Bucs look to keep trophy in Johnson City

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 11, 2022) – Playing its final home game of the season on Saturday, ETSU football hosts Western Carolina in the fifth edition of the Blue Ridge Border Battle. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium. 

RIVALRY SATURDAY

Date: Saturday, Nov. 12

Location: Johnson City, Tenn. | Greene Stadium

Teams: ETSU (3-6, 1-6) vs. Western Carolina (4-5, 2-4)

Weather: 55°; Cloudy with showers, Winds N @ 9mph

Live Stats: ETSUBucs.com (StatBroadcast)

Live Video: ESPN+

TV Crew: Keith Brake (play-by-play); Mark Hutsell (analyst)

Live Audio: WXSM-AM 640 |104.9 NASH ICON

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

Twitter: @ETSUFootball

Game Sponsor: Mr. Electric 

THINGS TO KNOW  

No. 1 – Kickoff: Saturday’s game will kickoff at 1:02 p.m. inside Greene Stadium. Stadium gates will open at 11 a.m. 

No. 2 – Ticket Information: Fans can purchase tickets for Saturday’s game against Western Carolina, as well as season tickets for basketball, online. For more information, click here. Students can pick up their tickets all week at the Carrier Center located on the second floor of the Culp Center or at the gate on gameday. 

No. 3 – Heroes Day: On Saturday, ETSU welcomes any veteran or active service members with free admission to Saturday’s game. Tickets can be claimed at the main east side gate (arches) starting two hours before kickoff. Valid ID must be provided. 

No. 4 – Senior Day: Prior to Saturday’s game, ETSU Athletics will honor 13 players who will run through the “E” one last time inside Greene Stadium. Additionally, the program will honor eight support staff students who have served the program as equipment managers, film crew personnel or with sports medicine. 

No. 5 – Blue Ridge Border Battle: Saturday will mark the fifth edition of the “Blue Ridge Border Battle” between ETSU and Western Carolina. In 2018, a trophy was added for the long-time rivals that includes a two-tiered wooden pedestal adorned on opposite sides by the school’s respective logos and the moniker of the football rivalry series. Atop the trophy is a rock that was taken from the Appalachian Trail on the Tennessee - North Carolina Border in the heart of the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge mountains. 

No. 6 – Tailgating: For all Saturday home games this season, parking lots on campus open at 8 a.m. for tailgating. Click here for the game day parking map. 

No. 7 – Food City Zone: The Food City Zone will open three hours prior to kickoff for all home games, with inflatables for children and other fun-filled pregame activities. The Food City Fan Zone is located between Lots 21 and 22 near the main roundabout entering campus from State of Franklin Road. Fans are also encouraged to pick up their Food City Rally Towels at this location to wave after the third quarter.

THANK YOU, SENIORS!

Today marks the final home game for 13 seniors as Blake Austin, Tanner Corum, Timmy Dorsey, Jay Harrison, Shaun Hastings, Max Howell, Deuce Larose, Marqui Manns, Mike Price, Dwyane Ruff, Jacob Saylors, Cason Setzekorn and Joe Schreiber were all recognized pregame on the field … In addition to the players, this marks the final home game for several hard-working student workers – Candice Hatch (Equipment), James Cahill (Equipment), Grace Fillmore (Sports Medicine), Griffin Mullins (Sports Medicine), Ariana Perry (Sports Medicine), Aubree Henger (Sports Medicine), TD Flint (Film Crew) and Dylan Royston (Film Crew).

SAYLORS GOES OVER 1,000 AGAIN!

For the second straight year senior running back Jacob Saylors eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing … After going off for a season-high 245 yards and three touchdowns at Wofford, Saylors moved his season total to 1,092 rushing yards … Last season, Saylors ran for 1,019 yards and 10 touchdowns as he and Quay Holmes became the first-ever Buccaneer teammate tandem to run for over 1,000 yards as Holmes rushed for 1,553 yards and 17 touchdowns … Saylors and Holmes became the first teammates from a SoCon school to rush for over 1,000 yards since Chattanooga’s Derrick Craine (1,251) and Jacob Huesman (1,244) accomplished the feat in 2015 … Saylors’ 1,092 rushing yards this season rank fifth among FCS players.

