ETSU defense looks to clean up communication after season-opening loss

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — ETSU football showed plenty of promise offensively in its season opener against Campbell, but the Buccaneers left Saturday night's 49-37 loss knowing there is still work to be done on the other side of the ball.

The Bucs surrendered nearly 515 yards of total offense as Campbell repeatedly found ways to extend drives and capitalize on missed opportunities by the ETSU defense.

“Defensively, I had a couple stops and then we had just like, ‘Holy cow, how does that happen?’” ETSU head coach Will Healy said. “Fourth-and-11 and third-and-whatever. ... We just never seemed [to get settled], especially in the secondary.”

Campbell quarterback Kamden Sixkiller threw for 343 yards as the Camels consistently challenged the ETSU secondary. Healy said the performance was particularly frustrating because of the confidence he has in the talent on his defense.

“If you don't play well against a team like that that has enough offensive firepower they will beat you at home,” Healy said.

Senior linebacker Dre Delinois, who led the Bucs with a career-high 11 tackles, pointed to communication as one of the biggest issues for the defense.

“Our problem on defense, I think communication was a problem,” Delinois said. “We didn't communicate like we wanted to. Obviously, they gave us a lot of looks that we were not used to seeing.”

Despite the defensive struggles, ETSU had positives to build on after producing 528 yards of offense. Quarterback Mason Mims completed 33 of 41 passes for 373 yards in his collegiate debut, setting a program single-game record for completions.

The Bucs will have their first opportunity to respond when they host Tusculum on Saturday, Sept. 5. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at Greene Stadium.