Riddell had a career game with 389 passing yards and five touchdowns

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 22, 2022) – ETSU quarterback Tyler Riddell (Tampa, Fla.) set career highs with 389 passing yards and five touchdowns, but it was not enough to carry the Buccaneers past No. 15 Samford as the Bulldogs spoiled Homecoming with a 55-45 victory on Saturday in front of 10,327 fans inside Greene Stadium. 

Riddell, who tied a school record with five passing touchdowns, threw three of them to Will Huzzie (Duluth, Ga.) as he finished with eight catches for 128 yards, becoming the first Buccaneer with three touchdown receptions since Tim Turner did so in 2000 versus Liberty. Isaiah Wilson (Norcross, Ga.) also finished with a career-high 122 receiving yards on seven catches, while he also completed his first collegiate pass – a 31-yard strike to Huzzie. 

As a team, ETSU set a season-high with 513 yards of total offense, including a season-high 420 passing yards. The Bucs carried the ball 32 times for 93 yards. Samford ran 94 plays for 609 yards – the most given up by ETSU’s defense this season. The Bulldogs passed for 442 yards and rushed for 167. 

With the loss, ETSU dipped to 3-5 overall and 1-5 in conference play, while Samford – coming off its bye week – improved to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in SoCon action. 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

First Quarter

ETSU 3, Samford 0: ETSU opened with points on the first drive of the game as the Bucs went 47 yards on 13 plays and took nearly six minutes off the clock as Keltner drilled a 45-yard field, pulling him into a tie for the all-time program record with his 53rd career make. The key play on the drive was a 17-yard pass from Tyler Riddell to Isaiah Wilson, setting up a 4th-and-1, which Jawan Martin (Decatur, Ga.) converted on a two-run run up the middle. 

ETSU 3, Samford 3: Just like the Bucs, Samford kicked a field on its opening drive when Zach Williams converted on a 42-yard make, tying the game at 3-3 with 6:14 left in the quarter. With the Bulldogs driving, Ja’Varius Harrison (Quincy, Fla.) came through with a clutch sack for a loss of four, setting up 3rd-and-14 form the ETSU 32-yard line. The Bucs made the third down stop, resulting in the field goal. 

ETSU 10, Samford 3: The Blue and Gold scored on their second straight possession of the game thanks to some razzle-dazzle. A flea-flicker reverse resulted in a toss back to Riddell, who hit a wide-open Noah West (Louisa, Ky.) for a 34-yard score where the Buccaneer tight end walked into the end zone. 

ETSU 10, Samford 10: As time expired at the end of the quarter, Samford pulled even at 10-10 when Michael Hiers called his number on a quarterback keeper and scored from two yards out, capping a 15-play, 79-yard drive, taking just over five minutes off the clock. 

Second Quarter

ETSU 17, Samford 10: ETSU held serve as they made it 3-for-3 in scoring drives as they marched 70 yards in seven plays. Quarterback Baron May (New Philadelphia, Ohio) finished it off with an 11-yard scamper, putting the Bucs back ahead by a touchdown with 11:52 left in the half. Riddell, who started the drive, hit Wilson for a 34-yard gain, moving the ball to the Samford 21-yard line. Three plays later, ETSU scored on May’s first collegiate rushing touchdown. 

ETSU 17, Samford 17: The back-and-forth game continued as the Bulldogs scored on their third straight possession when Hiers found D.J. Rias for a 51-yard score. Rias tip-toed the sideline and scored, finishing a 5-play, 75-yard drive in 52 seconds. 

Samford 24, ETSU 17: After Samford was the first team to make a stop on defense, the Bulldogs continued to score when Hiers found Kendall Watson for a 39-yard touchdown, capping off another scoring drive that lasted less than a minute (52-seconds). 

Samford 24, ETSU 24: The Bucs went to the pass game to pull even at 24 when Riddell connected on a 22-yard touchdown to Will Huzzie, marking Huzzie’s first scoring reception since Week 2. Again, a long bomb to Wilson set up the play as he hauled in a 47-yard catch on 3rd-and-2 from the ETSU 33-yard line, putting him over 100 yards receiving on the day. Two plays later, the Blue and Gold scored, capping off a 5-play, 75-yard drive. 

