JOHNSON CITY — Playing a game on Halloween for the inside track at the Southern Conference’s at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, East Tennessee State gave up the ghost.
Falling 24-17 to Tennessee Tech on Saturday at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium, ETSU (6-3, 4-1) surrendered sole possession of first place in the Southern Conference. It now looks like a three-team race with Tennessee Tech (8-1, 5-1) and Mercer (7-2, 4-1). Chattanooga (6-3, 4-1) also is in the conversation, although the Mocs would need some help.
The Bucs spotted Tennessee Tech a 7-0 lead, scored 17 straight points, and then gave up 17 unanswered down the stretch.
Playing in front of an announced crowd of 9,437 on homecoming, ETSU coach Will Healy described it as an opportunity that slipped away.
He’s not wrong. Tennessee Tech certainly helped the Bucs, committing 14 penalties for 126 yards. ETSU was flagged five times, but one of those proved devastating. At the end of an 18-yard pass play where Tennessee Tech successfully converted on second and long, Bucs defensive back Jivon Oggs slammed Tech receiver Eric Weatherly to the ground. Both players appeared to be out of bounds at the time.
Oggs rightfully received a personal foul flag, which tacked on 15 more yards and gave Tennessee Tech a first down at the Bucs’ 20 yard line. The Golden Eagles scored the decisive TD a few plays later, on a 1-yard sneak by 6-8 quarterback Jax Leatherwood.
“Yeah, there was some confusion,” Healy said. “You’re not allowed to body slam a guy whether you hear a whistle or not. And you know, it’s unacceptable in a pressure situation. Oggs has made some unbelievable plays for us for the last two years. Truly as a coach, you go back to it and say, ‘Did I do a good enough job teaching him?’ Because it seemed to be some confusion on was it a legal tackle or not.”
The personal foul and subsequent TD would not have loomed as large in the outcome had ETSU found more success offensively in the second half. The Bucs’ four drives in the third and fourth quarters ended on a missed field goal, three punts, and a turnover on downs on ETSU’s last possession of the game. Although the total offense numbers stayed close throughout, and finished close, with Tech holding a slim 328-319 advantage, the Golden Eagles had the clear advantage on the scoreboard after halftime, scoring 10 points while blanking the Bucs.
It was the first scoreless half of the season for ETSU since the first half of a 35-3 loss to North Carolina.
TJ Peyton carried the load for the Bucs offense. He ran the ball 18 times for 123 yards, his fifth triple-digit game of the season and third consecutive. That included a 45-yard touchdown run.
“Incredible person, tough as crap,” Healy said. “I love watching his success. Very, very proud of him.”
Peyton said he goes into each game treating it as if it’s his last.
“I don’t care about who’s in front of me. I just run the ball.” Peyton said.
Throwing the ball was a bit more tricky against the Golden Eagles. Mason Mims had arguably his least efficient game of the season, make 15 of 32 passes for 114 yards without a touchdown. Mims didn’t have a completion of more than 20 yards, setting season lows for completion percentage (46.9%) and yardage.
Mims was requested for the postgame press conference but not made available.
“I felt like we were just a touch off,” Healy said. “I think we’re more talented on the perimeter to win some of those one on one matches. I think they’re really good in their secondary. I expected us to win one of more one-on-one matchups and we didn’t.”
Tennessee Tech moves into first place in the Southern Conference with this result. ETSU could still claim the automatic SoCon bid to the playoffs, or be in the mix for an at-large bid. But not if the Bucs don’t take care of business next week at home against Samford.
“Not let this one game affect the rest of the three games we’ve got this season because you know, we’ve still got a shot and we’re still going to make the playoffs,” Peyton said. “Can’t let Tennessee Tech beat us three more time.”
Defensive lineman Brenden LeBlanc, who led the Bucs in tackles Saturday with six stops and is considered maybe the most influential leader in the locker room, agreed.
“You lose this one, it doesn’t kill you.,” LeBlanc said. “So the good thing about it is we have three more that are going to be just like this. This is a learning moment and this is something we need. We need adversity. We had it early on in the year. There’s no good team in America without adversity.
“The next three are going to be dog fights,” LeBlanc added. “But we’re getting our experience and hopefully we won’t be as wide eyed as a team.”
Extra Points
ETSU wore special Halloween-themed helmets for the game that ended up getting a ton of attention. One of the helmets was featured on ESPN “College GameDay” and other major sites such as CBS Sports and Yahoo also gave some attention to the helmet designs, which were created at least in part by sixth-year senior tight end and Kingsport native Charlie Browder. … Jason Albritton contributed 76 rushing yards including a touchdown for the Bucs. In honor of Halloween, Albritton and the offensive line busted out a quick “Thriller” dance in celebration. … Suderian Harrison led the Bucs with five receptions for 39 yards. … There were no turnovers in the game. … Josiha Mason and Samuel Iroh had disruptive days on the defensive line. Mason finished with two tackles and three quarterback hurries, while Iroh had a sack, three total tackles, and forced a fumble. … Tennessee Tech QB Jax Leatherwood completed 18 of 28 passes for 218 yards. He had less than 100 yards passing at halftime. .. Game captains for the Bucs included LeBlanc, Charlie Browder, Sam Browder, and Charles Woodard.