UTC head football coach Russ Huesman talks with fans Jerry Bryson, Joshua Bryson and Joshua Humphries, from left, after the team gathered in the auditorium in the Student Center on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn., to find out their pairing in the 2015 NCAA Division I Football Championship. The Mocs learned that they will host Fordham at Finley Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 1 p.m.Playoff glance
A look at the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs:All Times ESTFirst RoundSaturday, Nov. 28Western Illinois (6-5) at Dayton (10-1), noonFordham (9-2) at UTC (8-3), 1 p.m.The Citadel (8-3) at Coastal Carolina (9-2), 2 p.m.Southern Utah (8-3) at Sam Houston State (8-3), 3 p.m.South Dakota State (8-3) at Montana (7-4), 3 p.m.Colgate (7-4) at New Hampshire (7-4), 3:30 p.m.Duquesne (8-3) at William & Mary (8-3), 3:30 p.m.Eastern Illinois (7-4) at Northern Iowa (7-4), 5 p.m.Second RoundSaturday, Dec. 5The Citadel-Coastal Carolina winner at Charleston Southern (9-2), 1 p.m.Colgate-New Hampshire winner at James Madison (9-2), 1 p.m.Duquesne-William & Mary winner at Richmond (8-3), 1 p.m.Western Illinois-Dayton winner at Illinois State (9-2), 2 p.m.Fordham-UTC winner at Jacksonville State (10-1), 2 p.m.South Dakota State-Montana winner at North Dakota State (9-2), 3:30 p.m.Southern-Sam Houston State winner at McNeese State (10-0), 7 p.m.Eastern Illinois-Northern Iowa winner at Portland State (9-2), 10 p.m.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will play a home game in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
It's just that the Mocs will be doing so a week earlier than they'd hoped.
Seventh-ranked UTC (8-3) will host Patriot League member Fordham (9-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Finley Stadium. The game will be shown on ESPN3, the network's online streaming service.
A UTC win would mean a trip to Alabama to face Jacksonville State on Dec. 6. The top-ranked Gamecocks (10-1), who beat the Mocs 23-20 on Sept. 5 in the season opener for both teams and went on to finish 8-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play, were one of eight teams to receive a coveted bye.
UTC, the Southern Conference co-champion and the recipient of the league's automatic playoff berth, was hoping for an extra week off and time to heal. As the Mocs gathered Sunday morning on campus at the University Center to watch the playoffs selection show, a number of players were on crutches.
Some also thought the Mocs had a résumé that warranted consideration, but senior linebacker A.J. Hampton didn't dwell on the outcome.
"It's not really up to me. I don't know if we deserved a bye or not," he said. "It would have been nice, but we didn't get it. We just look forward to playing hard."
The Mocs were ranked in the top five earlier this season, and they were seventh in Sunday's STATS poll. But in addition to their opening loss and Saturday's regular-season finale at Florida State, which they dropped 52-13 to the Football Bowl Subdivision member, the Mocs lost 17-14 at Mercer, which won just two SoCon games this year. That loss made their SoCon finale against Citadel a must-win game to ensure they would return to the playoffs for the second straight year.
Now they're facing a team that wasn't on the UTC staff's radar in terms of possible first-round opponents.
"No, no they weren't even one I thought of," UTC coach Russ Huesman said. "You never know how that's going to play out. We're thrilled to be in. We're thrilled to play Fordham. There are only 24 teams left, and all 24 are good teams and deserve to be in the playoffs.
"Our focus now is getting ready to play."
If the celebration for the Mocs' 2014 postseason bid, which seeded them eighth and included a bye, was full of smiles and cheers, the reaction Sunday was subdued, slightly stunned and obviously disappointed.
But it might fuel the Mocs - the same team picked by some to lose to Samford on Sept. 19 only to dominate in a 10-point victory. The same team that was expected to lose to Western Carolina, a 42-13 win that really wasn't that close. The same team some thought would lose to The Citadel but instead pulled out a 31-23 victory made that tight only by a Bulldogs touchdown on the final play.
If UTC needed any extra motivation, the selection committee delivered.
"If you look at how we've played this season, some of our best games we've played have been when people were telling us, 'I don't think you've got this," said senior quarterback Jacob Huesman, who helped the Mocs reach the FCS quarterfinals last season. "I look forward to these guys putting a little chip on their shoulder and really getting after it in practice this week."
The SoCon put two teams in the playoffs for the 11th time in 12 seasons. Co-champion The Citadel (8-3) also received a bid and will face Coastal Carolina (9-2), with the winner facing eighth-seeded Charleston Southern (9-2).
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.