2019 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

The 2019 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represents East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season and are in the fourth year of their second stint as football members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They are led by second-year head coach Randy Sanders and play their home games at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium.

2019 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football
Conference	Southern Conference
2019 record	3–9 (1–7 SoCon)
Head coach	Randy Sanders (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Rader (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Billy Taylor (5th season)
Home stadium	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium (Capacity: 7,694)

2019 Southern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 16 Wofford $^		7	–	1					8	–	3
No. 21 Furman ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
Chattanooga		5	–	3					6	–	6
The Citadel		4	–	4					6	–	6
Samford		4	–	4					5	–	7
VMI		4	–	4					5	–	7
Mercer		3	–	5					4	–	8
Western Carolina		2	–	6					3	–	9
East Tennessee State		1	–	7					3	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Buccaneers finished the 2018 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 and coaches poll on July 22, 2019. The Buccaneers were picked to finish in third place in both polls.[1][2]

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Wofford	253 (21)
2	Furman	229 (6)
3	East Tennessee State	187 (2)
4	Mercer	146
5	Chattanooga	134
6	Samford	125
7	The Citadel	111
8	Western Carolina	88
9	VMI	32

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Wofford	63 (7)
2	Furman	55 (1)
3	East Tennessee State	44 (1)
4	Chattanooga	40
5	Mercer	34
6	Samford	33
7	The Citadel	22
8	Western Carolina	21
9	VMI	12

Preseason All-SoCon Teams

The Buccaneers placed seven players on the preseason all-SoCon teams.[2]

Offense 1st team Quay Holmes – RB 2nd team Ben Blackmon – OL Tre'mond Shorts – OL

Defense 1st team Jason Maduafokwa – DL Nasir Player – DL Tyree Robinson – DB 2nd team Jeremy Lewis – DB

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	3:30 p.m.	at Appalachian State*	Kidd Brewer Stadium Boone, NC	ESPN+	L 7–42	25,147
September 7	7:30 p.m.	Shorter*	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN+	W 48–10	8,615
September 14	7:30 p.m.	VMI	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN+	L 24–31 ^OT	9,150
September 21	7:30 p.m.	Austin Peay*	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN+	W 20–14	9,350
September 28	1:00 p.m.	at No. 16 Furman	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	Nexstar/ESPN+	L 10–17	5,031
October 5	3:30 p.m.	Wofford	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	L 17–35	8,242
October 17	7:00 p.m.	at Chattanooga	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	ESPN+	L 13–16	7,124
October 26	1:00 p.m.	at Samford	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	L 17–24	1,521
November 2	3:30 p.m.	The Citadel	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	Nexstar/ESPN+	L 27–31	8,674
November 9	3:30 p.m.	at Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	Nexstar/ESPN+	L 20–23 ^OT	7,681
November 16	1:00 p.m.	Mercer	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	W 38–33	7,121
November 23	2:30 p.m.	at Vanderbilt*	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN	SEC Alt.	L 0–38	19,863
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from NCAA Division I FCS STATS poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

[3][4]

Game summaries

at Appalachian State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	0	7	0	7
Mountaineers	7	7	14	14	42

Shorter

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawks	0	3	0	7	10
Buccaneers	17	8	14	7	46

VMI

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Keydets	0	7	7	10	7	31
Buccaneers	0	7	3	14	0	24

Austin Peay

	1	2	3	4	Total
Governors	7	7	0	0	14
Buccaneers	3	7	0	10	20

at Furman

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	7	3	0	10
No. 16 Paladins	7	3	0	7	17

Wofford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Terriers	7	21	0	7	35
Buccaneers	0	3	7	7	17

at Chattanooga

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	13	0	0	13
Mocs	7	0	6	3	16

at Samford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	14	0	3	17
Bulldogs	7	0	10	7	24

The Citadel

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	3	7	14	31
Buccaneers	10	3	7	7	27

at Western Carolina

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Buccaneers	3	0	7	7	3	20
Catamounts	3	7	0	7	6	23

Mercer

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	7	6	13	33
Buccaneers	10	21	0	7	38

at Vanderbilt

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	0	0	0	0
Commodores	7	7	17	7	38

References

1. "SoCon Media Tab Wofford Preseason Favorite". July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
2. "Football Coaches Select Preseason Teams, Poll". July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
3. "2019 ETSU Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
4. "Football | Schedule | Official Site of East Tennessee State Athletics". ETSUBucs.com. Retrieved August 17, 2019.