ETSU head football coach Paul Hamilton said that Saturday’s upset of Georgia Southern “has to go down as one of the greatest nights in ETSU athletics.” The night also must qualify as one of the quickest reversals of public perception.
Entering as an offensively-struggling, 2-4 team in the midst of back-to-back games versus the Southern Conference’s two main powers, Furman and GSU, a black cloud of negativity had poised itself directly over the team’s heads.
“This team has been through so many things,” Hamilton said. “It would have been so easy for us to quit.”
Yet no head had been positioned more squarely as a lightning rod for criticism than that of quarterback Matt Wilhjelm.
With memories of Southern Conference all-time total offense leader Todd Wells fresh on their minds, a widening array of voices, from fans to media, wanted to see Wilhjelm benched in favor of second-option Jatavis Sanders. Though the fifth-year senior from Science Hill High School didn’t open any eyes with his numbers (6-for-18 passing for 104 yards and 35 yards rushing), he was still able to quarterback ETSU to a victory over Georgia Southern, a stunt even Wells couldn’t pull.
“I’m so proud of Matt Wilhjelm and happy for him,” Hamilton said.
For his part, Wilhjelm gave credit to “tons of support from my teammates” for his success.
One teammate from whom Wilhjelm said he gets that support is Sanders. “A lot of credit goes to him,” the senior said of his understudy.
Sanders entered the game in the second quarter for a single drive, during which he did not attempt a single pass and, on third and four from his team’s own 25-yard line, fumbled and turned the ball over to the Eagles, who converted that possession into three points. After that one ill-fated drive, Wiljhelm was back in for good.
Despite the grounds for a rift between the two, Wilhjelm maintained none has developed.
“He and I get along great,” he said. “Jatavis is a great quarterback.”
The home-grown QB, in fact, said he was impervious to the external criticism of late.”To be honest, I haven’t paid a bit of attention to it,” he said.
“Nobody puts on the blue and the gold and wants to (win) any more than Matt Wilhjelm,” Hamilton said.
As if to dispell any notions that the starting quarterback’s job was in any way ill-gotten, Hamilton added, “Matt Wilhjelm has earned every thing that he has been given.”
Meanwhile, preseason all-conference wide receiver Cecil Moore, who earlier last week expressed a desire to see more of the ball, seemed humbly content after catching four passes for 88 yards in the stunning upset.
“I’m just glad that Matt and the coach have confidence in me,” he said.
Indeed, Saturday night gave the Bucs plenty of reasons to declare that all is well within the Mini-Dome.
“We didn’t beat Podunk U. tonight,” Hamilton said after toppling Division I-AA’s No. 1. “I think we took a step in the right direction.

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