ETSU 2019 Schedule.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

ETSU released their upcoming schedule a month ago. When I first saw it, I believed ETSU had a decent chance of repeating as SoCon champions. Then NSD happened and based on the recruits coming in, it confirmed my belief.

8/31 @ Appalachian State - L - Last time we played them at their place (2003), we were in it until late. This year, not so much.
9/7 Shorter - W - This one has beatdown written all over it.
9/14 VMI - W - Expect a spirited showdown against an improved VMI team.
9/21 Austin Peay - W - Governors find out the hard way they have a long way to go.
9/28 @ Furman - W - Win at their place for the first time in a long time.
10/5 Wofford - W - Expect this one to be the Game of the Week.
10/17 @ Chattanooga - W - Bucs ride the train back home with the Rail in tow.
10/26 @ Samford - W - Bulldogs miss Devlin Hodges.
11/2 The Citadel - W - Homecoming crowd goes home happy.
11/9 @ Western Carolina - W - Bucs dodge bullet on the road.
11/16 Mercer - W - Bucs win their third game in a row vs. Bears
11/23 @ Vanderbilt - L - Vanderbilt may not be Tennessee, but they're still SEC.

I see them going 10-2 and undefeated in conference play. I like the direction ETSU is going as I am bullish on ETSU.

The biggest threats to ETSU I see at this point are Wofford and Western Carolina.

[FUBeAR]

ETSU released their upcoming schedule a month ago. When I first saw it, I believed ETSU had a decent chance of repeating as SoCon champions. Then NSD happened and based on the recruits coming in, it confirmed my belief.

8/31 @ Appalachian State - L - Last time we played them at their place (2003), we were in it until late. This year, not so much.
9/7 Shorter - W - This one has beatdown written all over it.
9/14 VMI - W - Expect a spirited showdown against an improved VMI team.
9/21 Austin Peay - W - Governors find out the hard way they have a long way to go.
9/28 @ Furman - W - Win at their place for the first time in a long time.
10/5 Wofford - W - Expect this one to be the Game of the Week.
10/17 @ Chattanooga - W - Bucs ride the train back home with the Rail in tow.
10/26 @ Samford - W - Bulldogs miss Devlin Hodges.
11/2 The Citadel - W - Homecoming crowd goes home happy.
11/9 @ Western Carolina - W - Bucs dodge bullet on the road.
11/16 Mercer - W - Bucs win their third game in a row vs. Bears
11/23 @ Vanderbilt - L - Vanderbilt may not be Tennessee, but they're still SEC.

I see them going 9-2 and undefeated in conference play. I like the direction ETSU is going as I am bullish on ETSU.
9-2?

So which one of the 10 W’s, that you predicted, will they have to, later, expunge?

[Mocs123]

I guess we will have to see about the game on the 17th.

I don't think ETSU or any anyone else wins the SoCon undefeated this year.

[FUBeAR]

I guess we will have to see about the game on the 17th.

I don't think ETSU or any anyone else wins the SoCon undefeated this year.Yeah...I also thought that was a pretty BOLD prediction for a Team which was outscored by almost double-digits in their SoCon games last year & took 3 OT’s to beat the 2 last place SoCon Teams by just over an average of 2 points.

But, FUBeAR likes BOLD...so decided to ‘pick on’ the math instead. :)

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

9-2?

So which one of the 10 W’s, that you predicted, will they have to, later, expunge?

I think the biggest threats to ETSU going undefeated in conference play are Wofford (who ETSU has never beaten since their return) and Western Carolina (who has a certified stud at QB in Tyrie Adams).

It should be noted that I did a similar exercise a year ago in which I predicted ETSU would go at least 7-4, best case scenario 10-1 with an outside shot of making the playoffs. We all know how that went. Why? Because Randy Sanders was who I thought he was. Moral of the story is: bet against Randy Sanders at your peril.

[PaladinFan]

Beating Furman in Greenville after last year's debacle? Not going to happen.

