Tag: East Tennessee State

Sep 6, 2025; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Star Thomas (9) runs with the ball against East Tennessee State Buccaneers defensive back Jivon Oggs (6) during the second quarter at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

No. 22 Tennessee sets program scoring record in win vs. East Tennessee State

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Joey Aguilar passed for 288 yards and two touchdowns as No. 22 Tennessee set a single-game program scoring record in a 72-17 win over visiting East Tennessee State on Saturday at Knoxville, Tennessee.

Aguilar, in his Neyland Stadium debut, played the first half and completed 23 of 31 passes.

Tennessee (2-0) finished with 717 yards to 216 yards for ETSU (1-1).

Chris Brazzell II caught nine passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns for Tennessee, while Mike Matthews had six catches for 111 yards and one score.

Star Thomas carried 12 times for 69 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, scoring on runs of 2, 2 and 7 yards.

The Volunteers bullied their way to a 48-7 halftime lead, outgaining the Buccaneers 427 to 72 yards.

Cade McNamara completed 11-of-18 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown for the FCS Buccaneers, members of the Southern Conference.

Tennessee went 82 yards on the game’s opening drive. DeSean Bishop started it off with a 50-yard run before Aguilar eventually passed to Brazzell for a 21-yard touchdown.

On the ensuing drive, McNamara hit Ephraim Floyd for 45 yards to the Tennessee 30, but the play was nullified by a penalty.

Later in the quarter, Boo Carter returned a punt 34 yards to the Buccaneer 27. Thomas soon carried the ball three straight times, scoring from the 2-yard line to build the lead to 17-0.

Carter later returned another punt 40 yards to the five. Peyton Lewis scored from the 1-yard line to give Tennessee a 24-0 lead with 46 seconds left in the quarter.

Tennessee outgained ETSU 205-7 in the quarter.

The Volunteers started their next drive on their 42. Thomas had a 19-yard run to the 7-yard line and scored from the 2.

Late in the second quarter, Aguilar found Matthews on a 53-yard bomb to give the Volunteers a 41-0 lead.

The Buccaneers scored just before halftime after a bad snap resulted in a Tennessee turnover. On the next play, Taharin Sudderth took a shovel pass and scored from the 5-yard line with 1:55 left.

Aguilar quickly passed the Volunteers down the field before a seven-yard Thomas run made it 48-7 with 22 seconds remaining.

Jake Merklinger tossed a pair of touchdown passes, and Max Gilbert hit a career-long 53-yard field goal for Tennessee in the second half.

–Field Level Media

Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar (6) during the Aflac Kickoff Game between the Volunteers and Syracuse held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., on August 30, 2025.

No. 22 Tennessee missing key pieces as East Tenneseee St. visits

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel just wants his team to get better when the No. 22 Volunteers host East Tennessee State on Saturday.

The Volunteers (1-0) are coming off a 45-26 win over Syracuse last Saturday.

“We had a bunch of yards and a bunch of points so now we just need to work on constant growth,” Heupel said Monday. “We are all chasing perfection, but we know that is probably not going to happen. So we just need to take a jump by unit and by individuals.”

The Volunteers were led by senior quarterback Joey Aguilar who threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns.

“Me personally, as an athlete, I thought I could have done better,” Aguilar said. “Our offensive line kept me clean and did a great job with the run game.”

Senior running back Star Thomas gained 92 yards on 12 carries and Brayton Staley led the team in receiving with four catches for 95 yards and a touchdown.

Heupel was a little concerned by his defense, which came out flat in the second half and ended up giving up 377 yards to the Orange.

Tennessee led 38-14 in the third quarter, however, so many of those yards came with the game decided.

The Volunteers lost starting cornerback Rickey Gibson III to an arm injury in the second quarter. The defense was already playing without top cornerback Jermod McCoy, who tore his ACL in January. Tennessee is hoping he will be back later this month.

Heupel has not specified the nature of Gibson’s arm injury, just that he will miss “extended time.”

Gibson had 32 tackles, five pass breakups and a forced fumble last season.

Tennessee will lean on Colorado transfer Colton Hood, who had a fumble recovery for a touchdown and three pass breakups in the opener, as well as freshman Ty Redmond and others at cornerback.

Volunteers defensive tackle Jaxson Moi, who started the Syracuse game, will miss the contest with a left arm injury, but Heupel said that he’s expected back soon.

East Tennessee State (1-0) is coming off a solid opener, a 45-17 win over Murray State last Saturday.

The Buccaneers scored five rushing touchdowns and finished with 392 yards on the ground and 572 total yards.

Senior Devontae Houston led the way with 128 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns.

“I’m proud of the way we blocked on the perimeter,” said Buccaneers coach Will Healy. “If we are going to run as much as we do, we have to have receivers who can block.”

Senior quarterback Cade McNamara, who played at Michigan and Iowa before joining East Tennessee State this season, completed 12 of 17 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown.

The defense held Murray State to 34 yards rushing.

Healy is well aware that the Volunteers will be a whole different story.

