Former Bison broadcaster senses a wild Saturday in Tennessee

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn.

Not a lot was stirring around East Tennessee State on Friday, a beautiful setting for a campus with its rolling hills and trees showing a hint of fall color.

This is not a place anybody would want to walk around in freezing rain.

There would be more elevation gained in one day at ETSU than five years at North Dakota State.

On the south side of campus, at the foot of Buffalo Mountain, however, sits one flat piece of land.

Its 100 yards long and 160 feet wide, or the measurements of a football field.

There will be no quiet there on late Saturday afternoon when the Buccaneers host the Bison.

A banner to welcome tailgating NDSU fans was to be hung from the top of a parking garage late Friday afternoon not far from the stadium.

As the story goes, its a return from how well some East Tennessee State fans were treated at tailgating in the Fargodome parking lot in the 2021 FCS quarterfinal playoff game between NDSU and East Tennessee State.

The Bison won that game 27-3.

The folks in the west lot were just so welcoming, they made them feel at home, said Keith Brake, the radio voice and director of broadcasting at East Tennessee State.

Brake, an East Tennessee State graduate, would know.

He worked for Bison 1660-AM from 2016-21, broadcasting NDSU womens basketball games, hosting a Bison football postgame show and his own weekday two-hour talk show.

I think what Bison fans have done to make other people feel welcome in the Fargodome and the city is something the folks down here are very eager to repay, said Brake, also noting that fans from Brookings, S.D., or Grand Forks dont apply to that statement.

Outside the lines, were all here to watch a football game and have a great time but inside the lines, I think were all excited for what should be a really interesting and hopefully competitive game.

The kickoff is slated for 4:30 p.m.

(CT) from William Greene Jr.

Stadium and will be aired by WDAY on the North Dakota statewide ABC network.

Its the first game of a home-and-home contract, with East Tennessee set to play in Fargo in the 2026 season opener.

There is a curiosity and excitement, Brake said.

Anytime you see a small number next to a teams name when theyre coming in, you want to know more, right? Right.

NDSU is the second-ranked team in the FCS Stats Perform top 25 poll, the highest-ranked team to play in Greene Stadium, topping No.

4 Kennesaw State in the 2021 playoffs.

Georgia Southern still holds the standard for the highest ranked team, traveling to Johnson City and the old Mini-Dome, which is still very visible on campus, as the No.

1 team in 2001.

That turned out to be a majestic day for the Buccaneers, who beat the Eagles 19-16.

Its been awhile since a game this big has come along, Brake said.

"Certainly in non-conference play, this may be the biggest home game weve ever had.

Theyre ready to go.

Were tracking toward a record crowd of around 11,000.

That atmosphere I think is going to be really, really fun.

That would mean a full stadium, which carries a seating capacity of just over 7,600 but has a hillside suitable for standing room only.

In one sense, East Tennessee and NDSU have one thing in common: both have the attention of their respective communities.

The closest NFL franchise to Johnson City is the Tennessee Titans, located three hours away in Nashville.

On the flipside, the University of Tennessee is an hour and a half away while Virginia Tech and Appalachian State are not far from Johnson City, so there is that competition.

But I think we have been able to tap into that same vein of enthusiasm for college sports, Brake said.

I think people kind of have that understanding and have that same buy-in for FCS program that wants to be at a really high level.

After the days of playing Georgia Southern and Marshall, East Tennessee dropped its program in 2003 because of financial hardships only to resurrect it in 2015.

Students approved a fee increase of $125 per semester to help fund it.

When Brake was a student, there was no football team.

There was no guarantee that it was going to come back, he said.

Just to see the immediate response.

In less than a decade, this has turned into a huge thing in the community, and its been great..

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