UNC will host its home opener at Kenan Stadium Saturday when East Tennessee State visits, with kickoff set for 12 p.m. ETSU enters the matchup with a 1-1 record, having dropped its opener vs. Campbell before beating Division 2 side Tusculum 48-14 last weekend. Saturday’s game in Chapel Hill will be the first road game of the season for the Buccaneers.
ETSU is coached by Will Healy, who is in his second season in Johnson City after leading the Bucs to a 7-5 record in 2025. Healy is a native Tennessean from Chattanooga, but he does still have North Carolina connections. He coached four seasons at Charlotte from 2019 through 2022, during which time his 49ers were scheduled to play the Tar Heels in Kenan Stadium. But that game was scheduled in the chaotic 2020 season, and Charlotte eventually had to back out of the contest due to COVID protocols within the program. Though Healy’s tenure started strong with a bowl berth in 2019, Charlotte fired him midway through the 2022 season after the 49ers had dropped seven of their first eight games. The ETSU job is his first head coaching position since then.
Will Healy coached at Charlotte before coming to East Tennessee State in 2025. (Image via ETSU Athletics)
What’s the history?
None! Though UNC and ETSU are relatively close geographically, the two teams have never met before on the football field.
A long and winding road
Despite being relatively competitive in the NCAA’s Division I-AA (later dubbed the FCS), East Tennessee State voted to discontinue its football program in 2003 due to financial difficulties. But 10 years later, the school voted in favor of an increase in student fees, one which would make it possible for football to return to Johnson City. And who would be leading the Bucs back onto the gridiron? None other than former UNC head coach Carl Torbush, who had bounced around various staffs since the Tar Heels fired him in 2000. Assigned the monumental task of building a program from scratch, Torbush did an admirable job. After a 2-9 season as an FCS independent in 2015, ETSU rejoined the Southern Conference and managed records of 5-6 and 4-7 in the next two seasons, even earning a ranked win against No. 18 Samford along the way. Torbush retired for good following the 2017 season.
Fireworks…
If nothing else, ETSU has proven it can move the ball effectively at the FCS level. The Bucs scored 37 and 48 points in their first two games, though the former came in a losing effort against Campbell. In that 49-37 loss, ETSU nonetheless piled up 528 total yards and 27 first downs, with quarterback Mason Mims completing 33 of 41 passes for 373 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The next weekend against Tusculum, the offense cooked again: 484 yards in a very balanced attack, with 259 coming through the air and 225 coming on the ground. Mims threw for 242 yards and three more touchdowns. The competition hasn’t been the best, but the numbers are no doubt impressive.
…and even more fireworks
But what Will Healy can’t be too happy about is the performance of his defense through two games. In the loss to Campbell in Week 0, the Bucs allowed 5.5 yards per rush and 343 yards through the air, with Camel quarterback Kamden Sixkiller (yes, that’s his real name) accounting for four of Campbell’s seven touchdowns. The defense did enough to beat D2 Tusculum the next week, but still allowed more than 300 yards of total offense — including a 57-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter. Tusculum averaged 4.3 yards per carry, far more than ETSU would like against a lower-level opponent. Perhaps even more concerning: the Bucs don’t have a single takeaway across those two games.
It’s been a while
UNC has not lost to an FCS opponent since 1999. That year, Division I-AA powerhouse Furman marched into Kenan Stadium and dominated the Tar Heels in a 28-3 rout. The game was so bleak it prompted The News & Observer’s Jeffrey Shelman to opine, “It was hard to tell which team allegedly plays Division I-A football.” That game marked the beginning of the end of Torbush’s tenure in Chapel Hill, as he would last only one more season with the program. The closest call since then ironically also came against Furman, who the Tar Heels beat 45-42 in 2006.
What are the odds?
At the time of publication, UNC is a 35.5-point favorite in the game.
Featured image via East Tennessee State Athletics
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