The Wofford College football team racked up 580 yards of total offense on the way to a 48-41 win over East Tennessee State University on Saturday afternoon at Gibbs Stadium. The Terriers scored first and the game was tied at 17 heading into halftime. The offenses combined to score 55 points in the second half.
With the game tied at 34 points each, the Bucs took their first lead of the game at 41-34 with 7:39 left in the game. Wofford responded when on fourth-and-fifteen, Jimmy Weirick found Landon Parker in the endzone for a 31-yard touchdown. After the teams traded punts, the Bucs had the ball with a minute left and on the first play Amir Annoor came away with the interception. The Terriers scored on a nine-yard run by Nathan Walker with 32 record left and a pass break-up on the final play of the game sealed the win for Wofford.
Wofford is now 2-6 on the season and 2-3 in the Southern Conference. ETSU is 3-6 overall and 1-6 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led by Jimmy Weirick, who set a new school record with 409 passing yards along with three touchdowns. Landon Parker had eight catches for 179 yards and Amir Annoor had an interception with a minute left in the game. The Bucs were led by SoCon Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Jacob Saylors with 245 rushing yards on 22 carries and three touchdowns.
“I could not be prouder of a group of guys in my entire coaching career,” said interim head coach Shawn Watson. “With what we have come through, the relationships, the hard work and belief. There are so many great things happening inside our team. Our offense did a great job today and Jimmy had a big day obviously. The receivers supported him and Landon was awesome. I love the way the kids played. They just kept competing and kept believing. We found a way to come away with a victory and continue to believe in each other.”
The Terriers opened the game with a 44-yard pass completion from Jimmy Weirick to Landon Parker, but were forced to punt. On the first drive by the Bucs, they had one first down before punting. After a first down catch by R.J. Khayo, Kyle Parsons went 45-yards down the far sideline for a touchdown as Wofford took a 7-0 lead with 8:20 on the clock. With the ball back, ETSU had a pair of rushing first downs before kicking a 47-yard field goal to make it a 7-3 game with 4:41 left in the first quarter. A first down run by Kyle Parsons, plus a 15-yard roughing the quarterback penalty moved the ball across midfield. After two more first downs, Bridger Jones made a 37-yard field goal to give Wofford a 10-3 lead on the first play on the second quarter.
The Bucs answered on their next drive with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Riddell to Isaiah Wilson to tie the game at 10 with 10:31 on the clock in the second quarter. Two first down catches by Kyle Watkins moved Wofford across midfield, but the Terriers had to punt. Taking over at the four-yard line, a sack by Seth Foster forced a punt and the Terriers began the drive at the 36-yard line. After back-to-back penalties, it was first-and-25 at midfield. They gained 15 yards on the drive but had to punt and the ball was downed at the one-yard line. Jacob Saylors had a 33-yard run and after two more first downs Saylors capped the drive with a 26-yard touchdown run for a 17-10 lead with 1:46 left in the half. Wofford had a pair of receiving first downs by Landon Parker to reach midfield and a pass interference call moved it further down the field. A first down catch by Kyle Pinnix gave the Terriers first-and-goal from the three. A touchdown reception by Dillon Droze with 30 seconds remaining to tie the game at 17 each. The Bucs began their next drive at the Wofford 40-yard line after a 58-yard kickoff return by Jacob Saylors. On fourth-and-seven with six seconds left, a pass to the endzone was out of bounds to end the half.
To open the second half, Jacob Saylors had a 31-yard first down run but the Bucs had to punt. A 60-yard pass completion to Dylan Djete was followed by a first down catch by Landon Parker. Bridger Jones gave Wofford a 20-17 lead with a 38-yard field goal with 10:11 on the clock in the third quarter. The Bucs had two big plays to move into the redzone on the ensuing drive and tied the game with a 29-yard field goal at the 7:05 mark of the third quarter. Ryan Ingram, in his first game back from injury, had two first downs runs with the second covering 28-yards with a block downfield by Jimmy Weirick. After a pass interference call on the Bucs, Weirick found Kyle Watkins for an 11-yard touchdown reception and a 27-20 lead with 4:33 on the clock. The Bucs had an 86-yard pass completion followed by a seven-yard touchdown run by Jacob Saylors to tie the game at 27 a minute later.
On the next drive for the Terriers, they had two first downs and then Landon Parker had a 39-yard catch and was downed at the two-yard line. Nathan Walker took it in from there and his touchdown gave Wofford a 34-27 lead with 13:04 left in the game. The Bucs had two more big runs by Saylors to move the ball inside the five-yard line and he scored from three-yards out to tie the game at 34 all with 10:39 on the clock. Wofford went three-and-out and punted. With the ball back, ETSU had a first down and then Einaj Carter ran for a 46-yard touchdown to give the Bucs their first lead of the game with 7:39 left on the clock. Wofford had a pair of receiving first downs by Dylan Djete and Bryson Dickerson, but a sack by the Bucs brought up fourth-and-fifteen from the 31-yard line. Jimmy Weirick found Landon Parker for a 31-yard touchdown with 2:54 on the clock to tie the game at 41 points.
Wofford’s defense forced a three-and-out and the Bucs punted with two minutes left in the game. With the drive starting at the 27-yard line, a first down pass to Kyle Pinnix was followed by two holding penalties which brought up a punt with 59 seconds remaining on the clock. On the first play for the Bucs, Amir Annoor intercepted Tyler Riddell and returned it to the 12-yard line. The Terriers ran the ball twice and then Nathan Walker scored a nine-yard touchdown for a 48-41 lead with 32 seconds remaining in the game. A squib kick had the Bucs begin at the 38-yard line and they had a first down reception at midfield. A holding penalty on ETSU was followed by a first down reception with five seconds left on the clock. On the final play, the pass was broken up by Isaiah Wadsworth to end the game.
Wofford had 580 total yards, with 409 passing yards. ETSU had 562 total yards, with 325 of those rushing yards. Wofford had 30 first downs to 23 for ETSU. Wofford was 5-of-13 on third down and 1-of-1 on fourth down. ETSU 3-of-10 on third down and 0-of-1 on fourth down. Wofford was called for eight penalties and ETSU was called for seven in the game. The Terriers had a 34:35 to 25:25 time of possession advantage.