Samford running back Mason Wald (33) is gang tackled by the Chattanooga defense including Jordan Tippit (22) Steven Smigelsky (37), Josh Beard (46) and Riley Hawkins (6) Saturday. The Mocs won 14-7.( The Birmingham News / Frank Couch )
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga defense delivered again and again in the second half.
Free safety Jordan Tippit made the final play, breaking up a pass in the end zone, to preserve the Mocs' 14-7 Southern Conference football win over Samford in front of an announced crowd of 6,393 Saturday at Seibert Stadium.
"It was fourth-and-long and I was just trying to get us off the field," Tippit, a sophomore, said of his pass breakup with 1:09 remaining.
Tippit, whose third-quarter interception deep in UTC territory quelled another Samford threat, led the celebration as the defense danced its way off the field. All that was left was for the offense -- effervescent in the first half and stagnant in the second -- to run out the clock on UTC's first conference road win since 2007 and best start since 1997.
The Mocs (4-1, 2-1) hadn't won a SoCon game on the road since their 45-38 overtime victory at Georgia Southern on Sept. 22, 2007. They return to Georgia Southern this week.
UTC coach Russ Huesman said he gave the game ball to defensive coordinator Adam Fuller, whose squad limited Walter Payton Award candidate running back Chris Evans to 64 yards on 21 carries and held the Bulldogs (3-3, 1-2) to 208 yards of total offense.
"Our defense, I told them at halftime I'd buy a ticket to watch them play," Huesman said. "They got after it."
Samford's touchdown came on a 1-yard run by quarterback Dustin Taliaferro with 9:59 to play in the game. The Bulldogs held the Mocs in the second half, their fifth straight second-half shutout.
Linebacker Joseph Thornton led the UTC defense with 10 tackles, but his game ended with 5:43 remaining after he took a hard blow to the helmet while tackling Evans after a short gain on third-and-11 at the Samford 44-yard line.
Thornton lay facedown and motionless for several minutes but eventually got up on his own.
"Thornton's OK," Huesman said. "I think he got a stinger. ... He was down there for five minutes saying, 'I'm getting up,' and (the doctors) kept saying, 'No, you're not.'"
After the long break, Samford, needing a touchdown to tie, went for it on fourth-and-6 and the play never had a chance. Sophomore defensive tackle Nick Craig sacked Taliaferro for a 9-yard loss.
Craig's sack, the first of his career, was one of five for the Mocs.
"We're just clicking right now," Craig said of the defense. "And we're going to keep getting better."
The Mocs' passing game hasn't looked better than it did in the first half, when quarterback B.J. Coleman completed 15 of 20 passes for 204 yards. He hit wideout Chris Pitchford five times for 135 yards, setting up both touchdowns: a 1-yard sneak by Coleman in the first quarter and a 1-yard run by tailback Chris Awuah in the second.
Despite squandering a couple of opportunities in the first half, UTC led 14-0. The offense had 229 of its 300 yards of total offense in the first half. It played the second half without starting tailback Bryan Fitzgerald, who sprained his left foot in the second quarter and didn't return.
After Craig's fourth-down sack, the Mocs' ensuing drive stalled at the Samford 26. Following a timeout with 3:19 to play, Huesman elected to go for the field goal and Craig Camay's 42-yard attempt was blocked by Jamael Lett and the ball rolled backward to the UTC 41.
Samford got 15 yards on first down and appeared to get 13 on its second, but the play was called back for an ineligible receiver. On fourth-and-16 at the UTC 32, Taliaferro lofted the ball into the right corner of the end zone and Tippit was there to make sure there was not overtime and no sad faces on the Mocs' ride home.
"We love having the game on our shoulders," Tippit said of the defense. "We say, let's make the big play and create some memories."
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