JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - The UWG football team fell short in a back-and-forth affair on the road on Saturday afternoon, falling 35-27 to the East Tennessee State Buccaneers at William B. Green Jr. Stadium.
In a game that featured four lead changes, West Georgia (0-4) outgained ETSU (2-2), but a costly pick six and an 88-yard touchdown on a late third and long was enough for ETSU to send West Georgia back to Carrollton with the loss.
UWG's offense had 411 yards and threw for 347 while ETSU had a balanced 198 through the air and 179 on the ground to total 377. To their credit, the UWG defense gave up 268 yards of the Bucs' total in the first half, and 88 of their 109 second half yards came on the back-breaking 88-yard score.
Offensively, standouts were quarterback Colton Fitzgerald who threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns and freshman wide receiver Brody Jones. The Daphne, Alabama native, Jones had seven catches for 109 yards and became just the third freshman at UWG to ever record 100-plus yards and the first since 1984.
On the defensive side, Stephan French led the way with 11 tackles while Lucas Naquin chipped in with 10 and recorded one of the Wolves' three sacks.
To start the game, UWG's defense got an early stop as ETSU drove across midfield into Wolves' territory but forced a turnover on downs on the Bucs' opening drive. The Wolves then went three-and-out and punted the ball right back to ETSU.
On the ensuing possession, ETSU drove 80 yards on 18 plays, rushing the ball 16 times to take the game's first lead with 2:04 left in the opening quarter.
West Georgia answered going 75 yards on 11 plays on their next turn on offense. The big play of the drive was a 38-yard reception by Joshua Schuchts, but the score came on a one-yard TD pass from Fitzgerald to Malik Leverett.
The Wolves would use special teams to get their first lead of the game as Logan Loez pooched the kickoff and Brody Jones was in the right place at the right time to give the UWG offense a chance to tack on. And while the offense couldn't find the endzone, Lopez gave the Wolves their first lead with a 46-yard field goal, making it 10-7 with 9:36 left in the half.
ETSU answered right back with a 73-yard, seven-play drive and with 6:21 left in the half, the Bucs' TJ Peyton broke through the defense for a 14-yard score to make it a 14-10 ETSU advantage.
After another UWG punt, ETSU drove 80 yards once again with Mason Mims connecting with Vashawn Nalls from eight yards out to go up 21-10 with just under two left in the half.
UWG would drive across the fifty before the half expired but could not add points.
On the opening drive of the second half, West Georgia drove 75 yards again for points with Fitzgerald connecting with Schuchts for the score to cut the Bucs' lead to four at the 12:22 mark of the third.
The West Georgia defense forced a punt on the Bucs' drive of the half and forced a punt back to Fitzgerald and the offense. UWG went 80 yards on this drive, capping it off with the third passing touchdown from Fitzgerald as the senior found T.J. Lockley for a nine-yard score and the Wolves' erased the deficit and took a 24-21 lead at the 5:15 mark of the third.
ETSU retook the lead with a defensive touchdown, with Mike Jenkins picking off Fitzgerald and returning 25 yards for points and flipping the scoreboard once again to go up 28-24 with less than a minute left in the third.
After that score, the game stalled with five straight punts, but then the Wolves surrendered the biggest play of the game as Mims found Brandon Winton for an 88-yard passing touchdown to make it a two-score game.
The Wolves then drove down and cut it back to an eight-point, one-score game at 35-27 on a 29-yard field goal by Lopez.
West Georgia's defense got the stop to give the offense one more chance, and the Wolves got to around midfield before they were forced to go for it on fourth down and the pass fell incomplete.
UWG will be back in action at home for just the second time this season next week, hosting Fort Valley State. Kickoff on September 26 is slated for 6 p.m. from University Stadium.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Leverett's second quarter touchdown was the first touchdown of his collegiate career. Schucht's touchdown in the third quarter was the first of his UWG career.
- Lopez's 46-yarder gave the Wolves their first lead of the season since the opener against Chattanooga and it marked the first made field goal of his collegiate career.
- Lockley hauled in his seventh career receiving touchdown and ran up his career reception total to 84 which puts him alone in 10th all-time in UWG history.
- Fitzgerald recorded the first 300-yard passing game by a UWG quarterback since Quincy Casey threw for 304 against Shorter in 2024.
- Jones' 100-yard receiving game was the first since DeAndre Buchannon against Abiliene Chrstian last season.
- All seven combined offensive touchdowns were scored on a drive of 70-or more yards.
