The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team defeated The Citadel 31-23 to win the Southern Conference's automatic bid to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
The eighth-ranked Mocs (8-2, 6-1) gained 489 yards of total offense, led by quarterback Jacob Huesman. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior, who celebrated Senior Day with eight fellow seniors and three others that won't return to the program next season, finished with 310 yards of total offense (192 passing, 118 rushing) and two touchdowns on the day.
Derrick Craine had 82 yards rushing, putting the game away with a career-long 46-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. C.J. Board and Xavier Borishade had 116 and 107 yards receiving, respectively, becoming the first UTC duo to go over 100 yards receiving in the same game since 2008.
The Mocs had 161 yards of total offense in the first quarter and 293 in the first half. They struck on the first play of the game on a 75-yard double pass from Huesman to backup quarterback Alejandro Bennifield to a wide-open Borishade.
Huesman scored from a yard out late in the first quarter, then again from 9 yards out with a minute to play in the second quarter as the Mocs built a 21-0 lead at the break.
The UTC defense allowed 131 yards rushing in the first half, but one Bulldog drive ended in a fumble recovered by the Mocs' Justin King, while another was stopped on fourth down inside the Mocs' 5. The Bulldogs (7-3, 6-1) rallied in the second half, based on the strength of their rushing attack. They drove downfield on the first drive of the third quarter, which ended in a four-yard completion from quarterback Dominique Allen to Alex Glover with 8:31 to play in the third quarter.
The Mocs' Henrique Ribeiro connected on a 21-yard field goal after a drive stalled deep in Citadel territory, and on the Bulldogs' first play from scrimmage, Tyler Renew burst straight up the middle for a 52-yard score to trim UTC's lead to 24-14.
Craine had a score to push the lead to 17 points and effectively put the game away, but Citadel's Eric Goins had a 27-yard field goal, and Allen completed a 14-yard pass to Brandon Eakins with no time remaining for the final margin.
The Bulldogs - who clinched a share of the SoCon championship last week and could receive an at-large bid into the playoffs - finished with 291 yards rushing on the day on 56 attempts, led by Rewew's 115 yards on 18 attempts. Allen added 99 on 18 carries.
For full story, read Sunday's Times Free Press.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.