2018 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

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.

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
2018 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 (Capacity: 7,694)

2018 Southern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 13 Wofford +^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 22 East Tennessee State +^		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 FCS Poll

Previous season

The Buccaneers finished the 2017 season 4–7, 2–6 in SoCon play to finish in eighth place.

On December 8, head coach Carl Torbush announced his retirement.[2] He finished at ETSU with a three-year record of 11–22.

Preseason

Preseason media poll

The SoCon released their preseason media poll on July 25, 2018, with the Buccaneers predicted to finish in eighth place.[3] The same day the coaches released their preseason poll with the Buccaneers also predicted to finish in eighth place.[4]

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[lower-alpha 1]	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 (FCS Playoffs 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

• Source:[1]

1. This game was originally schedule 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.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	RV	23	21	25	22	19	19	22	22
Coaches	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	24	21	25	23	17	17	21	21

References

1. "ETSU football unveils 2018 schedule". ETSUBucs.com. January 16, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
2. "Torbush announces retirement as ETSU head football coach".
3. "Media picks Samford to win 2018 SoCon football title".
4. "Football coaches select preseason all-conference teams, poll".