UTC players, and coach Russ Huesman, center, with son Levi Huesman, sing the alma mater after defeating Indiana State Saturday at Finley Stadium.On a day of firsts, it was what the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team did with its thirds that highlighted a historic 35-14 FCS playoff second-round win over Indiana State.
On the third play of the game Mocs defensive back Sema’je Kendall intercepted a pass and returned it to the Sycamores’ 3 to set up a tone-setting early touchdown in front of the 8,419 in attendance at Finley Stadium. Also, UTC held the Sycamores to 1-of-10 success in converting third downs to firsts, while the Mocs converted 9 of 18, helping maintain possession for 26 minutes longer and claim the program’s first playoff win and first 10-win season in school history.
“That was huge,” Mocs quarterback Jacob Huesman said of the early interception. “That took the air right out of them from the very beginning, and it got the crowd and our guys energized. It’s nice when you only have to go 3 yards to score your first points.
“As usual the defense came up big for us. Time of possession is a key component to the ballgame. Not only do we wear their defense down, but it lets ours stay fresher. We used that to help them out, and I think we wore them down.”
Moving on to the quarterfinal round, the Mocs (10-3) will play Friday at 8 p.m. at No. 1 overall seed New Hampshire (11-1), which beat Fordham 44-19 on Saturday. The game will be televised on ESPN2.