:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65730764/1176593600.jpg.0.jpg)
East Tennessee State University, is 3-8 overall and 1-7 in the Southern Conference, good for second to last place. They have an 84th ranked offense in the FCS. They’re not so great.
In eleven games, they have totaled 3,925 yards, good enough for 356.8 yards per game and 5.69 yards per play. They have scored 28 total touchdowns.
Outside of their only games versus an FBS team (App State), the Buccaneers, have lost seven games by no more than one score. Certainly, their offense is not prolific, it’s not even average. But they play their opponents tough and stay in the game to the very end.
They run the ball more than they throw, with 390 rushing attempts to 300 passing attempts. Through the air, they average 6.3 yards per attempt, but a nearly double in yards per completion at 11.1. On the ground, the numbers are less dramatic at only 5.2 yards per rush.
They are led on the ground by Quay Holmes. He has run the ball 195 times in 11 games for 1133. The second leading rusher is Jacob Saylors at 98 attempts for 602 yards. An interesting tid bit about the yardages, the ETSU football stats page makes a distinction between yards gained, lost, and net total. Between the two backs, they have totaled for only 48 total yards lost. 48.
Trey Mitchell is QB1 and has thrown it 250+ times. His completion percentage is a touch under 57%. He has 11 touchdowns and six picks.
At WR, the wealth is spread between four players: Anthony Spagnoletti, Nate Adkins, Keith Coffee, and Will Huzzie. Each has more than 20 receptions but less than 30. Each has more than 240 yards but less than 330. Each has two touchdowns. The stand out statistic is Coffee and Huzzie average over 14 yards per catch. That’s doing some things.
All in and all, it appears the Buccos aren’t terribly explosive, they gain yardage on the ground, and rarely lose it. They hope to hit big pass plays based off the run game. I’m not saying Vandy should be scared of this offense. I am saying that they play tough, and grind out yardages. I am saying Vanderbilt is the 122 ranked rush defense in the FBS (for reference, App State is 60th).