JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Following a narrow loss to a top-25 team in the last minute, the ETSU Buccaneers are now focused on defending their home field as they get ready to face Elon this weekend.

The Buccaneers held the lead for much of their Saturday night game against No. 25 West Georgia, but a late comeback saw the Wolves secure a 35–31 victory in the game’s final moments. This setback drops ETSU’s record to 1–2 for the season.

Head coach Will Healy expressed on Monday that his attention is already on making improvements. “Mondays are intriguing after a defeat because I’m eager to move forward,” Healy stated. “How can we prevent our defense from having to play 93 plays while our offense only manages 63? How can we improve during the last four minutes? What’s happening with our quarterback situation? Those are the questions we’re addressing.”

Despite the loss, there were notable performances. Quarterback Jacolby Criswell contributed three touchdowns and threw for 108 yards, and defensive back William Wells recorded an impressive 11 solo tackles. Nonetheless, penalties and a late rally by West Georgia were too much to counter.

Tight end Cole Keller made his first touchdown catch as a Buccaneer on Saturday. Despite this personal success, he remains dissatisfied with the team’s outcome. “The main takeaway is that we must finish. But we can’t take anything for granted,” Keller remarked. “We were performing well, we had control, but then complacency set in. Learn this lesson now and don’t repeat it. That’s all we can do.”

“We’re all evaluating how we can improve,” said Wells. “We’re motivating each other, reminding ourselves that this isn’t the end. We still have significant goals to achieve. The focus this week is to go 1-0. Embrace each day, tackle the week, and that’s all there is to it.”

Healy emphasized that while the outcome was disappointing, it didn’t change his impression on how this team matches up to strong opponents. “We went on the road and played a top 25 team, and we didn’t do what we needed to do to finish the game,” Healy said. “We controlled the game until a minute was left on the clock. Our guys played hard. I don’t have a concern about their response. I don’t think this team needed something to say, ‘We can play with anybody.’ I hope they felt that way already.”

After two straight road games, ETSU returns home this Saturday to William B. Greene Jr. Stadium, where they’ll take on the Elon Phoenix. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.