One thing that is certain when it comes to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team and coach Russ Huesman: They don't run from an opening-day challenge.
Another one awaits them this evening.
The nationally eighth-ranked Mocs host seventh-ranked Jacksonville State at 6 p.m. at Finley Stadium. It's the only game in Division I football that pits a pair of top-10 teams against one another.
The Gamecocks present yet another opening-game test for the Mocs under Huesman. After his first game as the UTC coach in 2009 against Glenville State, the Mocs have faced No. 2-ranked Appalachian State and UT-Martin and Football Bowl Subdivision opponents Nebraska, Central Michigan and South Florida in openers. Only USF didn't advance to a bowl game in that season.
UTC defensive back Dee Virgin (3) hits Jacksonville State wide receiver Josh Barge as he catches a pass during the Mocs' home football game against the Gamecocks on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn. "We always play good football teams. We're not beating around the bush early on," quarterback Jacob Huesman said.
With excitement at a fever pitch around the city entering tonight's contest (more than 10,000 tickets have been sold already), the Mocs are looking to put together a solid performance against a Gamecocks team that dominated them in most aspects a season ago. The 26-23 JSU win in overtime was not indicative of the game itself, as JSU finished with 409 yards of total offense to UTC's 111, and only a pair of interceptions returned for touchdowns by defensive backs Lucas Webb and Dee Virgin kept the score from being completely one-sided.
Offensively, the Mocs didn't get a first down until the second half, and they averaged 1.9 yards per play. That's a performance that isn't easily forgotten, but while the Mocs want to put their best foot forward tonight, Coach Huesman stated that the outcome won't determine either team's ultimate success.
"We want to win, they want to win, but this game is not going to make our season, or make their season, and it won't break our season or break their season," he said. "We're both going to play hard and both want to win badly, but there are 11 or 12 games in the season and they're all important. The first game is not any more important than the eighth.
"We've started against some good teams in the six years since I've been here, but I think the people are excited about this game and the players are excited. If you ask the players who they'd rather play from a competitive standpoint, I think they'd say Jacksonville State because of the challenge and how good they are. That's the way it should be."
The UTC players haven't forgot last season's game. Of course they want to win, but equally as important is showing the fans that the team that played against the Gamecocks a season ago isn't who the Mocs really were or who they are this season.
"Having this game at home is a blessing. It's truly a blessing, because we want to show everybody that last year was a fluke game," receiver Xavier Borishade said. "It shouldn't have happened the way it did, but since it did, it's OK. We're so happy to have this game at home and to have the fan support. We're ready to play."
So what could a season-opening win mean for the Mocs? A lot, according to Jacob Huesman.
"It would be huge, for the fans especially," he said. "As a team we believe in who we are and are confident in what we can do. For the fans that come out, seeing us compete against a team like Jacksonville State and perform well against them, I think it will make them want to come back for the next one, and the next one. I think it'll help fans buy in and really get them on board this year.
"We've played really good teams early on. It's kind of a trend here. We probably should have won a couple of those games, and we'd like to right the ship on that one this year."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.