2015 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

The 2015 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Carl Torbush. The 2015 season was their first season since 2003, when the program was discontinued. They played their home games at Kermit Tipton Stadium, located on the campus of Science Hill High School. For the 2015 season, the Buccaneers were classified as an FCS independent school, meaning they had no athletic conference affiliation in football for the season. However, they will become football members of the Southern Conference in 2016, a league that ETSU rejoined for non-football sports in 2014 after a nine-year absence. They finished the season 2–9 with wins over Warner and Kentucky Wesleyan.

2015 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football
Conference	Independent
2015 record	2–9
Head coach	Carl Torbush (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike O'Cain (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Billy Taylor (1st season)
Home stadium	Kermit Tipton Stadium (Capacity: 6,600)

2015 NCAA Division I FCS independents football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Tennessee State			–						2	–	9

Roster and staff

2015 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 2 Hank Black  Fr QB 3 Cullen Lavoi  Jr QB 3 Chris Howard Fr QB 7 Austin Herink  Fr WR 9 Drake Powell  Fr WR 10 Demetrius Anthony Fr QB 12 Dylan Wieger Fr QB 13 Matt Williams Fr TE 14 Jared White Fr WR 16 Dalton Ponchillia  So WR 17 Jovany Aris So WR 18 Malik Styles  Fr QB 19 Nick Sexton  Fr RB 20 Jajuan Lankford  Fr RB 20 Brett Whitlow Fr WR 21 Jack Shoulders Fr WR 24 Adam Mitchell  Fr RB 26 Artevius Smith Fr RB 29 Falon Lee  So RB 30 Cory Colder  Fr RB 33 Jajuan Stinson  Fr FB 35 Austin Hayworth  Fr WR 38 Chad Pritchard Jr RB 41 Matt Thompson  Fr FB 42 Courtney Heard  So RB 43 Matt Fox Fr RB 47 Tony Drew  Fr RB 48 Cole Notgrass  Fr TE 49 Tyrus Rollins  So OL 56 Josh Pendleton  Fr OL 57 Matt Pyke  Fr OL 58 Greg McCloud Fr OL 59 Brent Rathbone  Fr OL 60 Micah Cale Fr OL 62 Mason McNutt Fr OL 63 Matt Howard Fr OL 64 Chris Wheeler  Fr OL 65 Ben Blackmon Fr OL 67 Myles Smith Fr OL 68 Caleb LaFleur Fr OL 70 Kevin McConnell Fr OL 71 Asley Haynes  Fr OL 74 Matt Brewer  Fr OL 75 Patrick McFall  Fr OL 76 Cody Cornelius Fr OL 77 Garrett Curtis Fr OL 78 Sammy Hall  Jr WR 80 Hunter Wike  Fr TE 81 Stephen Antonelli  So TE 82 Jack DeFur  Fr WR 83 Connor York  Fr WR 84 Justin Gilliam Fr WR 86 Kobe Kelley Fr TE 87 Dylan Dockery  Fr WR 88 Charlie Moore  So WR 89 Anthony Spagnoletti Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 1 Domenique Williams Fr S 4 Kevin Ferguson Fr DB 5 Tony Welch  Fr DB 6 Keanu James Fr LB 8 River Boruff Fr S 10 Christian Gibson Fr LB 11 Austin Mosier  Fr DB 13 Jacob Samsel Fr DB 14 Seth Barger  Fr LB 15 DeAngelo Holt Fr S 16 Brock Beeler Fr CB 18 Andrew Heyward Fr S 20 Bryce Suber  Fr S 22 Charlie Jackson Fr S 23 Cole West  Fr DB 24 Alonzo Francois  Fr DB 25 Daren Ardis So DB 26 Toy'Shaun Winton  Fr DB 27 Tavian Lott Fr LB 28 Kahlil Mitchell Fr LB 31 Austin Gatewood  Fr LB 32 Jason Maduafokwa Fr DB 35 Terry Tiller  Fr S 36 Austin Jackson Fr LB 37 Cameron Kuerschen Fr LB 40 Dylan Weigel  Fr LB 44 Jack Jones  Fr DL 45 Nasir Player Fr DL 50 Joe Dossett Fr LB 51 Haddon Hill Fr LB 52 Spencer Brien  Fr DL 52 Kendall Lawrence Fr LB 53 Trey Quillin  Fr LB 54 Logan Lacey Fr DL 55 Devon Johnson Fr LB 56 Tate Brown Fr DL 61 Leon Humphrey  Fr DL 72 Chris Kacprowski Fr DL 73 Colt Jenkins  Fr DL 79 Adam Mullins  Fr DL 90 Ferguierson Charles  So DL 91 Chris Bouyer Fr DL 92 Joe Pittman  Fr DL 93 Royce Turnbull  So LB 94 Taylor Dollar Fr DL 95 Myles Taylor Fr DL 97 Tremond Ferrell Fr DL 98 Michael Scates  Fr DL 99 Paul Leveritt  Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 46 Marion Watson Fr LS 66 Tyler Gilliam Fr LS 71 Dustin Nickle Fr K 85 JJ Jerman Fr K 95 Gray Mumpower  Fr K 96 Landon Kunak Fr	Head coach Carl Torbush Coordinators/assistant coaches Mike O'Cain (Offensive Coordinator) Gary Downs (Running Backs) Erik Losey (Offensive line) Mike Rader (Wide receivers/Recruiting Coordinator) Billy Taylor (Defensive Coordinator/Recruiting Coordinator) Scott Brumett (Defensive Line) Teddy Gaines (Defensive back/Special teams) Antonio Goss (Outside linebackers/Special teams) Steve McGill (Defensive Line) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: September 20, 2015