First, after Furman's meltdown last year against ETSU, they'll be coming for blood. That game, which Furman had well in hand up until the weather delay, was incredibly costly. It cost Furman the sole SoCon title, the autobid, and a playoff spot. I frankly don't see a more veteran Paladin team making those mistakes twice.

Second, Paladin Stadium is a veritable house of horrors for the Bucs. ETSU is 1-12 there all time.

I'm surprised you don't have Furman as a key threat to ETSU, frankly. The Paladins shared a conference title last year and return virtually everyone.

[FUBeAR]

Beating Furman in Greenville after last year's debacle? Not going to happen.

First, after Furman's meltdown last year against ETSU, they'll be coming for blood. That game, which Furman had well in hand up until the weather delay, was incredibly costly. It cost Furman the sole SoCon title, the autobid, and a playoff spot. I frankly don't see a more veteran Paladin team making those mistakes twice.

Second, Paladin Stadium is a veritable house of horrors for the Bucs. ETSU is 1-12 there all time.

I'm surprised you don't have Furman as a key threat to ETSU, frankly. The Paladins shared a conference title last year and return virtually everyone.I bet you didn’t know who was the 1st-ever loser & the 1st-ever shutout loser in Paladin Stadium. But, I bet you know now that I asked, huh? That would be ETSU, 21-0 in 1981.

[rtzlunar]

ETSU released their upcoming schedule a month ago. When I first saw it, I believed ETSU had a decent chance of repeating as SoCon champions.

11/23 @ Vanderbilt - L - Vanderbilt may not be Tennessee, but they're still SEC.

I see them going 10-2 and undefeated in conference play. I like the direction ETSU is going as I am bullish on ETSU.
.

Not sure which statement is more laughable. ETSU going undefeated in the SoCon or trying to make UT a better team than Vanderbilt. This isn’t the 20th century. Did you miss the 38-13 ass-whipping Candy put on Who-T last year?

[Mocs123]

Yeah, I didn't mention it, but Vandy is a better team than UTK. Thus is the state of UT Football, and most of us Chattanooga fans love every minute of it.

[JSUSoutherner]

Yeah, I didn't mention it, but Vandy is a better team than UTK. Thus is the state of UT Football, and most of us Chattanooga fans love every minute of it.

Yeah, UTK is so bad it's even affecting their satellite schools.

[Mocs123]

Zing! Of course the way we played in 2017 and 2018 that's hard to argue. To be honest, I'm not sure exactly how good we will be this year, but I am going to guess we'll be better than last time we played. I'm planning on making the trip down to watch the game this year, so I hope my drive home is better than the last few.

[JSUSoutherner]

Zing! Of course the way we played in 2017 and 2018 that's hard to argue. To be honest, I'm not sure exactly how good we will be this year, but I am going to guess we'll be better than last time we played. I'm planning on making the trip down to watch the game this year, so I hope my drive home is better than the last few.

Looking forward to the game as well. Atmosphere is always great against UTC.

[katss07]

Eh, sorry. Don’t see this happening. The SoCon is deep and competitive. They’re bound to slip up against Wofford, El Cid or Furman. I’m not sure the Bucs make the playoffs again, let alone go undefeated in the conference.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

Yeah, I didn't mention it, but Vandy is a better team than UTK. Thus is the state of UT Football, and most of us Chattanooga fans love every minute of it.

If there was any individual that deserved to be the MVP for UT's football season, it would be Beverly Davenport. She was the one who stood up and said no to Greg Schiano after an unprecedented fan backlash. Then she turned around and fired John Currie, replacing him with Phil "The Phranchise" Fulmer. It could have been a whole lot worse.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

Eh, sorry. Don’t see this happening. The SoCon is deep and competitive. They’re bound to slip up against Wofford, El Cid or Furman. I’m not sure the Bucs make the playoffs again, let alone go undefeated in the conference.

Funny, that's what most of you said a year ago when I said ETSU was going to win at least seven games. Just saying.

