards and Mondy has eight catches for 51 yards and a touchdown 

• Alijah Jackson has been the team’s leading rusher as he leads the club in attempts (26), yards (66) and longest run (11) … Jackson led RMU in all-purpose yards in 2021 (907) as he rushed for 660 yards and two touchdowns and added 26 receptions for 247 yards and two scores … In 31 career games, Jackson has rushed for 2,369 yards on 530 carries with 12 touchdowns 

• Defensively, Joe Casale and Amauri Floyd have registered 20 tackles through the first two games … Casale leads the team with 23 hits (4.5 TFL, 1 sack), while Floyd has 20 tackles … Sydney Audiger has 12 tackles (2 TFL) and one interception, while Dakari Cabell has the other RMU interception 

• RMU was picked to finish sixth in the Big South, while five players earned preseason all-conference honors … Defensive back Sydney Audiger, offensive lineman Hayden Baron, running back Alijah Jackson and defensive lineman Ricardo Watson all earned preseason first team all-Big South honors … Linebacker Jamar Shegog was tabbed 2022 preseason All-Big South Honorable Mention 

• Led by head coach Bernard Clark, Jr. RMU returns 14 starts from last season’s team … Clark became the third head coach in program history on Dec, 19, 2017 … Clark played collegiately at the University of Miami where he was a linebacker for the Hurricanes’ 1987 and 1989 national championship teams … Clark was named MVP of the 1988 Orange Bowl where Miami defeated Oklahoma 20-14 … Clark was then a third round draft pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1990 and played two seasons with the Bengals and one year with the Seahawks 

SERIES HISTORY

Saturday marks the third all-time meeting between the two programs – all coming since ETSU’s return in 2015 … The Bucs made the trip to the Pittsburgh area on Nov. 7, 2015 where ETSU suffered a 21-9 setback … The Bucs led 9-7 with less than four minutes remaining before the Colonials scored on an 84-yard pass play with 3:18 left and capped things off with a 12-yard run at the 1:20 mark in the fourth quarter … The Bucs then returned the favor with a 16-3 Homecoming victory on Oct. 7, 2017 inside Greene Stadium … ETSU scored the first 16 points – three field goals by JJ Jerman and a 5-yard touchdown reception from Austin Herink to Drake Powell – while the Bucs’ defense held RMU to 211 yards of total offense and recovered three fumbles … RMU was also flagged 13 times for 100 yards and was sacked eight times for a loss of 43 yards. 

COVERAGE

The Buccaneer Sports Network (BSN) will provide ETSU fans with complete pregame, in-game and postgame coverage on the Bucs’ flagship station WXSM-AM 640 and affiliate station 104.9 FM NASH ICON. 

BSN begins its pregame programing one hour and 30 minutes prior to kickoff with the 30-minute Tennessee Lottery Tailgate Show, followed by the George Quarles Pregame Show presented by Tommie’s Plumbing which will lead up to 30 minutes prior to kickoff. The Appalachian Orthopedic Countdown to Kickoff will then lead into the final moments before kickoff.      

The broadcast team of “Voice of the Bucs” Jay Sandos, color analyst Mark Hutsell, sideline reporter Robert Harper and stat-man Don Helman will provide ETSU fans all the information they need to complement their game-day activities. 

At halftime, the crew will have the Mr. Electric Halftime Show, while fans can tune into the Mullican Flooring Post Game Show for a full wrap up, with game statistics, players and coach interviews and other post-game information.   

Saturday’s game will also be broadcast on the ESPN+ with the team of Chris Shovlin (play-by-play) and Ray Thomas (analyst) on the call. 

UP NEXT

ETSU returns home for a rivalry game as the Bucs host preseason SoCon favorite Chattanooga at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1. 

For more information on Buccaneer football, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the football page.