2018 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

2018 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football
2018 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football
SoCon co-champion
FCS First Round, L 27–34 vs. Jacksonville State
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 22
FCS Coaches	No. 21
Record	8–4 (6–2 SoCon)
Head coach	Randy Sanders (1st season);
Offensive coordinator	Mike Rader (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Billy Taylor (4th season)
Home stadium	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium

2018 Southern Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 13 Wofford +^	6	–	2	9	–	4
No. 22 +^	6	–	2	8	–	4
Furman +	6	–	2	6	–	4
Samford	5	–	3	6	–	5
Chattanooga	4	–	4	6	–	5
The Citadel	4	–	4	5	–	6
Mercer	4	–	4	5	–	6
Western Carolina	1	–	7	3	–	8
VMI	0	–	8	1	–	10

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2018 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season and were in the third year of their second stint as football members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They were led by first-year head coach Randy Sanders and played their home games at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium.^[1] They finished the season 8–4, 6–2 in SoCon play to win a share of the SoCon championship. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, where they lost to Jacksonville State in the first round.

Preseason

Preseason media poll

The SoCon released their preseason media poll on July 25, 2018, with the Buccaneers predicted to finish in eighth place.^[2] The same day the coaches released their preseason poll with the Buccaneers also predicted to finish in eighth place.^[3]

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Samford	204 (20)
2	Furman	174 (2)
3	Wofford	163 (1)
4	Mercer	133
5	Western Carolina	114
6	Chattanooga	88
7	The Citadel	83
8	East Tennessee State	53
9	VMI	23

Coaches poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Samford	63 (7)
2	Wofford	53 (1)
3	Furman	52 (1)
4	Western Carolina	39
5	Chattanooga	34
6	Mercer	32
7	The Citadel	28
8	East Tennessee State	15
9	VMI	8

Preseason All-SoCon Teams

The Buccaneers placed five players on the preseason all-SoCon teams.

Offense

2nd team

Matt Pyke – OL

Defense

1st team

Nasir Player – DL

2nd team

Dylan Weigel – DL

Specialists

2nd team

JJ Jerman – K

Quan Harrison – RS

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	7:30 p.m.	Mars Hill*		William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN+	W 28–7	8,518
September 8	4:00 p.m.	at Tennessee*		Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	SECN	L 3–59	96,464
September 14^[a]	2:30 p.m.	at VMI		Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA	ESPN+	W 27–24	2,764
September 22	7:30 p.m.	Furman		William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	W 29–27	8,453
September 29	7:30 p.m.	Chattanooga		William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN+	W 17–14	9,277
October 6	3:35 p.m.	Gardner–Webb*		William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN+	W 45–0	8,501
October 13	2:00 p.m.	at The Citadel	No. 23	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	ESPN3	W 26–23	11,043
October 20	1:30 p.m.	at No. 12 Wofford	No. 21	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC	ESPN+	L 17–30	6,745
October 27	3:30 p.m.	Western Carolina	No. 25	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN+	W 45–43 ^3OT	7,121
November 3	3:00 p.m.	at Mercer	No. 22	Five Star Stadium Macon, GA	ESPN3	W 21–18	10,002
November 17	1:00 p.m.	Samford	No. 19	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	L 27–38	8,749
November 24	6:30 p.m.	at No. 8 Jacksonville State*	No. 22	JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	L 27–34	11,024
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[4]^[5]

^ This game was originally scheduled for September 15. It was moved up one day in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.

Game summaries

Mars Hill

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mountain Lions	7	0	0	0	7
Buccaneers	0	7	7	14	28

At Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	0	3	0	3
Volunteers	10	28	7	14	59

At VMI

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	7	6	7	7	27
Keydets	0	17	7	0	24

Furman

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	7	6	14	0	27
Buccaneers	3	3	7	16	29

Chattanooga

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mocs	0	0	0	14	14
Buccaneers	14	3	0	0	17

Gardner–Webb

	1	2	3	4	Total
Runnin' Bulldogs	0	0	0	0	0
Buccaneers	7	10	14	14	45

At The Citadel

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Buccaneers	3	6	7	10	26
Bulldogs	6	3	0	14	23

At Wofford

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Buccaneers	0	10	0	7	17
No. 12 Terriers	3	14	7	6	30

Western Carolina

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	3OT	Total
Catamounts	0	13	10	7	0	7	6	43
No. 25 Buccaneers	6	6	3	15	0	7	8	45

