MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Tom Arth liked the thought of early-season challenges, so the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach could see where his new team stood.
The consensus?
The Mocs need some work.
Dominant performances by the Jacksonville State defense and running back Roc Thomas spoiled Arth's first game as UTC's leader, as they led the STATS sixth-ranked Gamecocks to a 27-13 victory at the Cramton Bowl in the Football Championship Subdivision Kickoff Classic.
Thomas finished with 190 yards of total offense, leading the Gamecocks in both rushing (122) and receiving (68) despite sitting most of the fourth quarter.
"He's as good as everyone talks about," said UTC safety Lucas Webb, who had an interception and four tackles. "He's the full package. We knew he was a good back coming in, and we knew we had to play with good leverage, be technically sound with our tackling, but he had a bunch of explosive plays."
The Mocs were limited to 294 yards of total offense, with 159 coming in the final quarter. JSU forced three turnovers - a pair of Nick Tiano interceptions, one of which was returned for a 52-yard touchdown by Jonathan Hagler in the third quarter, and a fumble by the sophomore quarterback.
The Mocs had two first-half drives into the red zone that were marred with penalties leading to Victor Ulmo field goals. They also had a couple of defensive penalties that extended drives or took the Gamecocks out of bad field position.
"Jacksonville State is an outstanding team," Arth said. "They're extremely well-coached and they deserve to win. We made too many errors early on and missed some opportunities. The big thing for us going forward will be our ability to learn from mistakes. We're right there. We had some great opportunities; we've just got to take advantage of them.
"When you have penalties, make some silly mistakes against teams of that caliber, it's magnified, and we had too much of that tonight."
Tiano finished with 218 yards passing, completing 23 of his 43 attempts, but the Mocs' rushing attack was relatively non existent - just 76 yards on 25 carries, with 68 coming from Tiano on scrambles.
The Mocs entered the fourth quarter with 13 yards rushing but trailed only 20-6 after Hagler's interception return. That lead was stretched to three scores when JSU quarterback Bryant Horn - who finished with 182 yards passing - scrambled to his left and found a wide-open Shaq Davidson behind the defense for a 52-yard score that put the game away with 9:44 to play.
Joseph Parker was the leading receiver for the Mocs, with 56 yards on six receptions and a 4-yard touchdown catch with 1:30 to play. Richardre Bagley had 55 yards receiving, 16 rushing and 115 yards on kickoff returns.
Tavon Lawson had 14 tackles to lead the Mocs, while Tae Davis had eight. Two of Isaiah Mack's seven tackles were for losses.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.