UTC quarterback Alejandro Bennifield (15) takes the snap behind the blocking of Chris Mayes (55) and Jacob Revis (52) on Nov. 1, 2014.CULLOWHEE, N.C. - As the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Mocs began warming up for Saturday's Southern Conference game at Western Carolina, they were greeted by much, um, chatter from the home team, especially quarterback Troy Mitchell.
"Overrated," was one of the comments the team ranked No. 12 in the FCS coaches' poll heard from Mitchell and his teammates. "We're going to put you in your place" was another.
Three hours later, UTC on the preferred end of a 51-0 final score, Mocs All-America defensive end Davis Tull said, "We thought they were a little arrogant in pregame. We wanted to make a statement."
It was a statement so long and so loud as to have reverberated through a car radio miles and miles away. Trust me. Having left the Scenic City at 8:45 a.m. for a 2 p.m. kickoff, your humble scribe found himself on a gridlocked I-40 when the North Carolina Department of Transportation shut down 17 miles of the interstate following numerous crashes due to ice and snow just east of the Tennessee border.
Hoping to still make the opening kickoff, my traveling party decided to travel over the river and through the woods by taking Waterville Road just west of the Tennessee-North Carolina state line.
What followed was a road trip that might best be described as equal parts "Deliverance," "The Shining" and "Planes, Trains and Automobiles."
Despite so much snow being blown from evergreens by high wind that it seemed as if an avalanche was about to bury us alive, this decision briefly seemed fine until an employee from Duke Energy tracked us down to tell us we were about to run into a road closed by downed trees and power lines, which we already had swerved to avoid on more than one occasion.
"You've got to go back," he said, somewhat amused by our naivete. "All the way back."
Nor did he mean back to I-40 only. We were directed to follow I-81 to Johnson City, then catch I-26 back to Asheville, a detour of more than two hours.
Instead, we stubbornly decided to backtrack only as far as Newport, Tenn., then gambled on U.S. 25 taking us to Asheville, then 40 West back to Waynesville. We had been about 20 miles from there when the traffic first stalled more than four hours earlier.
The snow nearly a foot high at times along Highway 25, it was easy to wonder why Christmas wreathes and blow-up Santas weren't decorating front porches instead of shriveling Jack-O-Lanterns.
By the time we reached WCU's E.J. Whitmire Stadium, a trip intended to cover roughly 215 miles one way and take three hours and 15 minutes instead had eaten up close to seven hours and covered 326 miles through sleet, snow and at least three screaming fits.
All of which brought to mind the conversation between Steve Martin and the late John Candy in "P, T and A," when Martin tells Candy near the movie's end, "You got me home."
Candy: "A little late."
Martin: "A couple days."
OK, so maybe it was only a couple of quarters of missing 20-mph winds, 35-degree temperatures and the occasional wayward snow flake flying too far south before winter. But such a delay cost us a chance to see at least a portion of UTC senior running back Keon Williams' stunning 194 rushing yards and two touchdowns. And to see the Mocs' offensive line give up zero sacks for the third game in a row. And see the start of an afternoon in which UTC piled up 512 yards to just 102 for WCU. And, lastly, see the life zapped from the cocky Catamounts before the first quarter ended and the UTC defense delivered its first shutout of the season.
It was all such a shock, given that both the Mocs and 'Mounts began the day with identical 4-0 league marks, that UTC kicker Henrique Ribeiro -- when asked if he ever dreamed he'd kick six PATs and three field goals in this one -- answered, "I probably wouldn't have believed them. I thought I'd have to make a clutch field goal for us to win."
Of course, a single field goal would have won it, thanks to the dazzling defense.
"A lot of people were saying Western Carolina was the team to beat," Tull said. "But if they don't score, they can't win."
What's all but won now is UTC's first NCAA playoff berth since 1984. By defeating visiting Wofford this coming Saturday afternoon, the Mocs will own the outright SoCon championship and automatic playoff bid that comes with it.
"I'm thinking about Wofford right now," Tull said.
Added head coach Russ Huesman: "We've already talked about, already brought up Wofford."
But he also wanted to dwell for at least a moment or two on the wreckage his team had just wrought on the road against a quality FCS foe.
"I told the team," Huesman said, "that in six years here, this is the best team performance by a million miles."
It was certainly worth the 111 extra miles and 220 extra minutes it took to watch at least a portion of it.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com