The Bucs will be playing David once again this week, but this time Goliath will be in the form of the No. 1 ranked Georgia Southern Eagles.
Fresh off their victory over the Furman Paladins, the Bucs will need that kind of effort and a whole lot more against the Eagles.
“I’m proud of the way we played the last two games (victories over Citadel and Furman),” said ETSU Head Football Coach Paul Hamilton at the Tuesday media luncheon. “Those were games we needed to win.”
The Bucs will need quarterback Todd Wells, offensive player of the week, and linebacker Rahim El Amin, co-defensive player of the week, to step up once again and lead the team against the Eagles.
Wells had 401 yards of total offense against the Paladins, the second most is his career, and passed for 336 yards, the third most in his career. Wells is also currently ranked 10th nationally in total offense with 279.3 yards per game.
“Wells stepped up in the fourth quarter and made plays he needed to make to win the game,” Hamilton said. “I’m proud he was able to quarterback our team in such an important victory.”
For all that Wells did for the offense, El Amin did just as much for the defense.
El Amin had 12 tackles, including 10 solo, and caused three turnovers. He was also the one who forced the Paladins’ Louis Ivory to fumble the ball on the 1-yard line.
“We played well defensively,” Hamilton said. “The big stop on the goal line by Rahim El Amin was a great play.”
Hamilton is proud of his two players of the week.
“They are two of the best to put on Bucs head gear,” he said. “They’re two of the best to ever play for ETSU.”
As great a win as it was over Furman, the Bucs know it was just one win and the upcoming game at Georgia Southern is not going to be easy.
The Bucs will be looking to gain revenge for last season’s 55-6 loss to Georgia Southern, but the Eagles look to be as tough as they have been in recent years.
“The Georgia Southern team is as good as they have been in the past,” Hamilton said. “They’ve done whatever they’ve had to. They beat a great Appalachian State team.”
“They are very capable of winning the National Championship once again,” he said.
Don’t expect the Bucs to lay down against Georgia Southern. They have been working hard all year and hope to be playing their best football the remainder of the season, according to Hamilton.
“The team has continued to work hard to get better, and we’re enthused about the rest of the season,” he said.
“I do think we can get better.” Hamilton said, “We’re a pretty good team, but we can improve.”
The Eagles have won the last three meeting with the Bucs and are 3-1 at home versus ETSU.
“It’s going to take a very good football team to beat them, now or in the playoffs,” Hamilton said.
The Bucs hope to be in that very good this weekend and pull off another upset of a ranked team.
The kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Ga.

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