KELTNER MAKES HISTORY AT WOFFORD

ETSU placekicker Tyler Keltner made history two weeks ago at Wofford as he broke two ETSU career records in that game … After connecting on a pair of field goals, Keltner moved his career total to 57, passing previous great JJ Jerman … Also, after going 5-for-5 in PATs, Keltner became ETSU’s all-time leader in extra-points with 128, passing the legendary Jerry Chapman (123 PATs) … Keltner now has 293 career points and is 14 shy of breaking the all-time record, set by Quay Holmes … Keltner is among the active FCS leaders in PAT percentage (1st, 1.000), made field goals (fourth), extra-points (seventh), points (fourth), points per game (7th, 7.3) and field goal percentage (21st, .764).

CLOSE CALLS IN CONFERENCE

ETSU has played in 53 SoCon games since rejoining the league in 2016 with the Bucs record being 23-30 in those contests … Thirty-five of those games have been decided by one possession (8 points or less) with 13 being decided by three points or less … ETSU is being outscored 1,460 to 1,302 in those previous 53 games, breaking down to 27.6 points to 24.6 points per contest (differential of 158 points) … Furthermore, since 2018, ETSU is 19-18 in league play with 28 of those 37 games being decided by one possession (8 points or less) and 10 by three points or less … The Bucs are outscoring their opponents 1,006-993 (13-point difference) during this stretch, breaking down to 27.2 points to 26.8 points … In addition, four of those last 37 SoCon games have gone to overtime … To go even further, when looking at ETSU’s spring 2021 and fall 2021 games, the Bucs went 11-3 overall with 13 of those 14 games being decided by one possession (8 points or less) … The Bucs won the SoCon title in the 2018 and 2021.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURST

Despite suffering losses in three of its last four games, ETSU’s offense has exploded during this run … Over the last four games, the Bucs’ offense is averaging 40.8 points per game and posting 453 yards per contest (266.5 passing/186.5 rushing) … The last two weeks, ETSU has posted over 500 yards of total offense in losses to Samford (513 yards) and Wofford (562 yards) … The 562 yards at Wofford marked the most yards by an ETSU offense since totaling 574 (314 rushing/260 passing) against Kentucky Wesleyan back on Nov. 21, 2015 … Against Wofford, the Bucs ran for 325 yards – the most since posting 461 last season at Western Carolina … Jacob Saylors finished with a career-high 369 all-purpose yards – the most-ever by a Buccaneer player – two weeks ago in Spartanburg … Saylors recorded his second-highest rushing game (245 yards) and also had 124 kickoff return yards … In the Bucs’ last home game against Samford on Oct. 22, Tyler Riddell threw for a career-high 389 yards and five touchdowns … The five touchdown passes tied the Buccaneer single-game record, joining Greg Ryan (1994, vs. The Citadel) and Alan Chadwick (1962, vs. Chattanooga) as the only ETSU players to accomplish the feat … Meanwhile, Will Huzzie hauled in eight catches for 128 yards and three touchdowns and Isaiah Wilson set career highs with seven catches for 122 yards … Huzzie became the first Buccaneer to have three touchdown catches since Tim Turner did so in 2000 versus Liberty … Only two FCS players have caught four touchdowns in a single-game this season (Villanova’s Jaaron Hayek vs. Maine on Oct. 1, and Fordham’s Fotis Kokosioulis vs. Ohio on Sept. 24) … Huzzie and Wilson became the first Buccaneer duo to have over 100 receiving since Vincent Lowe (105 yards) and Hunter Wike (101 yards) accomplished the feat on Sept. 30, 2017 at Furman.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

ETSU has scored 40 or more points in two straight games, marking the first time the Bucs have accomplished the feat in back-to-back games against FCS teams … The last time the Bucs scored 40+ points in consecutive games was in 1994 when the Bucs scored 42 against Catawba and 44 at Morehead State ... With ETSU averaging 33.2 points per game, the Bucs would set the new single-season scoring record if the season ended today ... Last year, ETSU set the record at 32.7 points per game.

