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Wiedmer: Mocs really good, but they're better with CraineUTC's Montrell Pardue turns in another takeaway scoreUTC solid in all phases while blowing out Mercer [photos]UTC defeats Mercer, 52-31
After a stout victory over Mercer on Saturday, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football players didn't speak as though revenge was any sort of factor.
But they sure played like it.
The Football Championship Subdivision third-ranked Mocs avenged their only Southern Conference loss in the past three seasons Saturday, jumping out to a 35-point halftime lead on their way to a 52-31 victory in front of a homecoming crowd of 11,039 at Finley Stadium.
The Mocs, off to their first 6-0 start since 1968 and 4-0 in the SoCon, travel to face No. 9 The Citadel (5-0, 3-0) this Saturday in Charleston, S.C.
Mercer (2-3, 1-2) defeated UTC 17-14 last season in Macon, Ga., effectively costing the Mocs a potential playoff seed. But from head coach Russ Huesman on down, nobody spoke of Saturday's win as a "get-back" game at the Bears.
"We want to send a message every week, but it definitely felt nice to do what we did in front of a homecoming crowd at Finley," offensive lineman Corey Levin said. "Against those guys it's always tough, so it felt good."
The Mocs dominated on both sides of the ball while gaining their 13th straight SoCon home win as well as their 13th straight win in the month of October. UTC finished with 531 yards of total offense (273 rushing, 258 passing), and its defense allowed just 65 first-half yards and forced a pair of turnovers in the game, including an interception Montrell Pardue returned 29 yards for a third-quarter score.
"That was as good of a first half as we've ever played here in all three phases," Huesman said. "Sometimes with a big lead things get a little sloppy, but if we played like that in the first half to get to that point, it's going to be hard to come back. I'd like to play a little bit better, but it was a great win and we'll take it.
"We're 6-0. That's all that matters."
Derrick Craine had 160 rushing yards and a 54-yard touchdown run on which he broke six tackles. He suffered a lower body injury in the third quarter, and with a healthy lead coaches chose to hold him out. The senior moved into fifth all-time on the UTC rushing yardage list, with his new total of 2,594 passing Erroll Wynn (2006-10).
Alejandro Bennifield had 258 passing yards and five total touchdowns, including a 21-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. His four touchdown passes pushed his season total to 15.
"We came out today, executed and finished the game. I feel like we played well on both sides of the ball," Bennifield said. "To me, it was the next game. Mercer was the next team in the way of the SoCon championship, and the result was what it was.
"We came out to play and had a great game."
The Mocs scored on all six of their possessions in the first half. Bennifield had touchdown passes to Malcolm Colvin, C.J. Board, Bailey Lenoir and Xavier Borishade in addition to Craine's run.
Colvin and Lenoir's touchdown catches were the first for UTC tight ends since Faysal Shafaat, an All-American during his time with the Mocs, had two against Furman on Nov. 22, 2014.
The Bears scored the final 21 points of the game.
Nakevion Leslie finished with 13 tackles, Pardue had eight and Dale Warren had an interception to go with five tackles.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.