Sometimes, the kicking game gives you a break. And sometimes, the kicking game breaks you.
That was the state of affairs for East Tennessee State in Saturday’s 35-27 win over West Georgia.
First, the good:
- ETSU (2-2) had a textbook coffin corner punt that the coverage team downed at the West Georgia 1, setting up a high-pressure possession that ended with the pick six by Mike Jenkins, which put the Bucs ahead for good.
- ETSU averaged 46.8 yards on six punts, with three that reaped 50 or more yards and two downed inside the 20.
Now, the bad:
- West Georgia (0-4) +booted a directional, kinda-sorta offsides kickoff after its initial touchdown went right back to the Wolves when it took a weird bounce and sailed over the shoulder of ETSU Khristian Means, who really had no shot at grabbing the ball given the odd physics of the play.
- ETSU had a punt partially blocked in the fourth quarter.
- The Bucs also committed multiple penalties on punt returns.
“I take the kickoff that they recovered as a turnover,” Bucs coach Will Healy said in his postgame press conference. “So, I mean, they stole the possession, Right. I think we’ve got to clean some stuff up on the special teams side of it, but … we didn’t turn the ball over on offense and, you know, and defensively, the pick six by Mike was great.”
Healy also praised the work of punter Luke Stewart, who joined the program through the transfer portal this past offseason from junior college. Stewart is averaging 43.9 yards per punt through four games with four downed inside the 20.
“Luke’s been really good,” Healy said, adding, “And I don’t want to be the negative guy in any way, but our sky kicks were incredible. We’ve got to understand there at the end of the game, they’re going to come after it and we’ve got to get the ball off.”
Protection racket
ETSU had only allowed two sacks through three games but gave up three to the Wolves, all in the second half.
“We knew coming in, that they were going to bring a lot of pressure,” starting QB Mason Mims said. “They do a bunch of different stuff, so, I mean, it’s going to happen sometimes. It’s part of the game, but I feel like they did a great job just being able to get back there and just scheming up different pressures against us.”
“I thought their plan was really good,” Healy said. “Blitzes, take away the quick game stuff, make that freshman quarterback beat you, make the offensive line protect. … And so we;ve got to have answers for that because this is a copycat game. And the same stuff that gave us problems today we’re going to see again for the next eight weeks.”
Grind it out
ETSU’s first touchdown drive was one for the books: an 18-play drive that covered 80 yards and took more than seven minutes off of the game clock. Of those 18 plays, 16 were runs.
“I’d rather have drives like that than just one play, touchdown,” Mims said. “Just knowing you can go out there and impose your will in the defense. It’s a great feeling to know you can go out there and just run the ball whenever you want, throw the ball whenever you want.”
‘Show me what you got’
West Georgia came in averaging just over 200 yards a game and having scored 17 total points through three games, but put up quite the fight against the Bucs. A more comfortable win in the final non-conference game on the schedule would have been nice, but Jenkins relished the tough matchup:
“I love the close ball games because it really showed me what type of person you are. Like, do you really care to keep going, man? You might mess up one play and we still might be up. If you give up on the second play, they might score, we might lose the game. But if you go hard battling that adversity, show me what type of character you got, man. And I love playing with guys that are gonna keep going hard no matter the scoreboard.”
Buc Bits
The 88-yard touchdown pass from Mason Mims to Brandon Winton in the fourth quarter was the longest in team history. The previous long was an 86-yarder from Todd Wells to Anthony Stringfield in 1997 against Appalachian State. … Three local athletes started foe the Bucs: Charlie Browder at tight end, Sam Browder at left offensive tackle, and Mason Ball at defensive tackle. Charlie Browder made one catch for 15 yards. … Jenkins and LB Dre Delinois led the Bucs with eight tackles each. Delinois came into the game leading the Southern Conference in tackles. … Game captains for ETSU were Charles Woodard, Vashawn Nalls, Josiha Mason, and Tyler Griffin. … The Bucs wore all navy for the game: helmet, jersey, and pants.