Mocs need sub foe

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team is having to scramble to find an opponent for next season after Presbyterian backed out of its visit to UTC on Sept. 15.

The Blue Hose paid UTC $50,000 to cancel the game because Presbyterian's "money" game at Vanderbilt had to be moved to that week following the Southeastern Conference's expansion and subsequent schedule shuffle.

"It's not ideal, but what are you going to do?" UTC athletic director Rick Hart said Monday. "We will get a game."

Hart said the key factors involved are the date, which would be Sept. 15 or possibly Oct. 6, which is the Mocs' scheduled off Saturday. Also, the game has to be at Finley Stadium so UTC has five home games.

UTC had finalized its nonconference games for the next few seasons this summer. Senior associate athletic director Matt Pope said he has talked to numerous schools about playing next season, but nothing has been finalized.

Pope said one possibility was adding on to its already scheduled series with Georgia State. UTC will visit Georgia State in 2013 and host the Panthers the following season.

If necessary, Hart said, UTC will use the $50,000 to pay a team to come in for a one-time game next season. An option that is not on the table is playing a non-Division I opponent because those wins don't count toward playoff eligibility.

In the first game of the scheduled home-and-home with Presbyterian, in 2009 the Mocs won 29-13 in Clinton, S.C.

Consiglio honored

Senior linebacker Ryan Consiglio was named the SoCon defensive player of the week Monday following his 19-tackle performance in last Saturday's season-ending 28-27 loss to Wofford.

It is Consiglio's third player-of-the-week award in his career and the school-record, and SoCon-best, 11th such honor for the Mocs this season.

Consiglio had 120 tackles this season, the most in the league, and finished sixth on UTC's all-time list with 321 stops.

All-SoCon teams

The SoCon will announced the coaches' all-conference and postseason award winners today, followed by the media's choices Wednesday.

UTC likely will place several players on the first- and second-team defenses, while wide receiver Joel Bradford may be a second-team offense selection.

Mocs linebacker Wes Dothard was a nominee for defensive player of the year, and backup quarterback Terrell Robinson was up for freshman of the year.

Mocs receive votes

The Mocs finished the season 5-6, but that didn't keep a few people from voting for them in the final regular-season polls released Monday. UTC received 14 points in the Sports Network poll and nine points in the FCS coaches' poll.

Contact John Frierson at jfrierson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6268. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mocsbeatCTFP.

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