East Tennessee State 2003 Buccaneer Football Game #10 East Tennessee State Buccaneers (3-6, 0-5 Socon) at No
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EAST TENNESSEE STATE 2003 BUCCANEER FOOTBALL GAME #10 EAST TENNESSEE STATE BUCCANEERS (3-6, 0-5 SOCON) AT NO. 5 WOFFORD TERRIERS (8-1, 6-0 SOCON) SATURDAY, NOV. 8, 2003 • 1:30 P.M. EST • GIBBS STADIUM (13,000) • SPARTANBURG, S.C. ETSU-Wofford Notes: This will be the 24th meeting between the Bucs and Terriers, with ETSU SCHEDULE AND RESULTS holding a 13-10 advantage in the series ... Wofford has won four straight in the series, including a 39-10 victory last season from Memorial Center ... This will be the final game in a brutal three- EAST TENNESSEE STATE (3-6, 0-5 SOCON) game stretch for the Bucs, having fallen to No. 18 Furman 30-10 on Oct. 25 and Georgia Southern, 34-22 last Saturday ... The Terriers have won eight-consecutive games after falling to Date Opponent Time/Score Air Force in the season opener ... Wofford has clinched at least a share of the Southern Confer- A 28 at Eastern Michigan L, 28-21 ence Championship, and can clinch the outright championship and a automatic playoff spot with S 4 CONCORD COLLEGE W, 44-0 a victory over the Bucs ... Wofford leads the conference in scoring offense (30.4 ppg) and is S 11 at UT-Martin W, 14-7 (OT) second in scoring defense (15.1 ppg) ... ETSU has dropped 11 consecutive Southern Conference S 20 at Elon* L, 14-0 games, eight straight on the road ... The Bucs are led on offense by senior tailback Gaven S 27 WESTERN CAROLINA* L, 28-21 Varner, senior slotback Andrew Nuckolls and sophomore wideout Brian Matthews and a trio O 4 at Appalachian St.* (TFN) L, 21-7 of redshirt freshman quarterbacks Scott Butler, Carl Meadows and Michael George ... Mead- O 18 LIBERTY (HC) W, 33-23 ows is a classic drop-back passer, while Butler and George add another dimension to the Bucca- O 25 at Furman* L, 30-10 neer offense, with the ability to throw the ball as well a s run ... Varner has been a workhorse at N 1 GEORGIA SOUTHERN* L, 34-22 tailback, carrying the ball 206 times through the first nine games for 849 yards and five touch- N 8 at Wofford* 1:30 p.m. downs ... Nuckolls leads the squad with 20 receptions, 252 receiving yards and four touchdowns N 15 CHATTANOOGA* 1 p.m. ... He also is second on the team in rushing, with 134 yards rushing on just 15 carries ... N 22 THE CITADEL* 1 p.m. Matthews has two receiving TD’s and also has 15 catches for 185 yards ... On the defensive side of the ball, redshirt freshman linebacker Mike Cullen leads the team with 100 tackles, senior linebacker Matt Palmer is second with 73 while senior nose tackle Brandon Calton ranks third WOFFORD (8-1, 6-0 SOCON) with 57 ... Junior safety Gerald Sensabaugh is just behind Calton, sitting in fourth with 56 ... Calton and Palmer are tied for the team lead with 3.5 sacks, while senior defensive end Travis Date Opponent Time/Score Williams has 2.5 ... Calton also has 11 tackles for a loss, two forced fumbles and a blocked extra A 30 at Air Force L, 49-0 point ... Palmer leads the Southern Conference with 18.5 tackles for a loss after recording five S 6 SOUTH CAROLINA STATE W, 35-13 against Furman on Oct. 25 ... Special teams has also been a bright spot for the Bucs so far this S 20 GEORGIA SOUTHERN* W, 20-14 season, with junior kicker Jonathan Godfrey hitting field goals of 47, 48 and 51 yards and S 27 CATAWBA W, 28-3 senior punter Aaron Bass accumulating a 43.0-yard average on 56 punts. O 4 at Chattanooga* W, 42-14 O 11 ELON* W, 45-7 The Last Time Out O 18 at Western Carolina* W, 38-6 JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 1, 2003) – Georgia Southern scored 10 unanswered points in the O 25 APPALACHIAN STATE* W, 24-14 third quarter then withstood a furious rally late in the game by East Tennessee State, holding on N 1 at The Citadel* W, 42-16 to defeat the Bucs 34-22 Saturday afternoon in Southern Conference football action from N 8 EAST TENNESSEE ST.* 1:30 p.m. Memorial Center in Johnson City, Tenn. ... The Georgia Southern defense was dominant, forcing N 15 at Furman* 2 p.m. turnovers on each of ETSU’s first two possessions that led to a 10-0 Eagle lead midway through the first quarter ... On the opening drive of the game, GSU linebacker David Willingham inter- Home games in CAPS cepted ETSU starting quarterback Scott Butler leading to a field goal, while cornerback Terence *-Conference game McBride picked off a Butler pass deep in Eagle territory and returned it 91 yards for a touch- TFN-The Football Network Broadcast down ... The Bucs got back in the game on their next possession, as they cut the GSU lead to 10- 7 after a six-yard touchdown run by senior tailback Gaven Varner ... The scoring drive was led by redshirt freshman quarterback Michael George who sparked the ETSU offense as he saw the MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACTS first game action of his collegiate career ... The Buccaneer defense held Georgia Southern on their