A quick glance at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team's first-quarter performances last season can leave you wondering how the Mocs managed a winning season.
In their first 10 games, leaving out the finale against BCS national champion Alabama, the Mocs were outscored 86-41 in the opening period.
In UTC's four Southern Conference losses - to Furman, Georgia Southern, Elon and today's season-opening opponent, Appalachian State - the Mocs were outscored 63-17.
To pull off an upset of the third-ranked Mountaineers, UTC must start quickly, seize the momentum and keep the big home crowd in the game. Finley Stadium could have close to 20,000 for this one.
"I think in every game a fast start's important, but when you're the underdog like we are, we can't dig a hole early," Mocs coach Russ Huesman said. "They're too good for us to dig a hole and think we're going to come out."
The Mocs almost did last season in Boone, N.C. Appalachian State took advantage of a sloppy first quarter by UTC and jumped out to a 21-0 lead.
Aided by a couple of successful onside kicks, UTC rallied with 20 consecutive points to cut the lead to 21-20 early in the fourth. But the Mountaineers eventually regrouped and pulled away for a 35-20 win.
"It's huge that we get up and it's huge that we stay up if we're up, because App State's a team that knows how to win and they're not going to stop," running back J.J. Jackson said. "We saw that last year."
The Mocs came from behind late to win two SoCon games last season, at home against Western Carolina and The Citadel, but nobody would mistake either the Catamounts or the Bulldogs for the Mountaineers.
"This is not going to be one of those games where we go out there and score 35 points," offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said. "It ain't happening against them."
The Mocs had the ball more than 12 minutes longer than the Mountaineers last season and would like to control the clock again today. The one thing UTC must do, Satterfield said, is eliminate turnovers.
UTC had three interceptions and a fumble at Appalachian State, which led to 14 Mountaineers points. The Mocs' defense counterbalanced that a bit with two interceptions and a forced fumble, which led to seven points.
"We're going to have to take care of the football, play the kicking game and play defense," Satterfield said, "and if there's a break there, a chance to make a play, we've got to make it."