JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — ETSU football is turning its attention to its first road test of the season after evening its record at 1-1 with a 48-14 win over Tusculum.
The Bucs will travel to Chapel Hill on Saturday to take on North Carolina in the Tar Heel’s second year under Bill Belichick.
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ETSU head coach Will Healy poked fun at the difference in résumés between him and the Super Bowl-winning coach. He then added how the opportunity to face one of football’s most accomplished minds brings an added sense of urgency for the Bucs to clean up mistakes from their first two games.
“You know you got your work cut out for you. But also, on the competitor’s side I’m like ‘heck yeah man.,'” Healy said. “I get to go against the guy who wrote the book on how to play defense and who’s won eight Super Bowls, like I’m excited about that. But it has nothing to do with ‘Will Healy versus Bill Belichick.’ It has everything to do with our guys getting to go into Kenan Stadium and play in an incredible environment against a team that just beat TCU and is getting a ton of exposure. What an awesome challenge.”
The Bucs head coach also joked that he expects a quick pregame exchange with Belichick at midfield.
“I think the funny part is he probably has zero interest in talking to me,” Healy said. “It’ll probably be the quickest midfield conversation you’ve ever seen.”
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Despite Healy underselling himself, Belichick had plenty of praise for the Buccaneers heading into Saturday’s matchup, highlighting the challenges posed by ETSU’s offense.
“This is a pretty impressive team,” Belichick said. “Coach Healy’s done a good job here. Offensively, they’re a very explosive team.”
Belichick also singled out ETSU’s offensive weapons and talent across the roster.
“Mims has done a good job for them at quarterback,” Belichick said. “Of course, you know, the tight end Browder is a big, good looking, 6’6-6’7, type tight end. So, you know he’s going to be a problem. Those are some of our big challenges this week.”
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Kickoff between ETSU and North Carolina is set for noon Saturday at Kenan Stadium.
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