[Mocs123]

Funny, that's what most of you said a year ago when I said ETSU was going to win at least seven games. Just saying.

You're right - ETSU had a great year last season that was unexpected by most SoCon fans. And, I'm not trying to take anything away from the Bucs - Randy Sanders deserved coach of the year and Billy Taylor had the kind of D I hoped he would have had when he was in Chattanooga, but I think the Bucs had the ball bounce their way in 2018. Rarely did they look like a dominant team, and they beat some teams that probably shouldn't have. I was at the Chattanooga game, and I felt like our inept clock management kept us from winning the game. That isn't to say that ETSU's D didn't give Tiano fits - it did and I felt like we were out coached for sure, but I didn't leave that game feeling like ETSU was the better team.

On another note - I did think ETSU had good fan support and support in the Community. Unlike Chattanooga, I didn't see more UTK, Alabama, and Auburn stuff than the "home" team. Though the stadium is small it was probably 90% full which gave a real home field advantage. Our problem is that our stadium seats 20K so at 10K it looks empty.

[JSUSoutherner]

You're right - ETSU had a great year last season that was unexpected by most SoCon fans. And, I'm not trying to take anything away from the Bucs - Randy Sanders deserved coach of the year and Billy Taylor had the kind of D I hoped he would have had when he was in Chattanooga, but I think the Bucs had the ball bounce their way in 2018. Rarely did they look like a dominant team, and they beat some teams that probably shouldn't have. I was at the Chattanooga game, and I felt like our inept clock management kept us from winning the game. That isn't to say that ETSU's D didn't give Tiano fits - it did and I felt like we were out coached for sure, but I didn't leave that game feeling like ETSU was the better team.

On another note - I did think ETSU had good fan support and support in the Community. Unlike Chattanooga, I didn't see more UTK, Alabama, and Auburn stuff than the "home" team. Though the stadium is small it was probably 90% full which gave a real home field advantage. Our problem is that our stadium seats 20K so at 10K it looks empty.

Probably because it is empty.

I don't think I've ever seen a UTC game where JSU wasn't involved where there was 10,000 people actually in the stands.

I'm not trying to be a complete troll, but stadium being big isn't the problem, chief.

[PaladinFan]

You're right - ETSU had a great year last season that was unexpected by most SoCon fans. And, I'm not trying to take anything away from the Bucs - Randy Sanders deserved coach of the year and Billy Taylor had the kind of D I hoped he would have had when he was in Chattanooga, but I think the Bucs had the ball bounce their way in 2018. Rarely did they look like a dominant team, and they beat some teams that probably shouldn't have. I was at the Chattanooga game, and I felt like our inept clock management kept us from winning the game. That isn't to say that ETSU's D didn't give Tiano fits - it did and I felt like we were out coached for sure, but I didn't leave that game feeling like ETSU was the better team.

On another note - I did think ETSU had good fan support and support in the Community. Unlike Chattanooga, I didn't see more UTK, Alabama, and Auburn stuff than the "home" team. Though the stadium is small it was probably 90% full which gave a real home field advantage. Our problem is that our stadium seats 20K so at 10K it looks empty.

ETSU can thank Furman for forcing a QB change that probably saved their season.

[FUBeAR]

ETSU can thank Furman for forcing a QB change that probably saved their season.
Well...if the Bucs are going to start doling out “Thanks” for their success in 2018, they surely need to thank Mercer for trotting out their 3rd string walk-on QB, who didn’t even start for his HS Team, and him completing <50% of his 31 passes & throwing 2 (bad) picks, as ETSU rolled up another ‘dominating’ 3 point win.

...and I’m sure Special thanks certainly go to WCU’s Kicker for missing a 27 yard game-ending (if he made it) FG in OT, enabling the Bucs to keep playing to an ‘impressive’ 2 point/3 OT win over the SoCon’s 8th place Team, after the Catamounts failed to make their 2 point conversion.

