# 2018 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

The 2018 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season and were in the third year of their second stint as football members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They were led by first-year head coach Randy Sanders and played their home games at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium. They finished the season 8–4, 6–2 in SoCon play to win a share of the SoCon championship. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, where they lost to Jacksonville State in the first round.

## Preseason
### Preseason media poll

The SoCon released their preseason media poll on July 25, 2018, with the Buccaneers predicted to finish in eighth place. The same day the coaches released their preseason poll with the Buccaneers also predicted to finish in eighth place.
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Samford | 204 (20) |
| 2 | Furman | 174 (2) |
| 3 | Wofford | 163 (1) |
| 4 | Mercer | 133 |
| 5 | Western Carolina | 114 |
| 6 | Chattanooga | 88 |
| 7 | The Citadel | 83 |
| 8 | East Tennessee State | 53 |
| 9 | VMI | 23 |
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Samford | 63 (7) |
| 2 | Wofford | 53 (1) |
| 3 | Furman | 52 (1) |
| 4 | Western Carolina | 39 |
| 5 | Chattanooga | 34 |
| 6 | Mercer | 32 |
| 7 | The Citadel | 28 |
| 8 | East Tennessee State | 15 |
| 9 | VMI | 8 |

#### Preseason All-SoCon Teams

The Buccaneers placed five players on the preseason all-SoCon teams.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 7:30 p.m. | Mars Hill* | | William B. Greene Jr. StadiumJohnson City, TN | ESPN+ | W 28–7 | 8,518 |
| September 8 | 4:00 p.m. | at Tennessee* | | Neyland StadiumKnoxville, TN | SECN | L 3–59 | 96,464 |
| September 14 | 2:30 p.m. | at VMI | | Alumni Memorial FieldLexington, VA | ESPN+ | W 27–24 | 2,764 |
| September 22 | 7:30 p.m. | Furman | | William B. Greene Jr. StadiumJohnson City, TN | ESPN3 | W 29–27 | 8,453 |
| September 29 | 7:30 p.m. | Chattanooga | | William B. Greene Jr. StadiumJohnson City, TN | ESPN+ | W 17–14 | 9,277 |
| October 6 | 3:35 p.m. | Gardner–Webb* | | William B. Greene Jr. StadiumJohnson City, TN | ESPN+ | W 45–0 | 8,501 |
| October 13 | 2:00 p.m. | at The Citadel | No. 23 | Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, SC | ESPN3 | W 26–23 | 11,043 |
| October 20 | 1:30 p.m. | at No. 12 Wofford | No. 21 | Gibbs StadiumSpartanburg, SC | ESPN+ | L 17–30 | 6,745 |
| October 27 | 3:30 p.m. | Western Carolina | No. 25 | William B. Greene Jr. StadiumJohnson City, TN | ESPN+ | W 45–43 $^{3OT}$ | 7,121 |
| November 3 | 3:00 p.m. | at Mercer | No. 22 | Five Star StadiumMacon, GA | ESPN3 | W 21–18 | 10,002 |
| November 17 | 1:00 p.m. | Samford | No. 19 | William B. Greene Jr. StadiumJohnson City, TN | ESPN3 | L 27–38 | 8,749 |
| November 24 | 6:30 p.m. | at No. 8 Jacksonville State* | No. 22 | JSU StadiumJacksonville, AL (NCAA Division I First Round) | ESPN3 | L 27–34 | 11,024 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||
* ↑ This game was originally scheduled for September 15. It was moved up one day in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.

## Game summaries
### Mars Hill

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mountain Lions | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Buccaneers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |

### At Tennessee

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buccaneers | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Volunteers | 10 | 28 | 7 | 14 | 59 |

### At VMI

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buccaneers | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
| Keydets | 0 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 24 |

### Furman

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Paladins | 7 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 27 |
| Buccaneers | 3 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 29 |

### Chattanooga

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mocs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| Buccaneers | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 |

### Gardner–Webb

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Runnin' Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Buccaneers | 7 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 45 |

### At The Citadel

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 23 Buccaneers | 3 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 26 |
| Bulldogs | 6 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 23 |

### At Wofford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 21 Buccaneers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| No. 12 Terriers | 3 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 30 |

### Western Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | 3OT | Total |
| Catamounts | 0 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 43 |
| No. 25 Buccaneers | 6 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 45 |

### At Mercer

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 22 Buccaneers | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Bears | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 18 |

### Samford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 7 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 38 |
| No. 19 Buccaneers | 10 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 27 |

## FCS Playoffs
### At Jacksonville State–First Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 22 Buccaneers | 10 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 27 |
| No. 8 Gamecocks | 7 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 34 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | 23 | 21 | 25 | 22 | 19 | 19 | 22 | 22 |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | RV | 24 | 21 | 25 | 23 | 17 | 17 | 21 | 21 |