2018 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team


The 2018 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University 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. 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.

Previous season

The Buccaneers finished the 2017 season 4–7, 2–6 in SoCon play to finish in eighth place.
On December 8, head coach Carl Torbush announced his retirement. He finished at ETSU with a three-year record of 11–22.

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.
1Samford204
2Furman174
3Wofford163
4Mercer133
5Western Carolina114
6Chattanooga88
7The Citadel83
8East Tennessee State53
9VMI23

Preseason All-SoCon Teams

The Buccaneers placed five players on the preseason all-SoCon teams.
Offense
2nd team
Matt Pyke – OL
Defense
1st team
Nasir Player – DL
2nd team
Dylan Weigel – DL
Specialists
2nd team
JJ Jerman – K
Quan Harrison – RS

Schedule

Mars Hill

at Tennessee

at VMI

Furman

Chattanooga

Gardner–Webb

at The Citadel

at Wofford

Western Carolina

at Mercer

Samford

FCS Playoffs

at Jacksonville State–First Round

Ranking movements