[Mocs123]

I'm not trying to be a complete troll, but stadium being big isn't the problem, chief.

I'm in agreement with you. To be honest, I find it embarrassing that in an area with the metro population of Chattanooga, not to mention the high amount of alumi in the area, that we can't get at least 15K for every home game. I wish I knew the problem, I know we were terrible for years, but we had a string of good teams that were ranked in the top 10 (top 5 even) playing in games that mattered and we are lucky to get 10K there. Some people would say that it's because we're in the middle of SEC country, and that's true, I know we have 15K drive to Knoxville from Chattanooga every home game, but I use JSU as an example that it is possible to get good support in the middle of SEC country - At least the games I've been to there have been good crowds (I'm not sure I always buy the announced number but good crowds - easily 15-18K) and JSU is right in Alabama and Auburn's backyard.

One of our problems is we get terrible support from the student body. It's probably somewhat due to the fact that UTC is in large part a commuter college, but it's still embarrassing. I remember App State used to have a HUGE student section that was a real advantage for them.

[rtzlunar]

Probably because it is empty.

I don't think I've ever seen a UTC game where JSU wasn't involved where there was 10,000 people actually in the stands.

I'm not trying to be a complete troll, but stadium being big isn't the problem, chief.

You may not be trying, but you ARE a complete troll.

[SU DOG]

Good season last year and ETSU has a very good HC. My question, however, is who is the QB? If they go with Logan Marchi, then I don't think they even sniff a SoCon championship. I've been wrong lots of times before, but Samford may just be in a better position to replace Hodges than ETSU is in to replace Austin Herink. There may be somebody on the Bucs' roster that I'm not aware of, or maybe I've gotten the wrong impression about Marchi, but I agree with Paladin Fan(I think this is what he meant) that Herink taking over saved their skin. Samford, IMO, will beat ETSU at Seibert.

[JSUSoutherner]

You may not be trying, but you ARE a complete troll.

But I'm right.

[PaladinFan]

Good season last year and ETSU has a very good HC. My question, however, is who is the QB? If they go with Logan Marchi, then I don't think they even sniff a SoCon championship. I've been wrong lots of times before, but Samford may just be in a better position to replace Hodges than ETSU is in to replace Austin Herink. There may be somebody on the Bucs' roster that I'm not aware of, or maybe I've gotten the wrong impression about Marchi, but I agree with Paladin Fan(I think this is what he meant) that Herink taking over saved their skin. Samford, IMO, will beat ETSU at Seibert.

Against ETSU last year, Furman was winning 27-6 and in complete control of the game while Marchi was at QB. Furman had notched 4 sacks against him in the first 3 quarters.

Marchi was pulled for Herink, who orchestrated a comeback. The real difference was that Herink stood in there against the Paladin rush, took hits, and made throws. Marchi always got happy feet, would pull the ball down and try to run, which was rarely successful.

Granted, that comeback wasn't all Herink as Furman completely fell apart on both sides of the ball. I have never seen a Furman team do what they did that night. I hope I never see it again.

[Smitty]

3 teams have gone 8-0 in SoCon play in the past 10 years. I highly doubt you get through the season unscathed

[PaladinFan]

I hadn't read this article before, but pretty scathing rebuke of Sander's naming Marchi the starting QB last year. https://medium.com/@markybillson/benching-of-austin-herick-shows-how-bad-etsu-football-has-been-246ca8bf6450

At bottom, the idea that ETSU can lose their best player and go undefeated in the SoCon seems pretty far fetched. Marchi has to be a lot better than he was last year.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

You're right - ETSU had a great year last season that was unexpected by most SoCon fans. And, I'm not trying to take anything away from the Bucs - Randy Sanders deserved coach of the year and Billy Taylor had the kind of D I hoped he would have had when he was in Chattanooga, but I think the Bucs had the ball bounce their way in 2018. Rarely did they look like a dominant team, and they beat some teams that probably shouldn't have. I was at the Chattanooga game, and I felt like our inept clock management kept us from winning the game. That isn't to say that ETSU's D didn't give Tiano fits - it did and I felt like we were out coached for sure, but I didn't leave that game feeling like ETSU was the better team.