NOTE: Most redshirt players practiced with the team during 2014 during the program's first signed class. That first signed class is redshirted while they practice entirely during the 2014 season.[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	7:30 PM	Kennesaw State	Kermit Tipton Stadium Johnson City, Tennessee		L 16–56	8,217
September 10	7:30 PM	Maryville	Kermit Tipton Stadium Johnson City, Tennessee		L 21–28	7,357
September 17	7:00 PM	at Charleston Southern	Buccaneer Field North Charleston, SC		L 7–47	2,331
September 26	1:30 PM	Emory & Henry	Kermit Tipton Stadium Johnson City, Tennessee		L 24–27	8,413
October 3	1:00 PM	Saint Francis (PA)	Kermit Tipton Stadium Johnson City, Tennessee		L 9–58	6,000
October 17	4:00 PM	at Mercer	Moye Complex Macon, GA	ESPN3	L 0–52	10,200
October 24	4:35 PM	at No. 21 Montana State	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT		L 7–63	18,617
October 31	1:00 PM	Warner	Kermit Tipton Stadium Johnson City, Tennessee		W 42–9	6,480
November 7	12:00 PM	at Robert Morris	Joe Walton Stadium Moon Township, PA		L 9–21	1,174
November 14	1:30 PM	at Gardner–Webb	Ernest W. Spangler Stadium Boiling Springs, NC		L 3–28	3,945
November 21	1:00 PM	Kentucky Wesleyan	Kermit Tipton Stadium Johnson City, Tennessee		W 42–27	6,302
Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source:

Game summaries

Kennesaw State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	7	14	21	14	56
Buccaneers	3	10	0	3	16

See also: 2015 Kennesaw State Owls football team

Overall record	Previous meeting	Result
First meeting

Maryville College

	1	2	3	4	Total
Scots	7	0	14	7	28
Buccaneers	14	7	0	0	21

See also: Maryville College

Overall record	Previous meeting	Result
15–8	1957	W 40–0

at Charleston Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
ETSU Buccaneers	0	0	0	7	7
CSU Buccaneers	0	34	6	7	47

See also: 2015 Charleston Southern Buccaneers football team

Overall record	Previous meeting	Result
5–0	2001	W 26–0

Emory & Henry

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wasps	7	7	6	7	27
Buccaneers	14	3	0	7	24

Overall record	Previous meeting	Result
9–10	1954	W 48–12

Saint Francis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Red Flash	17	21	6	14	58
Buccaneers	2	0	0	7	9

See also: 2015 Saint Francis Red Flash football team

Overall record	Previous meeting	Result
First meeting

at Mercer

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	0	0	0	0
Bears	14	21	14	3	52

See also: 2015 Mercer Bears football team

Overall record	Previous meeting	Result
First meeting

at Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	0	0	7	7
#21 Bobcats	13	22	14	14	63

See also: 2015 Montana State Bobcats football team

Overall record	Previous meeting	Result
First meeting

Warner

	1	2	3	4	Total
Royals	0	0	0	9	9
Buccaneers	21	7	7	7	42

See also: Warner University

Overall record	Previous meeting	Result
First meeting

at Robert Morris

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	6	3	0	9
Colonials	0	7	0	14	21

See also: 2015 Robert Morris Colonials football team

Overall record	Previous meeting	Result
First meeting

at Gardner-Webb

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	3	0	0	3
Runnin' Bulldogs	7	14	0	7	28

See also: 2015 Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Previous meeting	Result
1–1	2002	L 10–13

Kentucky Wesleyan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	0	7	14	6	27
Buccaneers	7	7	14	14	42

See also: Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers football

Overall record	Previous meeting	Result
First meeting

References