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Sunday rewind: No. 6 UTC 31, Furman 3 Mocs firmly control Furman in 31-3 victory
Sema’je Kendall insists he saw “green grass.”
His teammates aren’t so sure.
But one couldn’t blame the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior defensive back for being a little greedy Saturday. With his team comfortably in front of Southern Conference opponent Furman at Finley Stadium, Kendall stepped in front of a Reese Hannon pass in the end zone and immediately decided to take off for what would have unofficially been a 104-yard interception return for a touchdown.
“Sema’je said he saw green grass,” defensive end Keionta Davis said. “I guess he thought he was going for a 104-yard return. I don’t know how well that would have went.”
In Kendall’s defense, the secondary had been itching for an interception, having gone without one for the first four games of the season. UTC safety Lucas Webb got the ball rolling against the Paladins, picking off a pass and returning it 35 yards for a touchdown, the second pick six of his career.
It was also Webb who initially tried to tackle Kendall in the end zone after the interception.
“I caught the ball, and there was just one wideout in front of me,” Kendall said. “I saw green grass, and the only people to tackle me were my teammates. I shook them off but got pushed into the linemen. My teammates tried to keep me in the end zone, but when I get the ball, you’ve got to go get six, or at least try.
“If it was crowded, I would have knelt down in the end zone, but my first instinct was to go, because I thought I could make it.”
Kendall made it to the UTC 6. From there, the Mocs put together a 13-play drive that lasted 7:47 and ended with one of Derrick Craine’s three 4-yard touchdown runs in the 31-3 win.
Now, the defense that was once being viewed as a weakness looks dominant again. In the past three games, it has given up an average of 221.7 yards per game and 3.8 per play. The Mocs have allowed only 191 rushing yards total during that stretch, with an average of 2.1 yards per rush. They lead the Southern Conference in scoring defense, total defense, rushing defense and sacks.
The sixth-ranked Mocs (4-1, 2-0) have had plenty of success turning turnovers into scores throughout head coach Russ Huesman’s tenure, doing so 13 times in his seven seasons. They have three such scores in 2015 – Webb’s touchdown was preceded by an interception return by defensive lineman Toyvian Brand against Presbyterian two weeks ago and a strip-and-return by Montrell Pardue in the season opener against top-ranked Jacksonville State.
The coaching staff emphasizes takeaways. If an interception is dropped, the defender has to do pushups. Apparently it has worked – the Mocs have eight takeaways (four interceptions, four fumble recoveries) in 2015.
“We practice it, but we never get as many opportunities as we’d like,” Webb said. “We take the opportunities when we get them, and when we do get it, everybody else on the defense does a good job of blocking upfield.”
So with all of the factors involved, one can’t be mad at Kendall for trying to score on what would have easily been the longest interception return in UTC history, breaking the record of 88 yards set by Gordon Atchley against Georgia on Sept. 25, 1948. In fact, it would have been the longest play in the history of the program, topping Steve Baker’s 100-yard kickoff return against Appalachian State on Oct. 8, 1983.
Nobody could blame him. Heck, linebacker Nakevion Leslie said it would have been hard for him to not do the same thing.
“I’m going,” Leslie said. “I’m taking my chances. It’s not often we get that opportunity, and you get excited for a second so I probably would have done the same thing, but it would be smart to get down.
“We have good athletes on the defensive side of the ball, and we’re looking to make things happen.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/genehenleytfp.