Hey, Mocs fans, don't blame Saturday's gut-wrenching Southern Conference could-have-been championship game loss to Furman on University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Rusty Wright or the curious play-calling.
I'm your huckleberry on this one.
Yep, this veteran scribe made the rookie mistake of writing a lede before the final whistle. Maybe I was giddy at the prospect of a trophy presentation, or just at the thought of how happy Wright was going to be postgame. Having covered the Mocs for three seasons, I guarantee you no one wanted to win that game more than the former UTC player and assistant who is in his fifth season leading the program.
The words came quickly, and they were gold. I wrote about how, at some point, the football gods had to smile on this program after so many disappointments in big games the last three-plus seasons.
I even came up with a name for Jamoi Mayes' 70-yard touchdown catch on a near-sack of quarterback Chase Artopoeus — a pass that had maybe a 5% chance of being caught by the good guys but nonetheless went the distance — to give UTC a 14-10 lead with less than nine minutes to play.
Called it the "Mayes-In-Blue Miracle." Catchy, right? I had visions of this column framed and hanging prominently in the press box. Future writers would see it and smile. My bosses would be happy.
I mean, the play was so insanely unexpected that it HAD to live on in UTC fame — and it was going to live forever in print next to my mug.
Perfect, and even though I still felt a bit uneasy as I wrote, my reasoning was if this wasn't the breakthrough game, then when?
So, what could happen if I did a little tapping on the keys with still half a quarter to go? Furman was trying to rally with a redshirt sophomore quarterback who had, in all honesty, not looked capable of doing much of anything. The UTC defensive front had been disruptive, heck, downright menacing. There was no run game for the Paladins.
Well, we know what happened next, and I should have known better. After all, recent history was not on our side.
Remember the Western Carolina game just last month? The Mocs scored with 53 seconds left and could have tied it by making a PAT, but Wright, sensing the chance for a kill shot, went for a 2-point conversion and got it for a 50-49 lead. Well, the Catamounts needed just three plays to reach the UTC 15, where a last-play field goal ended it.
Remember last year's game at Furman? The Mocs started 3-0 in SoCon play and trailed the Paladins by four with less than seven minutes to play. On fourth-and-short, for whatever reason, a field goal was called for. It was blocked. The final possession later began at the Furman 40 but went four-and-out.
The Mocs lost the next week versus Samford at home, then fell by three at Western Carolina in the regular-season finale despite leading by five with less than a minute to play.
What makes Saturday even more difficult to comprehend, history and all, are the many moments when the Mocs committed self-inflicted wounds.
They twice resorted to receivers throwing passes in critical moments. Neither ended well.
The first came with the Mocs down three in the third quarter after a clutch third-down pass from Artopoeus to Javin Whatley to the Furman 26. Whatley — who caught seven passes for 102 yards Saturday but was a quarterback during his days at Georgia's Rockmart High School — then took a handoff and threw into double coverage in the end zone and was intercepted. Pass interference probably should have been called, but at the very least, the ball shouldn't have been thrown. The play call should have been flushed.
The second came on UTC's final play after another noncall for pass interference, which infuriated Wright. On fourth-and-3 it was, again, Whatley who was assigned to pass the ball, this despite Artopoeus having 289 yards on 20 completions in the game. Furman wasn't surprised, rushed Whatley and tackled him for a loss.
Game over, UTC players, coaching staff and head-shaking fans left frustrated and confused again.
Afterward, Wright, who earlier in the week called the game "a big opportunity" and stressed that "every play will be important," tried to put the loss into words.
"My group's battled for as long as they can, so we'll see if somebody gives us an opportunity," said Wright, whose team has played 10 consecutive Saturdays and will get a week off before closing the regular season at Alabama. "Look here, I'm not taking anything away from these kids this year. We've been through a lot in 10 weeks. They've played their tails off, they played their tails off today, and they've got nothing to hang their heads about.
"I know they're all disappointed; I'm disappointed for them. There's probably things I could do better, but at the end of the day, it is what it is."
The Mocs, with two league losses (and three overall), still have a shot at making the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, but any control was lost Saturday on what was, for a moment, a perfect fall afternoon.
My fault.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com.