ABOUT WESTERN CAROLINA

• Western Carolina is coming off a 36-29 win over Wofford on Saturday where the Catamounts improved to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in SoCon play 
• The win snapped a three-game losing streak as Western Carolina improved to 3-1 at home, while the Catamounts are 1-4 on the road with the lone win being a 52-38 victory at Charleston Southern in the season opener 
• As a team, Western Carolina is averaging 33.2 points and allowing 33.9 … The Catamounts are putting up 505.3 yards per contest (313.3 passing/192.0 rushing) and giving up 392.2 (205.1 passing/187.1 rushing) 
• The Catamounts have turned the ball over 22 times (17 interceptions/five fumbles), while their defense have recorded nine takeaways (five INTs/four fumble recoveries) 
• Western Carolina has been penalized 75 times for 815 yards (90.6 yards per game) 
• The Catamounts are converting 41 percent on third down (46/113) and 44 percent on fourth down (7/16), while opponents are hitting on 47 percent on third down (58/124) and 43 percent on fourth down (6/14) 
• Carlos Davis has started seven games at quarterback as he’s 148 for 220 with 1,837 yards and 16 touchdowns (13 INTs) … Davis also has 68 carries for 221 yards … Cole Gonzales has made two starts and is 58 for 85 with 844 yards and seven touchdowns (four INTs) 
• Raphael Williams is the main target as he leads the team in receptions (42), receiving yards (573) and touchdowns (5), while four other players have totaled at least 20 receptions 
• Desmond Reid is WCU’s top running back as he has carried the ball 96 times for 694 yards and three touchdowns, while TJ Jones has started eight games – posting 333 yards on 68 carries with three touchdowns … Jones hasn’t been tackled for a loss this season 
• Andreas Keaton leads the team in tackles (61) and interceptions (2), while KJ Milner and Ed Jones IV both have a team-best five sacks 
• As a team, Western Carolina ranks third nationally in total offense (505.3), fourth in passing offense (313.3) and first downs offense (235), 12th in completion percentage (.673) 13th in passing efficiency (156.38) and team sacks (2.89), 23rd in time of possession (32:03) and 26th in rushing offense (192.0) 
• Individually, Carlos Davis ranks eighth nationally in total offense (294.0), 19th in passing yards per game (262.4), 22nd in yards per pass attempt (8.35), 25th in passing efficiency (149.6) and 31st in passing touchdowns (16) … Kicker Richard McCollum ranks seventh in field goals per game (1.56), 10th in field goal percentage (.875) and 25th in scoring (8.6) … Censere Lee ranks sixth in yards per reception (21.7) and AJ Colombo is 22nd in punt returns (7.1) 

SERIES HISTORY

Saturday marks the 52nd all-time meeting between ETSU and Western Carolina with the series being tied 25-25-1 … This also marks the fifth showdown of the Blue Ridge Border Battle with the Bucs capturing three of the first four games in this newly-created rivalry game … The 51 games played against the Catamounts mark the most against an opponent with Appalachian State coming second with 47 … The ETSU-Western Carolina series began in 1932 with the Bucs winning 26-0 … When the Bucs returned football and rejoined the SoCon in 2016, the two teams met at the Bristol Motor Speedway where ETSU defeated the Catamounts in its first SoCon meeting, 34-31 … ETSU has won the last two meetings, four of the last six and 10 of the last 16 … Overall, the Bucs are 14-12-1 in games played in Tennessee, while ETSU won six straight in the series from 1932-37 … Last year, the Bucs survived a shootout in Cullowhee where the teams combined for 70 first-half points and were tied at 35 at intermission, before the Blue and Gold outscored the Catamounts, 21-0, in the second half to win 56-35 … The 56 points scored marked the most points put up in the series, while Jacob Saylors set the ETSU single-game rushing record with 266 yards … In total, the Bucs ran for 461 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, analyst 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 ESPN+ with the team of Keith Brake (play-by-play) and Mark Hutsell (analyst). 

Fans can also follow live stats via StatBroadcast 

TICKETS

Fans can purchase tickets for Saturday’s game online. For more information, click here. Tickets can also be purchased by calling the ETSU Ticket Office at 423-439-3878. Students can pick up their tickets at the gate on gameday. 

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