Rusty Wright was pretty adamant Saturday afternoon that his University of Tennessee at Chattanooga team deserves inclusion in the 2023 Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
And maybe he will be right. But that doesn't mean there won't be some sleepless nights the next two weeks wondering if the Mocs have done enough.
Both the fifth-year head coach and UTC players expressed why they believe the Mocs' 7-3 record after 10 consecutive weeks of games is enough to merit inclusion in the 24-team bracket, which will be revealed at 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 19 on ESPNU. Of course, the Mocs aren't quite done with the regular season, with the team off this week before visiting Alabama on Nov. 18, but let's not get crazy here: UTC is headed toward a likely 7-4 finish.
"We've put a good team on tape," senior cornerback Kam Brown said. "I just hope the FCS playoff committee understands and sees what we've been putting on film and give us a chance in the playoffs."
The Mocs are one of four FCS teams this season that has played 10 consecutive weeks without an open date. Two of those (Maine and Sacred Heart) are 2-8; the other is Butler, which is 7-3 but has two wins against opponents from outside of NCAA Division I (one against a D-III program, the other against an NAIA team).
But that's a different conversation than the one about what happened Saturday at Finley Stadium, where UTC hosted second-ranked Furman. The Mocs were never up by more than four points, but they did lead for more than half of the game, which is why the Paladins scoring 14 fourth-quarter points to steal a 17-14 victory stings as much as it did.
"My group has battled as long as they can," Wright said. "We'll see if somebody gives us an opportunity. But I'm not taking anything away from these kids this year. We've been through a lot in 10 weeks, OK, a lot, and they've played their tails off. They played their tail off today. They've got nothing to hang their head 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."
Then, referring to Furman, Wright added: "That's a good football team out there, there's no doubt about it ... We went toe to toe with them, and we had our opportunity to take care of it and we didn't do it."
The win would have left no doubt about the Mocs' playoff fate because it would have clinched the Southern Conference's automatic bid, along with a share of the conference title. Instead, both of those rewards went to Furman (8-1, 6-0).
Wright recently expressed displeasure about the SoCon's scheduling, which resulted in the Mocs being done with league play with two weeks left in the regular season.
"This should never happen," Wright said at a recent news conference. "There's no way the Southern Conference should let that happen. No way we should be finished playing our conference games and everybody else have two conference games left, there's no way that should ever happen.
"It makes no sense, it makes zero sense. And I think we paid for the scheduling service, and we need to get our money back. Makes zero sense."
Now, UTC will be at the mercy of its FCS resumé, although it's one that has nine good efforts on it.
Those include a close win at Mercer (currently 7-3 overall) in October and a blowout victory at Samford (5-4) in September, as well as a home win over Kennesaw State (2-6), which has additional scholarships compared to other FCS teams as it transitions to the Football Bowl Subdivision next season. It also includes nationally respected performances in home losses to Furman and Western Carolina (6-3), which kicked a last-second field goal for a 52-50 win.
"I think we could have won this league if we had five more points," quarterback Chase Artopoeus said Saturday. "I think this team has come a long way (since the season-opening loss at) North Alabama; I don't think that's an accurate showing of who we were.
"I think we kind of proved that. We've gone to place like Mercer, beat them. Went into Samford, that was pretty hostile, beat them. Kind of handled the rest of the league pretty well. Obviously we faltered against Western Carolina in that barnburner and then this one, just fell short a little bit, but I still think this is a competitive team. I definitely think that if we do get in the playoffs, we'll make some rumbles."
But there is that North Alabama game, a 41-27 win by the Lions on the first Saturday night of September. The home team dominated for a quarter before the Mocs took over, scoring 27 consecutive points. But then the visitors seemingly took their foot off the pedal and North Alabama capitalized, scoring 20 fourth-quarter points for the win.
The Lions are currently 3-7.
Wright, though, remains confident UTC will eventually be preparing for a 12th game, with that one in the FCS playoffs.
"In my heart, I believe we're going to play again (beyond the Alabama game)," he said. "I don't have any idea, any clues, anything like that. But I believe in my heart, what this football team has been through in 14 weeks, they deserve to play."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.