On another note - I did think ETSU had good fan support and support in the Community. Unlike Chattanooga, I didn't see more UTK, Alabama, and Auburn stuff than the "home" team. Though the stadium is small it was probably 90% full which gave a real home field advantage. Our problem is that our stadium seats 20K so at 10K it looks empty.

Given that we're the largest SoCon FB school in terms of enrollment, it's really hard to fit the entire student body in our stadium. Hopefully, in time we will be able to upscale our stadium to accommodate 20K.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

ETSU can thank Furman for forcing a QB change that probably saved their season.

I agree, had Marchi stayed in the game, we would have lost and we would be thinking no wonder why Sanders got canned in Knoxville.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

Well...if the Bucs are going to start doling out “Thanks” for their success in 2018, they surely need to thank Mercer for trotting out their 3rd string walk-on QB, who didn’t even start for his HS Team, and him completing <50% of his 31 passes & throwing 2 (bad) picks, as ETSU rolled up another ‘dominating’ 3 point win.

...and I’m sure Special thanks certainly go to WCU’s Kicker for missing a 27 yard game-ending (if he made it) FG in OT, enabling the Bucs to keep playing to an ‘impressive’ 2 point/3 OT win over the SoCon’s 8th place Team, after the Catamounts failed to make their 2 point conversion.

Yes, ETSU was quite possibly the luckiest team in the Southern Conference and probably all of FCS.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

Good season last year and ETSU has a very good HC. My question, however, is who is the QB? If they go with Logan Marchi, then I don't think they even sniff a SoCon championship. I've been wrong lots of times before, but Samford may just be in a better position to replace Hodges than ETSU is in to replace Austin Herink. There may be somebody on the Bucs' roster that I'm not aware of, or maybe I've gotten the wrong impression about Marchi, but I agree with Paladin Fan(I think this is what he meant) that Herink taking over saved their skin. Samford, IMO, will beat ETSU at Seibert.

Sanders announced at signing day that Marchi is no longer on the team (he apparently graduated). This means we have one redshirt sophomore in Tyrique Sandusky, one redshirt freshman in Trey Mitchell and two signees in Trayvion Houston and Tyler Riddell (both of whom I am impressed with).

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

I hadn't read this article before, but pretty scathing rebuke of Sander's naming Marchi the starting QB last year. https://medium.com/@markybillson/benching-of-austin-herick-shows-how-bad-etsu-football-has-been-246ca8bf6450

At bottom, the idea that ETSU can lose their best player and go undefeated in the SoCon seems pretty far fetched. Marchi has to be a lot better than he was last year.

As stated earlier, Marchi is no longer on the team on account of graduation. It should be noted that we beat out Wofford for Riddell and Houston, which should say something about us. FWIW, Billson has no cred in the Tri Cities. He is not fit to wash Tony Basilio's socks.

[FUBeAR]

Sanders announced at signing day that Marchi is no longer on the team (he apparently graduated). This means we have one redshirt sophomore in Tyrique Sandusky, one redshirt freshman in Trey Mitchell and two signees in Trayvion Houston and Tyler Riddell (both of whom I am impressed with).
So...10-2/8-0...with 1 (or more) of these 5 playing QB...

* Trey Mitchell SO or R-FR, who barely saw the field at Coahoma Community College
* Cameron Lewis R-FR, dual threat QB, but often didn’t dress as a freshman
* Tyrique Sandusky R-SO, dual threat QB left over from the Carl Torbush regime
* Tyler Riddell FR, lacks size (5–11, 174) & supposedly afraid of chickens
* Treyvion Houston FR, listed as an “athlete” first and a QB second

* NOTE: edited text above compiled from an article by a Johnson City sportswriter. NOT FUBeAR’s words.

...and nary a one of them has ever taken a game snap above HS/CC level?

