Commentary by Jay Greeson
The basic numbers are hardly unfamiliar to football fans in this area. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is 0-2.
Slow starts have been as common as sparse crowds for the Mocs program since 2002. Counting this season, UTC is 5-13 in its first two games of the season dating back to 2002, and two of the wins were against Glenville State and Cumberland from lower classifications.
That's the thing about numbers, though. Sure, they are hard and fast and round, but they seldom tell the complete story with context and texture.
Does 0-2 sound bad? Maybe. Does it sound better that the difference between UTC and two of the top-five teams in the Football Championship Subdivision is five total points? Does it matter, in the end, that two plays - a forced fumble by Appalachian State and a 72-yard touchdown pass by Jacksonville State in the final 90 seconds - out of more than 200 is the difference between 0-2 and receiving votes and 2-0 and receiving national attention.
Yes. And no.
"They won the game, and that's what matters," second-year UTC coach Russ Huesman said Tuesday. "Nobody cares that we were the better team, because they won the game. The Sunday after App, I felt worse, but this Sunday [after Jacksonville State] I came in and felt good because I felt like we're a good team."
Good is a relative term. There is no quantitative measure for good; it's more feeling. It's a feeling - in and around this program - that has not been here in the last eight years. The record may be familiar, but the feeling is altogether new.
"These kids are winners," Huesman said about the perceptions that an 0-2 start can create. "It's easy to think, 'You guys stink in the fourth quarter,' but that's not necessarily the case.
"We've got to finish each play and finish each drive, and the fourth quarter will take care of itself."
Huesman was emotional in the moments after the season-opening loss to No. 1-ranked Appalachian State. He said last week's loss was tougher, for "about 20 reasons, really," before expounding on the fundamental differences between being beaten by a quality foe late and giving one away to a quality foe at the end.
"It was harder to handle, for No. 1 we were better," Huesman said of the loss to the Gamecocks. "No. 2, we outplayed them, and there are about 17 more. Or 18 more, I guess."
Yes, the Mocs have been 0-2 before. Yes, the fans and followers have heard the chorus of the merit of making that one big play. Still, the strength within the coach and his program is tangible.
"Confident," Huesman offered as the one-word answer for the mood of his players.
And maybe that's the difference. Maybe belief within will make believers among those on the outside.
"The two teams we've played are in the top five," UTC defensive tackle Nick Davison said, "and we should have beaten both of them."
He's right, of course. The Mocs had two of the best FCS teams in the country on the ropes and let them wiggle free.
But "should" is a dangerous word around this program. "Should" was the verb of choice for several coaches and players in the previous decade. They should have been better. They should have turned the corner. They should have ... fill in the blank.
That should should not be used with Huesman's Mocs, though. It can't be used, because Huesman has little time for excuses and less time for doubters.
"I'd tell them to come out Saturday and see for themselves," he said, plainly referring to his message to those around the area who think a familiar 0-2 record means a familiar UTC brand of football. "For one, I don't think anyone can feel that way, and anyway, the people who pick up the paper and know what's going on know we're playing good football. I'd tell them, 'Come out Saturday and watch and you'll see a good football team playing good football.'"
Good football, sure. Winning football, no. Not yet, anyway.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or (423) 757-6273.