I’ve been hearing about Tennessee Tech since August.
4-0. Top 10. Respect the Golden Eagles.
Western Carolina beat them 44-20.
Hahaha Matthew Piras, this one’s for you!
Meanwhile, ETSU welcomed Chattanooga to Johnson City and completely erased the offense that had been running through the SoCon.
Three points.
The Bucs are undefeated in conference play.
What a Saturday.
1. ETSU (4-2, 2-0 SoCon)
Beat Chattanooga, 14-3
The Bucs are 2-0 in the Southern Conference.
And honestly, this should’ve been 21-3. ETSU appeared to score another touchdown in the second quarter, but Trey Weary was ruled out of bounds.
Was he actually out?
I’ve reviewed the available evidence as an entirely impartial ETSU alumnus and determined absolutely not.
Refs against the Bucs?
Wow. Ref show.
Thankfully, it didn’t matter.
Chattanooga had spent two weeks running for around six yards per carry. Everybody knew what was coming.
ETSU held them to 108 rushing yards and 183 total yards.
They didn’t know what to do.
That’s what I loved about this game. Chattanooga wasn’t unlucky. They weren’t giving the ball away. ETSU just took away the thing they wanted to do and made them spend three hours trying to invent something else.
Nothing arrived.
And that’s what makes the last two weeks so encouraging. ETSU beat Western Carolina 58-31 in a shootout, then turned around and suffocated Chattanooga 14-3.
Different games. Same result.
Two rivalry trophies.
2-0 in the SoCon.
The Citadel is next, and after what they did Saturday, that’s not a game to sleepwalk through. I’m nervous.
2. Mercer (4-2, 1-1 SoCon)
Beat VMI, 54-3
Mercer did something to VMI that probably requires a permit.
658 yards. More than 400 on the ground.
54-3.
There isn’t much analysis needed here. Mercer showed up in Lexington, knocked down the doors and left.
The Bears have now won two straight since losing to Furman, and this looked much more like the Mercer team everybody expected coming into the year.
Now Western Carolina comes to Macon.
That is going to be a great game.
Mercer just steamrolled VMI. Western just steamrolled the allegedly unstoppable Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles.
Winner stays right in the middle of the SoCon race.
3. Western Carolina (3-3, 1-1 SoCon)
Beat Tennessee Tech, 44-20
HAHAHAHAHAHA.
Excuse me.
Western Carolina, I owe you an apology.
ETSU beat you 58-31 and I thought you might be bad.
Turns out ETSU might just be good.
Western welcomed undefeated, nationally ranked Tennessee Tech to Cullowhee and beat them by 24.
534 yards.
298 rushing.
Five forced turnovers.
Tech rushed for 53 yards.
I’ve had longer walks through Costco.
And this wasn’t Western barely surviving at home. They went up 17-0, watched Tech briefly make it interesting, then basically said, “Okay, that’s enough of that,” and finished the job.
That’s a hell of a response after getting embarrassed in Johnson City.
Now Western gets Mercer.
Win that one and suddenly the Catamounts are right back in the middle of everything.
Also, please do.
Every Western Carolina win increases the value of our 58 points.
I’m building a portfolio here.
4. Chattanooga (3-3, 2-1 SoCon)
Lost to ETSU, 14-3
So apparently Chattanooga’s offense has a weakness.
You can stop it.
For two weeks, the Mocs were running through everybody. Then they came to Johnson City and averaged 3.5 yards per carry.
Once ETSU took away the run, Chattanooga looked like someone had unplugged the controller.
75 passing yards.
Three points.
The part that would concern me if I were a Chattanooga fan is there never really seemed to be a Plan B.
Run game isn’t working?
Interesting.
Have we considered running it again?
I still think Chattanooga is a solid football team. Their defense certainly did enough to keep them in this game.
But the blueprint exists now.
Stop the run.
Make them throw.
5. Wofford (3-3, 2-2 SoCon)
Beat Furman, 32-25
I am officially done trying to understand Wofford.
Chattanooga beat them 41-7.
Then they had Tech down 35-21 before blowing it.
So naturally they went to Furman and won.
Wofford threw for more than 300 yards, because apparently that’s something Wofford does now. Remember when they only ran the ball? And DOMINATED?
The Terriers jumped out early and actually held on this time, which feels like growth after the Tech game.
They’re also sitting at .500 overall and .500 in the league, which feels incredibly appropriate.
This team changes identities every Saturday.
I’m done asking questions.
See you next week when Wofford attempts to run the wishbone.
6. Furman (2-4, 1-1 SoCon)
Lost to Wofford, 32-25
Well, Furman changed offensive coordinators.
