The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga offensive players pride themselves on playing mistake-free football.
They're going to need to do so Saturday.
Seventh-ranked UTC (8-3) will have, on paper, the second-most explosive offense on the field when it hosts 14th-ranked Fordham (9-2) at 1 p.m. at Finley Stadium. The only matchup between top-15 teams in the Football Championship Subdivision playoff first round has two teams that are polar opposites in how they play.
While the Mocs ranked 15th in the FCS in rushing yards per game, the passing attack is 92nd and the team is 60th in scoring offense at 27.2 points per contest. Where the Mocs are solid is in their ball control, as they hold the ball for 32:57 of game time, which is 13th in the country.
The Rams' offense ranks in the top 10 in scoring offense and top 20 in total offense, but UTC quarterback Jacob Huesman said that shouldn't lead the Mocs to deviate from their typical game plan.
"We just have to do what we do," the three-time Southern Conference offensive player of the year said. "I think we can run the ball effectively against just about anybody. We can do things off the zone read and hybrid plays off that are hard to defend. We don't have to change anything we're doing; we just have to practice getting better at those.
"It's going to be about us and what we're doing."
The UTC offense is facing a Fordham defense that statistically looks aggressive. On six occasions this season, including five of the last six games, the Rams have allowed at least 400 yards of offense, averaging 412.5 per game. Linebacker Stephen Hodge leads the unit with 109 tackles, 10.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks and three interceptions for the year. He's also forced two fumbles and recovered one.
He's part of a group that has been effective in making plays on defense, namely in creating turnovers: They have 28 (seventh in the country), resulting in 108 Rams points.
"We have to do a great job of taking care of the ball," UTC offensive coordinator Jeff Durden said. "They're aggressive, like Citadel, and they give a lot of different looks. Every snap it's something different, so we really have to be on our game. They picks spots on what they're going to do, and they're very down-and-distance-oriented as far as the front they're going to play, so we have to do a great job scouting them."
The playoffs call for an additional attention-to-detail mentality for a team, and that has been evident in practice as the biggest game of the season draws closer for the Mocs.
"My time's running out here, so we're really trying to make the most out of it," Huesman said. "From here on out you never know when it's going to end."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at @genehenleytfp.