UTC defensive linemen Derek Mahaffey, left, and Isaiah Mack are among the most experienced players on this year’s team.Sometimes in life, what’s understood doesn’t need to be explained.
That saying sums up the relationship between University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior defensive linemen Isaiah Mack and Derek Mahaffey.
The two have called each other brothers since Mahaffey arrived on campus in spring 2016 after a year each at Western Kentucky and East Central Community College in Mississippi. Mack changed his number from 92 to 89 to 8, and Mahaffey switched from 15 to 5.
Who did it first? Doesn’t matter.
On the field it’s love-hate. Mahaffey talks; Mack sometimes doesn’t listen, and when he does listen, sometimes it leads to an argument. But when one isn’t there to make a play, it could be because the other one has already made it.
Asked to describe the relationship between the two, Mahaffey called it “unorthodox” but quickly added that “it works.”
Mack stands an inch taller (6-foot-3) than Mahaffey, but the latter is listed five pounds heavier (310) than Mack. So when they talk about big brother and little brother, who’s the big brother?
“We haven’t decided that yet,” Mack said this week. “We have a good bond. I feed off his energy and he feeds off mine, and it helps us make more plays, because I know if I’m not going to make it, he’s going to make it, and if he’s not going to make it, I’m definitely going to make it.”
It’s been a relationship built on being opposites, yet having similar goals in practice and games. When The Citadel pounded out 70 rushes in 80 plays in the Mocs’ overtime win in Charleston, South Carolina, on Sept. 8, the two were out there for most of them, while UTC lost two other defensive linemen during the game to injuries. When the UTC defense had to defend 89 plays (64 passes) against Samford two weeks ago, Mack and Mahaffey were out there for nearly every one due in part to the limited depth but also because the two just don’t really want to come out of a game.
Both players were All-Southern Conference second-team picks last season, but only Mack was a 2018 preseason selection – something Mahaffey didn’t like but said at the time “would take care of itself on the field.” Five games in for the Mocs (4-1), who enter today’s conference clash against Wofford (4-1, 2-0) with a 2-1 mark in the league, Mahaffey leads all SoCon defensive linemen with 41 tackles. He’s fourth overall in the league.
The defensive lineman with the second-most tackles? Mack with 35.
“You set the standard and hope to be a good example. That’s what we kind of do,” Mahaffey said. “We’re showing the younger guys that even when you kind of think you can’t go, you’ve got something left. You still can do something when you’re out there. I feel it makes our defense tougher; everybody’s going to play to the end.
“But we set the standard.”
For a team still lacking experience at a lot of places – especially on defense – Mack’s 26 career starts rank third behind defensive back C.J. Fritz’s 30 and offensive lineman Malcolm White’s 29. Fourth on that list is Mahaffey, who along with Mack has started every game under second-year coach Tom Arth.
Fritz, Mack and Mahaffey are three of only four seniors on the defense, with defensive back Kareem Orr the other one. Fritz and Orr have helped handle the back end, while the other two take care of the front.
“I think both have done extremely well,” Arth said. “We would be in a tough place without the two of them. They’ve done so much for us – not just what they’re physically capable of doing and for the way they play, but with the depth issues at that position and for them to play the amount of snaps they’ve played this year.
“They don’t want to come off the field, and we’re thankful to those guys and proud of how tough they are and how they’re playing the game. They’re both having very good seasons, being very productive, and it’s making it easier for everyone else on the defense to be successful.”
The challenge today will be stopping a Wofford triple-option-heavy offense that ranks second in the country in rushing with an average of 375.5 yards per game. It will be Mack’s fourth time against the Terriers and Mahaffey’s third, and they know what to expect
“Sixty minutes of a pure slugfest,” Mahaffey said.
They’ve each had success in these matchups. Mack had 18 tackles in his three games, including 10 in 2015 when 2.5 were for lost yardage and he also forced and recovered a fumble.
Mahaffey had 13 tackles in his two Wofford games, with nine tackles in last season’s matchup.
His and Mack’s knowledge of what to expect could prove beneficial to a young defense with some players going against Wofford’s variation of the option for the first time.
“I think it’s critical to have two defensive linemen that have played in a number of games like this – big games against option teams,” Arth said. “They know what it takes; they know what their responsibilities are within the overall defensive scheme. We can count on them to be where they’re supposed to be and when they’re supposed to be there and to play how they’re supposed to play.
“I think that’s a great benefit to our entire program when you have two guys like that.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.