The 1952 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team was an American football team that represented East Tennessee State College (ETSC)—now known as East Tennessee State University—as a member of the Volunteer State Athletic Conference (VSAC) during the 1952 college football season. Led by first-year head coach Star Wood, the Buccaneers compiled an overall record of 6–1–2. East Tennessee State's made the program first bowl game appearance with victory in the Burley Bowl over Emory and Henry by the score of 34–16. The team captains were Hal Morrison and Cecil Maddux.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 20	9:00 p.m.	at Austin Peay	Municipal Stadium Clarksville, TN	T 6–6	3,000	[1][2]
September 27	8:00 p.m.	Morehead State*	State College Stadium Johnson City, TN	W 34–0	4,000	[3][4]
October 4	3:00 p.m.	at Western Carolina*	College Field Cullowhee, NC	W 13–7	2,000	[5][6]
October 11	8:00 p.m.	Maryville (TN)*	State College Stadium Johnson City, TN	W 33–13	5,000	[7][8]
October 18	9:00 p.m.	at Carson–Newman	Jefferson City, TN	W 14–7		[9][10]
October 25		at Appalachian State*	College Field Boone, NC	T 27–27		[11][12]
November 8		at Tennessee Tech*	Overall Field Cookeville, TN	W 21–13	4,000	[13][14]
November 15	8:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	State College Stadium Johnson City, TN	L 14–28	2,500	[15][16]
November 27	2:15 p.m.	vs. Emory and Henry*	Roosevelt Memorial Stadium Johnson City, TN (Burley Bowl)	W 34–16	10,000	[17][18][19]
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Eastern time

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