ETSU Blanks VMI 38-0 for First Road Shutout Since 2001

The last time East Tennessee State shut out a team on the road, it was 2001, a long time and one program shutdown ago. Football came back to Johnson City in 2015, and in all the seasons since, the Bucs had never kept a home team off the scoreboard. On Saturday in Lexington, they finally did it.

No. 18 ETSU beat VMI 38-0 at Alumni Memorial Field at Foster Stadium, spoiling the Keydets' Family Weekend in front of 5,296 fans. It was their first shutout of any kind since a 61-0 win over UVA-Wise in September 2024, and their fifth straight win.

ETSU is now 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the Southern Conference. VMI falls to 0-8 and 0-4.

A slow start, then a steady squeeze

For about a quarter, this looked like it might be a grind. Coming off a bye week, ETSU punted on each of its first two possessions, and VMI did the same.

The third drive was where the Bucs found their footing. Jason Albritton ripped off a 12-yard run, freshman quarterback Mason Mims hit Charlie Browder for 9 yards to convert a fourth down, and Jaiden Daniels added 12 more on the ground. Mims then found tight end Khristian Means for a 19-yard touchdown late in the first quarter. It was Means's first touchdown as a Buc, and ETSU led 7-0.

VMI's best stretch came early in the second quarter, when the Keydets held the ball for nearly five minutes. They did not get points out of it, and ETSU made them pay for that.

TJ Peyton carried three times for 34 yards on the next drive. Then the Bucs pulled out a trick play, with Suderian Harrison throwing 20 yards to Tommy Winton III. A VMI sack stalled things, but Ewan Johnson knocked through a 37-yard field goal with 6:49 left in the half to make it 10-0.

The turning point: the punt return before halftime

If VMI had any hope of hanging around, it needed to get to the locker room down 10. It did not.

The Keydets went three-and-out, and Harrison fielded the punt and returned it 31 yards, setting ETSU up at the VMI 35. Mims went to work with three short completions for 12 yards, and then hit Tyler Griffin for a 23-yard touchdown. It was Griffin's first score in an ETSU uniform, and it made the halftime score 17-0.

That sequence changed the math. A 17-point deficit, for an offense that would finish with 143 total yards, is a closed door.

The Bucs slammed it shut right out of the break. Jarvis Johnson and Tyreek'e Robinson each sacked the VMI quarterback on the Keydets' opening possession of the third quarter. ETSU took over, Mims hit Brandon Winton on back-to-back throws that covered more than 30 yards, and Albritton scored on a 7-yard run. It was 24-0, and it was Albritton's 16th touchdown as a Buc in just his 20th game.

Trick plays and a long goodbye

ETSU spent the second half doing what good teams do against overmatched opponents. It kept the ball, it kept the chains moving and it kept scoring.

The Bucs put together a 14-play, 86-yard drive that included a 27-yard Daniels run. They finished it with another bit of misdirection, as Harrison threw again, this time a 13-yard touchdown pass to Griffin. That made it 31-0 with 12:43 left in the game.

The final touchdown was pure ground game. ETSU ran it nine straight times with five different ball carriers, and Peyton capped the drive with a 28-yard touchdown run to make it 38-0.

The shutout still needed one more play. VMI lined up for a 47-yard field goal, and Xavier Porter got a hand on it. Blocked. Zero stayed on the board.

The players who decided it

Mims was close to flawless. The freshman, who was named to the Jerry Rice Award midseason watch list, completed 22 of 25 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns. He never needed to force anything.

Griffin was the main beneficiary. He caught seven passes for 56 yards and two touchdowns, one from Mims and one from Harrison. He became the first Buc this season with multiple touchdown catches in a game.

Peyton led the ground attack with 121 yards on 15 carries. That is 8.1 yards per carry, which matched his career high, and he added the 28-yard score. Albritton chipped in 41 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.

Harrison deserves his own line in the box score. He threw two passes on trick plays, one for 20 yards and one for a touchdown, and his 31-yard punt return set up the score that put the game away before halftime.

On defense, Dre Delinois led ETSU with six tackles. Jeremiah Curry had five, while Jarvis Johnson and Josiha Mason had four each.

For VMI, punter Ben Shrewsbury was the busiest man on the field. He punted eight times and averaged 49.1 yards per kick, which kept the score from getting even more lopsided.

The stats that matter

ETSU outgained VMI 482 to 143. The Bucs ran for 272 yards and threw for 210, averaged 6.2 yards per play and ran 78 plays to VMI's 42. They also controlled the clock, holding the ball for 34:32.

The number that jumps off the page is 13. That is how many passing yards VMI managed all day, the third-lowest passing total any FCS team has posted in a game this season. The Keydets had nine drives. Four were three-and-outs, and only two crossed midfield.

Neither team turned the ball over. ETSU did not need one to win by 38.

This has been the pattern all October. In wins over Chattanooga, The Citadel and VMI, the Bucs have allowed a combined 19 points, or 6.3 per game. Chattanooga threw for 75 yards against them. VMI threw for 13.

The offense is holding up its end too. ETSU has scored 30 or more points in six of its eight games and leads the SoCon at 33.4 points per game, just ahead of Tennessee Tech at 33.3. The program record is 32.7, set by the 2021 team. That 2021 team is also the last ETSU squad to win five in a row, until now.

You can find every number in the box score (opens in a new tab), and the full rundown is in ETSU's recap (opens in a new tab).

What it means

The win gave ETSU eight straight SoCon victories, tying the program record for consecutive league wins. The Bucs have not lost a conference game since Chattanooga beat them on Oct. 18, 2025.

It also set up the biggest game in the league this season. Next on the schedule was a homecoming game against No. 11 Tennessee Tech on Saturday, Oct. 31, at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium, with ETSU up to No. 17. The Golden Eagles came in 7-1 and 4-1 in the SoCon, and quarterback Jax Leatherwood had thrown for 2,099 yards and 21 touchdowns. The two programs had not met since 1984, and ETSU had won 18 of their 32 meetings. The SoCon title race and playoff picture both ran through Johnson City.

For VMI, the search for a first win continues. The Keydets have lost to Wofford, Mercer and Samford by lopsided margins, though they did push Davidson to overtime in a 27-24 loss. VMI's recap (opens in a new tab) has their side of it. Next on the schedule was a trip to Chattanooga on Oct. 31.

The last word

Shutouts are supposed to be hard. ETSU made this one look routine.

The Bucs did not win with a single big play or a lucky bounce. They won with a freshman quarterback who missed three passes all day, a running game that kept coming, a couple of trick plays to keep VMI guessing and a defense that has turned October into a lockdown. Now the real test arrives, and ETSU gets it at home.

Sources: ETSU Athletics, VMI Athletics, FOX Sports box score. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: ETSU Athletics.