They scored more points.
Unfortunately, Wofford also scored more points.
That’s an issue.
There were some encouraging signs from the offense under new OC Drew Dudzik. Furman moved the ball better and showed a little more life than it did against Richmond.
But falling behind 22-8 in the first quarter at home isn’t ideal.
The frustrating part is I still don’t think Furman is bad. They’ve beaten Mercer and played two ranked teams close.
They’re just 2-4, which is generally an inconvenient way of demonstrating that.
Now Furman heads to Tennessee Tech.
Paladins.
I need you.
Not for yourselves.
Not for Greenville.
For me.
7. The Citadel (2-3, 0-2 SoCon)
Beat South Carolina State, 34-31
The Citadel makes absolutely no sense.
They’re winless in the SoCon.
They’ve also beaten an FBS team and now a ranked South Carolina State team.
Sure.
The Bulldogs went on the road and won this one on a field goal as time expired. They also ran the football extremely well, which has officially gotten my attention with ETSU coming to town.
This is exactly the type of game I hate.
ETSU is feeling good. We’re talking about being undefeated in conference play. The Citadel is sitting there at 0-2 in the league while casually beating teams they’re apparently not supposed to beat.
Any time you pay a military school, you know it won’t be easy.
Could be a great game in Charleston next week.
8. Samford (1-4, 1-1 SoCon)
Lost to UAB, 33-14
Samford actually led 14-13 at halftime.
Then UAB remembered it was the FBS team.
Fine.
I’m not spending much time analyzing an FBS loss, especially after Samford finally showed some life against VMI the week before.
The Bulldogs now get back to conference football, which is where we’ll actually figure out whether that VMI game meant anything.
I remain cautiously aware of Samford’s existence.
That’s progress.
9. VMI (0-6, 0-2 SoCon)
Lost to Mercer, 54-3
I love VMI.
Mercer had 658 yards.
I still love VMI.
Mercer rushed for more than 400.
Love is not always rational.
At some point, though, I’d like Ashley Ingram and the boys to experience joy.
Just once.
One Saturday where I check the score and don’t immediately put my phone down.
We’re going through something right now.
10. UNCG (0-0)
Still undefeated.
Still hasn’t allowed a point.
And unlike Tennessee Tech, UNCG did not lose by 24 to Western Carolina this weekend.
Consistency matters.
11. Tennessee Tech (4-1)
Lost to Western Carolina, 44-20
Oh no.
What happened?
I was told this was a top-10 football team.
I was told 4-0 meant something.
Then Tennessee Tech went to Cullowhee and got stuffed into a locker.
Tech turned off commenting on their final score on X and Instagram? How soft can you be?
Hahaha, welcome to the Southern Conference!
Western had 534 yards.
Tech rushed for 53.
Five turnovers.
44-20.
This wasn’t a heartbreaker. They got smoked.
And this is why I’ve been making fun of the résumé all season.
Wofford had Tech down 14 in the fourth quarter a week ago. But everybody kept pointing at 4-0 like they had dominated every game.
Then Tech played Western Carolina.
44-20.
I was actually at a wedding while all of this was happening.
Beautiful ceremony. Two people committing their lives to each other. Family. Friends. Love everywhere.
And Tennessee Tech was losing by three touchdowns.
Sometimes the universe reminds you that love is real.
The same Western Carolina team ETSU had down 44-7 a week earlier, by the way.
Very unfortunate.
I’ve enjoyed it tremendously.
And before anyone accuses me of being a hater, I would like to remind everyone that I’ve been completely transparent about being a hater.
There has been no deception here.
Furman comes to Cookeville next.
Perhaps Tech bounces back.
Or perhaps Furman does something very funny.
This Week
ETSU is 2-0 in the Southern Conference.
The Bucs scored 58 on Western Carolina and then held Chattanooga to three points. One week the offense carried them. The next week the defense did.
That’s starting to look like a pretty complete football team.
Western Carolina at Mercer should be excellent. That winner is going to have a lot to say about how crowded the top of this conference gets.
And Furman heads to Tennessee Tech.
Furman, buddy.
You have the opportunity to do something special.
As for the rankings:
- ETSU
- Mercer
- Western Carolina
- Chattanooga
- Wofford
- Furman
- The Citadel
- Samford
- VMI
- UNCG
- Tennessee Tech
Ayye biased much?” – Yao Tao Piras
ETSU is undefeated in the SoCon.
Tech lost by 24.
UNCG still doesn’t have a football team.
And they’re still ahead of Tech.
Best week of the season.
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