Samford 31, ETSU 24: Samford’s scoring perfection continued as the Bulldogs made it five straight drives with a score when Hiers hit Chandler Smith for a five-yard score, finishing an 8-play, 52-yard drive in 2:25. The Bulldogs went back ahead by seven with 2:55 remaining in the half. 

Samford 34, ETSU 24: The Bulldogs finished the half with their sixth straight scoring drive when Zach Williams made his second field goal of the game, connecting from a distance of 32 yards, giving Samford a 10-point lead heading into halftime. 

Third Quarter

Samford 41, ETSU 24: After a botched ETSU onside kick started the third quarter, Samford capitalized on the short field as the Bulldogs went 36 yards and scored on a three-yard run by Jay Stanton. 

Samford 41, ETSU 31: The Blue and Gold pulled out more trick plays to aid their first scoring drive of the second half. Following a 31-yard completion from Isaiah Wilson to Will Huzzie, ETSU scored five plays later on a 10-yard reception from Riddell to Huzzie, pulling the Bucs within 10 at the 8:42 mark of the third quarter. 

Samford 48, ETSU 31: Samford made it eight straight scoring drives as Hiers completed a third and goal touchdown to tight end Michael Mitchler for a six-yard score. The Bulldogs led by 17 with 3:23 remaining in the frame. 

Fourth Quarter

Samford 48, ETSU 38: The Bucs pulled within 10 points when Riddell found a connection with Quinn Caballero (Navarre, Fla.). Riddell hit Caballero on passes for 51 and 11 yard, then ended with a 26-yard touchdown reception, marking the wide receiver’s first touchdown with the Bucs. Riddell went over 300 passing yards on the day during that drive, marking the first time he has accomplished the feat. 

Samford 48, ETSU 45: ETSU inched closer as they registered its second straight 3-and-out stop on defense, while Riddell and Huzzie hooked up yet again for a 40-yard score, pulling the Blue and Gold within a field at the 8:24 mark of the fourth quarter. 

Samford 55, ETSU 45: Unfortunately, the Bucs couldn’t recapture the lead as Samford used a 10-play, 79-yard scoring drive to go back up 10 when Jaylan Thomas scored from one-yard out with 5:24 remaining. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Saturday’s attendance was 10,327, marking the third-highest crowd in Greene Stadium history, while it was also the fifth crowd of over 10,000 fans in the stadium history
• The teams combined for 1,122 yards on 170 plays
• Tyler Riddell completed 25 passes to six different receivers
• Three Buccaneers recorded their first career touchdowns on Saturday – for Noah West, Baron May and Quinn Caballero … Caballero also had a career high in receptions (4) and receiving yards (99)
• Following his field goal on ETSU’s opening drive of the contest, Tyler Keltner (Tallahassee, Fla.) tied the career-high for makes with 53 … Keltner is tied with Buccaneer great JJ Jerman
• With his eight receptions, Will Huzzie passed Jeff Johnson for third all-time in career catches with 143 …Huzzie also passed Chris Beatty for fourth among Buccaneer all-time receiving yards leaders with 1,910
• After finishing with five touchdown passes, Tyler Riddell moved his career total to 37, passing Mark Hutsell for fourth all-time … Riddell also joined Greg Ryan (1994 vs. The Citadel) and Alan Chadwick (1962 vs Chattanooga) as the only Buccaneer quarterbacks to throw five touchdown passes in a single game
• Isaiah Wilson and Will Huzzie became the first Buccaneer duo to finish with over 100 receiving yards in a game since Vincent Lowe (105 yards) and Hunter Wike (101 yards) did so back on Sept. 30, 2017 at Furman … Wilson had his first career 100-yard receiving game, while Huzzie moved his total to three
• Defensively, Chandler Martin (Lithonia, Ga.) led the Blue and Gold with 14 tackles, marking his fourth career game with double-digit hits … Erek Campbell (Memphis) registered nine
• As a unit, ETSU’s defense made 87 tackles, six tackles for loss and three sacks

NEXT GAME UP

ETSU hits the road next Saturday when the Bucs travel to Spartanburg, S.C., to take on Wofford. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.

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