next possession, forcing a punt ... Junior safety Gerald Sensabaugh blocked the punt, EAST T ENNESSEE ST. ....... Matthew Snellings giving the Bucs the ball on the 35-yard line of the Eagles ... It was the first of three blocked punts Phone: ..................... (423) 439-5263 of the game for Sensabaugh, tying a NCAA Division I-AA record set by Ben Duhon of McNeese Fax: ......................... (423) 439-6138 State in 1998 and by Brandon Tinson of Colgate during the 2000 season ... The Bucs capitalized e-mail: [email protected] on the favorable field position, as junior kicker Jonathan Godfrey nailed a 47-yard field goal to tie the score, 10-10, with 12:36 remaining in the first half ... The score did not stay tied for long, WOFFORD ......................... Mark Cohen as Eagle star fullback Jermaine Austin dashed for a 78-yard touchdown on the second play of the Phone: ..................... (864) 597-4093 next drive to give GSU a 17-10 advantage ... Georgia Southern nearly scored again near the end Fax: ......................... (864) 597-4129 of the first half, but senior safety Montreal Harkley drilled Eagle wide receiver Teddy Craft e-mail: ............ [email protected] after a reception at the Buccaneer 12, forcing a fumble that was recovered by senior line- backer Matt Palmer and returned 29 yards ... Georgia Southern began the second half just like EAST TENNESSEE S TATE FOOTBALL GAME NOTES • 1 MEDIA INFORMATION A QUICK LOOK AT THIS AFTERNOON’S MATCHUP Teams ETSU Athletic Media Relations East Tennessee State ............................................... 3-6, 0-5 Southern Conference East Tennessee State’s athletic media relations office is Wofford ..................................................................... 8-1, 6-0 Southern Conference available to assist members of the media with their ques- tions and requests about Buccaneer football. Contact Coaches Assiatant Director of Athletic Media Relations Matthew East Tennessee State Snellings with any questions about the Bucs. Paul Hamilton (Appalachian State, ‘81) 7th Year at ETSU ..................................................................................... 36-40 (.473) Overall Record ....................................................................................... 36-40 (.473) Matthew Snellings, Asst. SID ........ (423) 439-5263 (W) Wofford (Football Contact) ...................... (423) 232-0466 (H) Mike Ayers (Georgetown-Ky., ‘81) Michael White, SID .................... (423) 439-4220 (W) 16th season at Wofford ...................................................................... 98-76-1 (.563) Luke LeNoble, Intern ................ (423) 439-5612 (W) Overall Record ................................................................................. 109-97-2 (.529) Lisa Otradovec, Intern ............... (423) 439-8212 (W) Media Relations Fax ........................ (423) 439-6138 Series Record: Wofford leads 13-10. 1957 N/A L 18-13 1986 H W 52-3 1958 N/A W 24-20 1987 A W 10-6 1959 N/A W 18-8 1988 H W 21-7 East Tennessee State on the Internet 1960 N/A L 21-13 1990 H L 64-46 Get the most recent information on the Buccaneers, in- 1961 N/A L 33-26 1997 A W 31-28 cluding updated statistics, on the athletic department 1962 N/A W 29-14 1998 H W 45-24 website: www.etsubucs.com. Live game audio will also be 1963 A W 32-20 1999 A L 38-14 available on the website for the 2003 season. 1964 N/A W 14-0 2000 H L 35-31 1965 N/A W 20-6 2001 A L 24-3 Tune In To The Buccaneers 1966 H W 42-6 2002 H L 39-10 1980 H L 16-9 Buccaneer fans can follow ETSU football with Jay Sandos 1981 A W 34-8 calling the play-by-play on WJCW (AM 910-Johnson City), 1982 H L 34-20 which serves as the Buccaneer flagship station. Former Buccaneer quarterback Matt Wilhjelm provides the color ETSU’s Record Southern Conference games (since 1979) ........................................................ 66-111 commentary. Other members of the Bucs’ radio network Southern Conference road games (since 1979) ................................................. 28-61 include: All road games (since 1979) ............................................................................... 39-101 WKIN-AM (1320 Kingsport, Tenn.) Southern Conference games under Hamilton ...................................................... 22-31 WCSK-FM (90.3 Kingsport, Tenn.) Southern Conference road games under Hamilton ................................................ 9-18 WRGS-AM (1370 Rogersville, Tenn.) All road games under Hamilton ............................................................................. 13-26 WSWV-AM and FM (1570 and 105.5 in Pennington Gap, Va.) WNRG-AM (940 in Grundy, Va.) they did the first, running the football and capitalizing on a Buccaneer turnover to WMJD-FM (97.7 in Grundy, Va.) score 10 quick points ... Austin scored his second touchdown of the afternoon with 8:42 WCRR-AM (660 in Rural Retreat, Va.) remaining in the third quarter on a drive that consisted of 13 plays, 12 of those running plays ..