At Mercer

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Buccaneers	0	14	7	0	21
Bears	7	3	5	3	18

Samford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	10	7	14	38
No. 19 Buccaneers	10	14	3	0	27

FCS Playoffs

At Jacksonville State–First Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Buccaneers	10	10	0	7	27
No. 8 Gamecocks	7	3	10	14	34

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	23	21	25	22	19	19	22	22
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	RV	24	21	25	23	17	17	21	21

References

^ "ETSU football unveils 2018 schedule". ETSUBucs.com. January 16, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
^ "Media picks Samford to win 2018 SoCon football title".
^ "Football coaches select preseason all-conference teams, poll".
^ "East Tennessee State Buccaneers Schedule 2018". ESPN. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
^ "2018 Football". East Tennessee State University. Retrieved December 23, 2023.

[4] This game was originally scheduled for September 15. It was moved up one day in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.

[2018_ETSUFB-1] "ETSU football unveils 2018 schedule". ETSUBucs.com. January 16, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2018.

[2] "Media picks Samford to win 2018 SoCon football title".

[3] "Football coaches select preseason all-conference teams, poll".

[5] "East Tennessee State Buccaneers Schedule 2018". ESPN. Retrieved December 23, 2023.

[6] "2018 Football". East Tennessee State University. Retrieved December 23, 2023.

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East Tennessee State Buccaneers football
Venues	Memorial Center (1977–2003) Kermit Tipton Stadium (2015–2016) William B. Greene Jr. Stadium (2017–present)
Bowls & rivalries	1969 Grantland Rice Bowl
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004–2014 2015 2016 2017 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Southern Conference football champions
Pre-SEC	Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech & North Carolina (1922) Vanderbilt & Washington and Lee (1923) Alabama (1924) Alabama & Tulane (1925) Alabama (1926) Georgia Tech, Tennessee, & NC State (1927) Georgia Tech (1928) Tulane (1929) Alabama & Tulane (1930) Tulane (1931) Tennessee & Auburn & LSU (1932)
Pre-ACC	Duke (1933) Washington and Lee (1934) Duke (1935) Duke (1936) Maryland (1937) Duke (1938) Duke (1939) Clemson (1940) Duke (1941) William & Mary (1942) Duke (1943) Duke (1944) Duke (1945) North Carolina (1946) William & Mary (1947) Clemson (1948) North Carolina (1949) Washington and Lee (1950) Maryland & VMI (1951) Duke (1952)
Post-ACC	West Virginia (1953) West Virginia (1954) West Virginia (1955) West Virginia (1956) VMI (1957) West Virginia (1958) VMI (1959) VMI (1960) The Citadel (1961) VMI (1962) Virginia Tech (1963) West Virginia (1964) West Virginia (1965) East Carolina & William & Mary (1966) West Virginia (1967) Richmond (1968) Davidson & Richmond (1969) William & Mary (1970) Richmond (1971) East Carolina (1972) East Carolina (1973) VMI (1974) Richmond (1975) East Carolina (1976) Chattanooga & VMI (1977) Chattanooga & Furman (1978) Chattanooga (1979) Furman (1980) Furman (1981)
I-AA/FCS	Furman (1982) Furman (1983) Chattanooga (1984) Furman (1985) Appalachian State (1986) Appalachian State (1987) Furman & Marshall (1988) Furman (1989) Furman (1990) Appalachian State (1991) The Citadel (1992) Georgia Southern (1993) Marshall (1994) Appalachian State (1995) Marshall (1996) Georgia Southern (1997) Georgia Southern (1998) Appalachian State, Furman, & Georgia Southern (1999) Georgia Southern (2000) Furman & Georgia Southern (2001) Georgia Southern (2002) Wofford (2003) Furman & Georgia Southern (2004) Appalachian State (2005) Appalachian State (2006) Appalachian State & Wofford (2007) Appalachian State (2008) Appalachian State (2009) Appalachian State & Wofford (2010) Georgia Southern (2011) Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, & Wofford (2012) Chattanooga, Furman, & Samford (2013) Chattanooga (2014) Chattanooga & The Citadel (2015) The Citadel (2016) Wofford (2017) , Furman, & Wofford (2018) Wofford (2019) VMI (2020) East Tennessee State (2021) Samford (2022) Furman (2023) Mercer (2024)
National championships in bold