It’s time for another season on the gridiron for the Buccaneers as they take on the Appalachian State Mountaineers in the season opener at Boone, North Carolina, Aug. 31.
This season looks like a challenge for the Bucs, but head coach Randy Sanders is in high spirits for the team.
“We have a young team, with more freshmen than upperclassmen,” said Sanders.
In his second season as coach, Sanders hopes for a repeat successful year.
“We are a work in progress, but we still have the same goal as always and that is to win,” he said.
The Bucs are coming off an 8-4 season with a 6-2 record in the conference. Their season concluded in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision and a 34- 27 loss to Jacksonville State.
The Mountaineers are coming off a successful 11-2 season with a 7-1 record in conference play. They wrapped up their season with a Sun Belt Championship over Louisiana 30-19 and a New Orleans Bowl win over Middle Tennessee 45-13. The Mountaineers had success offensively outscoring their opponents by 30 to 40 points per game.
Last year, the Bucs took on the Tennessee Volunteers the second week of the season. Despite the 59-3 loss, the Bucs assembled a five-game winning streak. The Bucs also came away with a three-overtime win over Southern Conference rival Western Carolina 45-43.
This is a great first match up for the Bucs, being another NCAA Division I school. The Bucs will conclude their season against Vanderbilt. This opening game is a great opportunity for the Bucs to show what they have in store for the rest of the season.
“We want to win, and we want to play with no regrets and live with results,” says Sanders.
The Bucs start their regular season on the last day of August, and the season will conclude Nov. 23 with a game at Vanderbilt. The Bucs’ home opener is Sept. 7 against Shorter at 7:30 p.m. The Southern Conference opener is Sept. 14 at home against VMI at 7:30 p.m.
