Tennessee Tech Drives 90 Yards, Stops ETSU at the 10 to Win 24-17 in Johnson City

The final snap of ETSU's homecoming came from the Tennessee Tech 10 with about half a minute to play, and it found a defensive lineman's hand instead of a receiver's. Mason Mims looked for Suderian Harrison on fourth-and-5, Jamarr Jones got a piece of the throw, and No. 11 Tennessee Tech walked out of Johnson City with a 24-17 win over No. 17 East Tennessee State on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Eagles, in their first season in the Southern Conference, improved to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in league play. The Buccaneers fell to 6-3 and 4-1. The loss ended ETSU's five-game winning streak and an eight-game run of league wins that had tied the program's SoCon record. The Bucs had not lost a conference game since Chattanooga beat them on Oct. 18, 2025.

It was the first meeting between the two programs since 1984, and Tennessee Tech's first trip to Johnson City since 1983. ETSU had won 18 of the 32 previous games in the series. Four decades later, the visitors won the rematch by taking the second half 10-0.

A first half that went back and forth

Tennessee Tech opened with a long, patient drive. The Golden Eagles went 63 yards in 11 plays and 6:04, and M.J. Flowers finished it with a 6-yard run at 8:48 of the first quarter. Carter Brown added the extra point.

ETSU answered quickly. Starting deep in its own territory, the Bucs went 92 yards in nine plays, and TJ Peyton covered the final 45 on a run that tied the game with 55 seconds left in the quarter. Ewan Johnson's kick made it 7-7.

The second quarter belonged to the home team for most of the way. Jason Albritton capped an 11-play, 59-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run at 8:39, and Johnson's 38-yard field goal at 4:05 pushed the lead to 17-7.

Tennessee Tech needed only three plays to change the halftime math. A 41-yard drive took 1:33, and Qua Ashley ran the last 12 yards for a touchdown at 2:21. ETSU led 17-14 at the half.

The third quarter tightens up

Neither team scored after halftime until the first minute of the fourth quarter, and the third quarter turned into a field position fight. ETSU's best chance came on a 42-yard Albritton run that reached the Tennessee Tech 37, but the drive stalled and Luke Stewart punted. Stewart averaged 45 yards on four punts.

Tennessee Tech's response started at its own 8 with 5:03 left in the quarter. Jax Leatherwood hit Eric Weatherly for 41 yards to get the Golden Eagles into ETSU territory, and short completions to Maury Sullivan and Dae'Vonn Hall moved them to the 16 as the quarter ended. The ETSU front then won the next exchange. Josiha Mason hurried Leatherwood on back-to-back incompletions, a delay of game backed Tech up 5 yards, and Brown settled for a 33-yard field goal that tied the game 17-17 at 14:07 of the fourth.

The turning point: 90 yards and seven minutes

After an ETSU series that netted 16 yards, Stewart dropped a 50-yard punt that Tre' Holloway returned to the Tennessee Tech 10. It was 17-17 with 11:11 to play, and the visitors were 90 yards from the lead.

The drive did not start cleanly. Ashley fumbled on the first snap, and a delay-of-game flag wiped the play off the board. From there, Leatherwood went to work. Two completions to Sullivan got Tech away from its own goal line, and Flowers broke a 25-yard run to the ETSU 49. Leatherwood found Weatherly for 19 yards and then for 15 more, pushing Tech inside the 5.

ETSU's defense dug in at the goal line. A 2-yard completion reached the 1, and Leatherwood was stopped for no gain on a keeper. On the next snap, Leatherwood pushed across from a yard out with 4:08 to play, and Brown's kick made it 24-17. The drive covered 90 yards in 12 plays and burned 7:03. Leatherwood, who came in with 21 touchdown passes and four interceptions, did not throw a pick all day.

ETSU's last stand

The Bucs had 4:08 and all three timeouts, and they made it a game until the final seconds. Starting at their own 25, Peyton ran for 9, 2 and 8 yards, and Albritton got out of bounds at midfield after a 6-yard gain. Mims found Harrison for 14 yards to the Tennessee Tech 36.

A false start backed ETSU up, and on fourth-and-4 from the Tech 30 with 1:26 left, Mims hit Harrison again for 15 yards to the 15. A shot to Brandon Winton in the end zone was broken up by Robert Dickerson. Peyton ran for 5 yards, then was stopped for no gain by Xavier Randolph at the 10. After timeouts by both teams, Mims threw for Harrison once more on fourth down, and Jones knocked it away. The drive covered 65 yards in 15 plays and ended on downs. Leatherwood took two knees, and the Golden Eagles were finished.

Numbers that tell the story

This was about as even as a box score gets. Tennessee Tech outgained ETSU 328 to 321. ETSU had 19 first downs to Tech's 17. Neither team turned the ball over. Time of possession was split almost down the middle, 30:24 to 29:36 in Tech's favor.

The difference was how each team moved the ball. ETSU ran for 207 yards on 41 carries, a 5.0 average, led by Peyton's 123 yards on 18 carries and Albritton's 76 on 12. But Mims completed only 15 of 32 passes for 114 yards, 3.6 yards per attempt, and was sacked twice. Harrison caught five passes for 39 yards.

Leatherwood completed 18 of 28 passes for 218 yards. Weatherly led the receivers with five catches for 82 yards, Sullivan added five for 44, and Holloway had three for 53. Flowers ran for 65 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, and Ashley added 58 yards and a score on nine attempts. Ashley also returned three kickoffs for 116 yards, including a 59-yard return.

The most remarkable number belongs to Tennessee Tech's own sideline: 14 penalties for 126 yards. Tech still won on the road against a ranked team. ETSU was penalized five times for 32 yards. Tech was also efficient where it counted, converting 6 of 11 third downs. ETSU went 8 for 17 on third down and 2 for 3 on fourth down, with the miss coming on the game's final meaningful play.

Defensively, Greg Turner III led Tennessee Tech with nine tackles, and Omari Philyaw had seven. Hudson Tucker recorded a sack, Josh Hand had 2.5 tackles for loss and a half sack, and Jameson Wharton added a half sack and two pass breakups. Dickerson broke up two passes, including the end-zone throw on the final drive. For ETSU, Brenden LeBlanc made six tackles and Samuel Iroh had the Bucs' only sack. Johnson made one of two field-goal tries.

What it means

For Tennessee Tech, this is the result that turns a strong debut season in the SoCon into a title push. A league newcomer went into a ranked rival's building on homecoming and won without a turnover or a touchdown pass. At 5-1, the Golden Eagles now hold the head-to-head edge over the Bucs, and Mercer, which beat The Citadel 28-19 on Saturday, is also in the mix at 4-1.

For ETSU, the loss stings less for the standings than for how it happened. Will Healy's team ran the ball well, kept the game clean and had first-and-10 at the Tech 15 with a chance to tie. The passing game was the missing piece, and that is the area the Bucs need to fix before November gets serious.

Closing take

This one was decided by a 90-yard drive and a fourth-down deflection, which is about as honest a way to settle a game as football offers. Tennessee Tech earned it on both ends. The Golden Eagles host VMI on Nov. 7, and ETSU plays Samford the same day.

For more on both teams, read our recaps of Tennessee Tech's win over The Citadel and ETSU's shutout of VMI, plus today's Mercer win over The Citadel.

Sources: ESPN box score (opens in a new tab) and play-by-play, ETSU Athletics game preview. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: ETSU Athletics (file).