The positive approach for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team is that its primary goals - Southern Conference championship and postseason participation - remain possible.
Unfortunately, as the Mocs carry an 0-3 record into SoCon play, it's hard to see the forest for the trees.
In the program's worst start since 2006, the Mocs have dealt with multiple levels of adversity. No. 1 quarterback Alejandro Bennifield has missed the first three games and will miss a fourth one this week because of an NCAA academic issue. Preseason All-America linebacker Dale Warren is out for three more games after an NCAA violation.
The offense has been slow to pick up the new system and has dealt with injuries at the running back position, as seniors Richardre Bagley and Darrell Bridges missed portions of the loss to UT-Martin a week after Bagley was out against LSU.
The team's mentality? Push through it.
"Right now, we just can't get down on ourselves and start pointing fingers and trying to make it into 'I've got to do something,'" senior linebacker Tae Davis said after the latest loss. "No, we've all got to continue to do our job and work hard throughout the week and through the game and continue to try to stay together. The worst thing we can do right now is break apart, start pointing fingers and talk about each other.
"We've got to continue to work hard and keep chipping away."
Junior defensive end Isaiah Mack said the team is playing hard and competing but admitted there's "room to improve."
"We just have to keep each other up," Mack said. "We'll start over next week; all that matters is confidence. It's been tough - I'm not going to lie - but at the same time I know I'd die for my team and they'd die for me, so we'll be all right."
The winless start has been a learning experience for the winningest program in the state of Tennessee this decade, and it has been for the new coaching staff. At least the losses have been to good teams. Jacksonville State ranks fifth in the country in the Football Championship Subdivision, and after its win over the Mocs, UT-Martin checked in at No. 24 in the FCS STAT poll.
LSU was ranked No. 12 in the Bowl Subdivision when it beat the Mocs 45-10 on Sept. 9.
Monday the Mocs fell out of the FCS Top 25 for the first time in 52 weeks, which was the sixth-longest streak in the country.
"Everybody's upset, everybody's disappointed in the way the season started and they should be, but at the same time I'm proud of them," UTC coach Tom Arth said. "They don't quit; they fight. We had opportunities in the fourth quarter to go down, score and put some pressure on them and we didn't - we didn't make enough plays when we needed to - but it's not because we didn't fight."
The Mocs started preparation Sunday for the Southern Conference opener this Saturday at Virginia Military Institute before taking Monday off. Davis said that as good as the team can be, the Mocs have to "stop talking about it and just do it."
"We all want to do our job and keep trying to work hard," he said. "We know we're very talented and that we have the chance to do something special. We just have to hold everybody up to the expectation we set for ourself, work hard and do our job and try to get a 'W' at VMI."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.