Six hundred thirteen days. That's how long it's been since the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team had its 2015 season ended at Jacksonville State in the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
That's how long Mocs senior defensive back Lucas Webb has had to ponder that 41-35 overtime defeat, which theoretically cost UTC a spot in the FCS title game, since that's how far Jax State advanced after that victory before falling to North Dakota State in the final.
"I got over it pretty quick," Webb said Tuesday. "But I'll remember it for the rest of my life."
Added wide receiver James Stovall, the former Bradley Central High School standout who caught four passes for 59 yards and a touchdown that early December afternoon: "I think the seniors will still feel it when we go to Montgomery (to open against the Gamecocks on Aug. 26)."
That's Montgomery, Ala., where the Mocs will face JSU on ESPN at 6:30 p.m. EDT inside the historic Cramton Bowl. In fact, 90 years ago this coming Sept. 23, that stadium hosted the first football game played at night in the South, with Cloverdale taking on Pike Road High School.
Now it will host the first nationally televised college game of the 2017 season, the Mocs and Gamecocks sharing the stage as few FCS programs ever have.
"I haven't thought a lot about that," Stovall said. "But I think a lot of our guys are talking about it. It's a great way to showcase our university."
If it succeeds at all in the ratings book, it could start a trend. FCS programs might kick off upcoming college seasons before being kicked to the media curb once September appears.
UTC defensive back Lucas Webb returns an interception ahead of Weber State tight end Helam Heimuli during the Mocs' first-round FCS playoff game last season at Finley Stadium. UTC won 45-14.
UTC wide receiver James Stovall (85) steps into the end zone as he catches a pass against Fordham defensive back Caleb Ham on Nov. 28 at Finley Stadium. Stovall was a second-team All-Southern Conference selection in 2016 and a preseason second-teamer Tuesday at media day.After all, however good these two programs are - and both are ranked in the top 15 of both the FCS STATS and FCS coaches' preseason polls - they aren't going to draw the television audience that Alabama taking on Florida State will attract exactly one week later inside Atlanta's new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Or any other marquee FBS game thereafter, including Tennessee against Georgia Tech inside that same Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Labor Day night.
But that doesn't mean this won't be a hugely important game, especially for UTC and new coach Tom Arth and his staff.
To more closely study those FCS rankings is to notice that while Jax State is ranked sixth in the STATS poll and fifth in the coaches' list, no other Ohio Valley Conference school is in either poll's Top 25. However, UTC shares space in both polls with fellow Southern Conference members Wofford, The Citadel and Samford, all four schools clustered somewhere between 11 and 19 in both rankings.
Why is this important? Whether or not Jax State wins inside the Cramton Bowl 17 days from today, it should win the OVC and the automatic berth that goes with it. For the Mocs, while a victory over the Gamecocks isn't a must, it could buy some important goodwill with the FCS playoff selection committee if they fail to win the SoCon or finish second.
There's also the fact that UTC has lost eight of its last nine games against JSU. On paper, this should be a terrific FCS rivalry. But until the Mocs begin to win more than 15 percent of these encounters, it's a rivalry in theory only.
Not that the players see it that way, especially Webb, who grew up in Tuscaloosa, Ala., which is only 25 miles farther from Jacksonville than Chattanooga is.
"Just growing up in Alabama, I heard about them," said Webb, whose father played at the University of Alabama. "The rivalry with them started as soon as I got here. And it's always a good game, always competitive."
Added Stovall: "This is one of those games where you find out how good you really are. You get to see where you are as a team."
If the rankings are remotely accurate, both these teams are pretty good, maybe good enough to meet again in the playoffs as they did in 2015, when the Gamecocks opened and closed the Mocs' season with losses.
Asked if he could repeat or better his efforts against JSU this time around, Stovall said, "I don't really care. I'd rather have zero catches and get a win."
If the rest of the Mocs have that same attitude, a win just might be what they get 17 days from today.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.