The Bucs opened up their football season last Thursday with a 28-21 loss at Eastern Michigan University.
“I think we had control over the game and let it get away from us,” Bucs head coach Paul Hamilton said.
With 1:20 remaining in the first quarter, the Bucs defense knocked down EMU starting quarterback Jeff Crooks, taking him out of the game and bringing in second string quarterback Chinedu Okoro.
Following the replacement, Okoro hit EMU running back Anthony Sherrell for a 68-yard touchdown.
Linebacker Scott Brumett commented that Okoro was more mobile than starting quarterback Jeff Crooks
Brumett shined for the Bucs with five tackles, a touchdown and an interception.
“The offense played well but we missed some tackles and need to do a better job this week,” he said.
The Bucs blazed the field during the second half and lead the game 21-14 in the third quarter. However, EMU regained the lead during the fourth quarter with 7:49 left, and the Bucs did not overcome the defecit.
“Carl Meadows was in a tough environment and put us in the position to win in the end,” Hamilton said of the red-shirt freshman quarterback.
Senior running back Gaven Varner tied a school record with 37 carries and a career-high 165 rushing yards.
“I want Gaven to be more involved in the throwing game,” Hamilton said.
“He is a strong powerful back.”
The season opening loss to Eastern Michigan was a disappointment, but junior linebacker Scott Brumett worked hard to stifle EMU’s offense.
Brumett highlighted the competition with a 70-yard return on an interception, scoring the Bucs’ first touchdown of the game.
The last time an interception was returned against the Bucs for a touchdown came in 2000 when Georgia Southern’s Lavar Rainey returned one 42 yards.
“We have to score more than 21 points in a game and be a more productive offense,” Brumett said.
The Bucs will play their home opener this Thursday when they host the Concord Mountain Lions at 7 p.m.
This match-up is only the second time the teams have squared off.
The last time the teams met was in 1923, when the Mountain Lions handed the Bucs a 32-0 loss.
Thursday’s game is an out-of-conference game, as Concord’s Mountain Lions are members of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The Bucs have had a lot of success during home openers in the past, going 17-7 since joining the Southern Conference in 1979.
ETSU lost its last home opener in 1991, 31-6, to Samford.
Bucs fans are invited to meet in parking lot on the west side of Memorial Center at 5 p.m., Thursday for a pre-game party.
The Sophisticated Otter will also host a pre-game rally at 6 p.m., as well as a post-game gathering.
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