For ETSU, the marathon journey was worth it with a 34-17 win over The Citadel

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) Khamran Laborn ran for two touchdowns and East Tennessee State defeated The Citadel 34-17 on Saturday night in a game that was delayed three hours after the Buccaneers were stranded several hours on a marathon bus ride to The Citadel because of flooding were caused by Hurricane Helene.

What was supposed to be a six-hour bus ride for ETSU that began Friday morning in Johnson City, Tenn., didn’t end until 16 hours later Saturday.

After leaving their campus, the team learned that I-40 was closed in both directions and I-26 South was also closed, leaving buses stranded with no cell service or internet. The buses eventually moved to higher ground and parked for six hours.

ETSU finally arrived in Charleston around 4:30 a.m

Then the Buccaneers waited until the fourth quarter to score 21 points to pull away.

Laborn broke free and scored a 40-yard score with 5:42 left, 10 points remaining, and both teams began a 28-point run.

“After everything we’ve been through in the last 24 hours, I can’t be prouder of them,” said Tre Lamb, in his first year as ETSU’s head coach. “It’s pretty remarkable. But you know, I told the team that we will never make excuses in this program. I don’t care about the situation, we don’t make excuses. We play to win. We expect a win.”

Laborn gave the Buccaneers (3-2, 1-0 Southern) their first points with a 20-yard score in the second quarter. Jaylen King had a 14-yard score on a fourth-and-2 for a 13-3 halftime lead.

Shortly after Laborn’s second touchdown, Jimmy Bowdry converted a 15-yard pick-6. The teams then traded touchdowns, with The Citadel scoring on Bennett’s TD pass to Tyler Cherry and ETSU answering with Bryson Irby’s long scoring run with three minutes left.

ETSU survived three King interceptions, with Laborn and Irby each rushing for over 100 yards.

Garrison Johnson scored for the Bulldogs (2-3, 0-2) in the third quarter on a 1-yard run that lasted three plays after Laborn lost a fumble at the ETSU 8-yard line.

Harrowing hike

During their trip, the team found a grocery store that gave them food that employees would throw away due to a power outage. The team was finally able to drive to a shelter. While the players slept on the bus, the coaches were taken by a traveler Lamb identified as Ryan Ratliff to a hotel where they were able to tell families that everyone was safe. A few hours while everyone on the bus was sleeping, Ratliff knocked on the bus to let them know the southbound route was open.

While still on the way to the game, Lamb wrote in a post on Thank you to our bus drivers, athletic trainers, staff and officials for keeping everyone calm. There was a random guy, Ryan Ratliff, who took our buses to find accommodation and came back to the accommodation to tell us the highway was open. We had no access to any information. Hero. Many thanks to Ingles (grocery store) who provided us with 100 sandwiches and fruit at 6pm. No service, no internet, no hotel. We still need to talk to families or loved ones, but we are on the road and ready to play.”

— Get poll alerts and AP Top 25 updates throughout the season. Sign up here. AP College Football: and