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A University of Tennessee at Chattanooga yellow plastic hard hat positioned tightly atop his shiny blue wig, Eric Cooksey held high a sign that read: "SoCon Champs."
It was slightly risky, this sign, given that nearly four minutes remained on the Finley Stadium scoreboard Saturday afternoon, though the hometown Mocs did lead Wofford, 31-13.
Yet Cooksey hadn't made the sign for this game.
"I made it for the Samford game last year," he said. "When we didn't win that one, I put it in the attic until today."
Every Chattanoogan who's ever cared so much as a split second for UTC football can appreciate waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting for something good to happen to this long-pitiful program.
But unlike most folks, Cooksey is relatively young. He didn't graduate from UTC until last December, about a month after that overtime loss at Samford once more kept the Mocs out of the NCAA playoffs, though they were officially SoCon Co-Champs.
For so many others, however, 29 long and lousy seasons have come and gone waiting for the school's second outright SoCon crown and second playoff birth. It's not by accident that the Nov. 10, 1984, photo of then-coach Buddy Nix riding off on his players' shoulders after a 21-20 win over Appalachian State at now razed Chamberlain Field is of the black-and-white variety.
UTC tight end Faysal Shafaat stiff-arms Wofford linebacker Terrance Morris.The wonder is that it wasn't etched onto a stone tablet.
"We really kind of backed into it," said assistant athletic director Mike Royster, who's worked at the school for 41 years, as he recalled 1984. "It was great, but we really just looked at it as we were back on track. We were moving on. We thought there would be a lot more."
As Royster spoke, Saturday's final seconds disappeared. The 31-13 score was final. Official. Cathartic. At least one more playoff berth is now guaranteed.
Out on Davenport Field's plastic grass, senior defensive lineman Josh Freeman, tears streaming down his bearded face, hugged teammates, friends and fans. A chant at least as old as 1984 -- "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" -- floated from the stands. UTC freshman defensive back Tae Davis grabbed the "Champs" sign from Cooksey, who nimbly stood on the Finley brick wall separating the stands from the field.
"I worked too hard for this," Davis said with a smile.
Said Freeman, revisiting the Mocs' shaky 14-13 halftime lead: "We knew we had 30 more minutes, same as always, to get it done, and we did it."
They did it on one of those days made to remember forever. Sunny. Temperature around 60. A gentle breeze. Perfect football weather. Period.
And if the crowd didn't tear up the turnstiles as it should have -- a somewhat disappointing 9,692 on tap to celebrate history of sorts -- it was loud and proud and lasting, most hanging around for the finish.
"When my father took this job six years ago, he made UTC's motto 'Restore the Glory,'" said Mocs starting quarterback Jacob Huesman as he spoke of his father, head coach and school alum Russ Huesman. "There's actually a pretty rich history of good football here. This means a lot to him, I'm sure."
A mental picture to sum up 30 years of frustration: As the UTC band played the alma mater, Russ Huesman stood alone on the field, silent, his ballcap removed, his eyes slightly moist. He had wanted this job in 2002, after the Donnie Kirkpatrick era ended in a 2-10 disaster. Wanted it and interviewed for it with former athletic director Steve Sloan.
But Sloan had different ideas then. He was set on Rodney Allison, who once had been Sloan's quarterback at Texas Tech, their bond so strong that Allison had named his son "Sloan." So Huesman waited. Six more years. Sloan retired. Rick Hart was in charge.
"The year before Rodney was let go, (John) Murphy and I were talking near the end of another loss and this guy walks by with a bag on his head," said former player and longtime UTC booster Don Lepard. "We said, 'That's it.' We called Russ and said, 'Get your resume together.'"
The following year, as the losses mounted, eventually reaching 11, Huesman would call once a week from his defensive coordinator's office at the University of Richmond and ask, "What are my chances?"
"I finally told him, 'If you get to the (NCAA I-AA) national championship game (at Finley Stadium), we'll get you an interview,'" Lepard said.
The Spiders not only got there but won. Huesman got the interview and the job. Six years later, the Mocs are back in the playoffs for the first time since 1984.
Yet UTC super fan Dennis Haskins, who came to fame as Mr. Belding in "Saved by the Bell," said Saturday that all of this is bigger than a playoff berth.
"I remember talking to (former) Chancellor Roger Brown right after Russ was hired," Haskins said. "He said he wanted to give football one more chance to succeed by hiring Russ. But if it failed, he might consider dropping to Division III (non-scholarship). He really wanted Russ to succeed, though."
Huesman has never talked about that dynamic, but he did say of the expectations for this season, "We had to do it this year."
An hour later, the sun setting on Finley, Huesman walked down the stadium's steps, gave his wife Amy a long hug and headed home to "sit in my chair and watch football, pretty much like I always do."
Only this time, for the first time as a head coach, he did it knowing his Mocs are bound for the playoffs.
"It's pretty amazing," Haskins said, "how far this program has come."
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com