I remember 1 SoCon Team last year that had to play some talented, but inexperienced youngsters at QB for a few games at the beginning of the season before their 5th year Sr QB fully returned from injury. And, another SoCon Team was forced to use an inexperienced QB down the stretch, in their games against all 3 SoCon Tri-Champions, due to injuries to their Top 2 QB’s. Neither of those situations were things of beauty. I think their combined records were 1-7 with the inexperienced QB’s & 10-3 with the more experienced ones.

I’ll take the under on that “10” regular season number with this new (new to me) info.

[Mocs123]

Sanders announced at signing day that Marchi is no longer on the team (he apparently graduated). This means we have one redshirt sophomore in Tyrique Sandusky, one redshirt freshman in Trey Mitchell and two signees in Trayvion Houston and Tyler Riddell (both of whom I am impressed with).

Houston and Riddell might end up being All Conference players for all I know, but top QB's probably aren't lining up to play for Wofford. I mean that as no disrespect to the Terriers, as Wofford always has a good team, but a TO QB has a different skill set than most Spread/Pro offense teams.

[PaladinFan]

Houston and Riddell might end up being All Conference players for all I know, but top QB's probably aren't lining up to play for Wofford. I mean that as no disrespect to the Terriers, as Wofford always has a good team, but a TO QB has a different skill set than most Spread/Pro offense teams.

I've followed the SoCon a while, and I'd be hard pressed to even name a Wofford QB in the last 15 years. Part of their value is their anonymity, I think.

That said, Furman has a QB on roster that was offered by Wofford (Hamp Sisson). Furman, of course, now runs an offense more similar to Wofford's than ETSU does and, I think, under Conklin the Terriers would like to throw it more.

[gofurman]

ETSU released their upcoming schedule a month ago. When I first saw it, I believed ETSU had a decent chance of repeating as SoCon champions. Then NSD happened and based on the recruits coming in, it confirmed my belief.

8/31 @ Appalachian State - L - Last time we played them at their place (2003), we were in it until late. This year, not so much.
9/7 Shorter - W - This one has beatdown written all over it.
9/14 VMI - W - Expect a spirited showdown against an improved VMI team.
9/21 Austin Peay - W - Governors find out the hard way they have a long way to go.
9/28 @ Furman - W - Win at their place for the first time in a long time.
10/5 Wofford - W - Expect this one to be the Game of the Week.
10/17 @ Chattanooga - W - Bucs ride the train back home with the Rail in tow.
10/26 @ Samford - W - Bulldogs miss Devlin Hodges.
11/2 The Citadel - W - Homecoming crowd goes home happy.
11/9 @ Western Carolina - W - Bucs dodge bullet on the road.
11/16 Mercer - W - Bucs win their third game in a row vs. Bears
11/23 @ Vanderbilt - L - Vanderbilt may not be Tennessee, but they're still SEC.

I see them going 10-2 and undefeated in conference play. I like the direction ETSU is going as I am bullish on ETSU.

The biggest threats to ETSU I see at this point are Wofford and Western Carolina.

First let me congratulate ETSU on what they did in 2018. SoCon Champs and playoffs. amazing. That said, I would look at 7-4 maybe? App, Vandy, Furman, Woff, Samford.. as someone said there have been what? very few teams to go undefeated in SoCon. It's just so hard to do. and 7-4 is a kudo to a team that is still building. I am impressed

[ElCid]

First let me congratulate ETSU on what they did in 2018. SoCon Champs and playoffs. amazing. That said, I would look at 7-4 maybe? App, Vandy, Furman, Woff, Samford.. as someone said there have been what? very few teams to go undefeated in SoCon. It's just so hard to do. and 7-4 is a kudo to a team that is still building. I am impressed

Yup. I'm thinking at best 7-5, 6-6, or even 5-7. Still respectable, but I don't see anywhere near 10-2. Way too many 2 or 3 point games last year and their first class is out the door to boot.