“It is an honor to go play there,” said Healy, the Buccaneers’ third coach in as many seasons. “They are one of the top teams with top level talent. We will be playing in front of 107,000 people in a national TV game. It is great exposure for our program. So the players know they must perform for our program.”

-Field Level Media

Vanderbilt quarterback Ken Seals (8) throws a pass against ETSU during the second quarter of the game at Vanderbilt Stadium Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021 in Nashville, Tenn. Nas Vandy Etsu 021

East Tennessee State rips big favorite Vanderbilt, 23-3

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The East Tennessee State Buccaneers, listed as 22-point underdogs, shocked the host Vanderbilt Commodores, 23-3, in Nashville on Saturday night.

East Tennessee State (1-0) won with its defense, including a 27-yard fumble recovery and a return for a touchdown by linebacker Stephen Scott.

As for the Bucs’ offense, Tyler Riddell threw a touchdown pass to Malik Murray, Tyler Keltner was perfect on three field goals and two extra points, and running back Quay Holmes ran 23 times for 149 yards, leading to the nonconference upset.

Riddell, who is 3-1 in his career as a starter, completed 13-of-22 passes for 135 yards, with zero interceptions.

Vanderbilt (0-1), which lost its 11th straight game, was held to one field goal from Joseph Bulovas in a disappointing debut for new Commodores coach Clark Lea.

Ken Seals, Vandy’s starting quarterback, completed 20-of-34 passes for 195 yards, with one interception and one lost fumble.

The last time Vandy won a game was in 2019, beating this same East Tennessee State program, 38-0.

On Saturday, Vanderbilt got on the board first, getting a 51-yard field goal from Bulovas with 4:15 left in the first quarter. The drive was set up by Seals’ 31-yard pass to wide receiver Chris Pierce. Vanderbilt reached the Bucs’ 18-yard line on second down and four, but the drive stalled due to a false start, a Colton Lakes sack and an incompletion.

For Bulovas, though, it was atonement as he had been Alabama’s starting kicker before getting benched for all of 2020. This followed a missed 30-yard kick against Auburn in 2019.

Meanwhile, the Bucs responded to Bulovas’ boot with a nine-play, 90-yard drive, taking a 7-3 lead on Riddell’s five-yard TD toss to Murray with 7:24 left in the second quarter.

Keltner’s 41-yard field goal with 2:24 left in the second quarter helped the Bucs take a 10-3 lead into halftime.

The Bucs put together another impressive drive in the third quarter, going 68 yards on 10 plays before settling for Keltner’s 25-yard field goal.

With 9:47 left in the fourth quarter, Seals dropped back but lost the ball, leading to Scott’s game-sealing touchdown.

Keltner then added a 34-yard field goal with 3:29 left to close the scoring.

–Field Level Media

Vanderbilt quarterback Ken Seals (8) throws a pass during the third quarter against Tennessee at Vanderbilt Stadium Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020 in Nashville, Tenn. Gw56465

Hoping for first win since 2019, Vanderbilt meets familiar foe

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The host Vanderbilt Commodores, intent on ending a 10-game losing streak, are set to open their 2021 season on Saturday night against the East Tennessee State Buccaneers.

Vanderbilt is a 22-point favorite.

Ironically, the last time Vandy won a game was against East Tennessee State — on Nov. 23, 2019.

Ex-Vandy fullback Clark Lea is the new Commodores coach, and he has zero experience at the top job. For the past three years, he was Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator.

“I’m definitely pulling from all the learning I’ve done in my career,” said Lea, a 38-year-old Nashville native, “and also relying on instinct and on the pulse of the team, too.”

Lea inherits a team that is coming off the first winless season (0-9) in program history. The Vandy defense last year was often whipped at the point of attack, which is why the Commodores allowed an average of 191 rushing yards per game.

In addition, Vandy — which allowed 37.3 points per game — couldn’t consistently overload the box because the Commodores lacked back-end speed to stop play-action passes.

Offensively, the picture is brighter. Sophomore quarterback Ken Seals broke several Vandy freshman records. At running back, Temple transfer Re’Mahn Davis rushed for 936 yards and a 4.8 average with the Owls in 2019. Davis also had a 46-yard TD run in Vandy’s spring game this past April.

Senior wide receiver Cam Johnson may be the most talented player on Vandy’s team, and Ben Bresnahan is among the SEC’s best tight ends.

Meanwhile, East Tennessee State coach Randy Sanders announced on Monday that Tyler Riddell will be the starting quarterback.

This will be Riddell’s fourth career start. So far, the third-year collegian is 2-1 as a starter.

“I expect (Riddell) to play well on Saturday,” Sanders said. “Tyler gives us the best chance to win.”

Riddell was 2-1 as a starter this spring, and, as a team, the Bucs went 3-2.

During the spring, Riddell completed 50-of-82 passes for 575 yards and three touchdowns. His best performance came in a 28-21 win over The Citadel as Riddell threw two TD passes.

In that 2019 Bucs-Commodores game, Vandy prevailed 38-0 as Riddell came off the bench to complete just 1 of 5 passes for 18 yards.

–Field Level Media