There was obvious disappointment — along with a sprinkle of frustration — Saturday afternoon at the end of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s 26-7 loss to Furman in the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
There are two major takeaways from the season-ending defeat to consider for any UTC fan. One, despite playing on the road against the Southern Conference champion and the No. 7 seed of the 24-team playoff field, and with several key players already out going into the game (with redshirt freshman-turned-starting quarterback Luke Schomburg lost to injury in the third quarter), the Mocs still EXPECTED to win.
Hence the frustration.
Two, next year at this time — perhaps with Saturday’s outcome as motivation — they should be celebrating a second-round win with sights squarely set on achieving even more.
OK, maybe that’s a bold statement for a program that has made it past the second round of the FCS playoffs one time and will enter the 2024 season with a 4-5 postseason record in 40 years playing at this level. This season was just the program’s fifth time making the FCS playoffs.
The Mocs haven’t won a SoCon championship since sharing the title in 2015.
Saturday’s second loss to the Paladins this season, like last month’s 17-14 setback at Finley, was, frankly, to a better team. Coming off a bye week, Furman was much more physical and rode the arm and legs of the SoCon’s best player, quarterback Tyler Huff, to the comfortable win.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the group,” UTC coach Rusty Wright said afterward. “Not many folks go 10 weeks straight in a football season, lose the people that we’ve lost during it, and still give ourselves the opportunity to keep playing.
“Our young people did that. It’s just a tough day at the office, but I knew it was going to be a hard day when they’re a good football team. They’re older and a little bit bigger than we are in a couple spots.”
Staff file photo by Robin Rudd / Rusty Wright’s fifth season as UTC’s head football coach was successful in many ways, but it came to a finish Saturday at 8-5 when the Mocs lost at Furman in the second round of the FCS playoffs.As a philosophical former coworker once said (I think it was in the midst of a heated fantasy football discussion in the office), “If you don’t win, you lose.”
Wright surely agrees, but the fifth-year head coach and former UTC player and assistant also knows there is much value to be mined from losses such as Saturday’s in Greenville, South Carolina. That’s especially true when they come in the postseason where, ultimately, only one program is going to truly be happy in the end.
The rest of the 23-team field will deal with defeat, complete with the what-ifs and shoulda-beens. For the Mocs, the experience gained from this postseason is the biggest win. It was the only thing missing from a team that should begin the 2024 season high in the national rankings.
After all, 33 of the players listed on Saturday’s 44-man two-deep chart should be back (that is, of course, not taking the transfer portal into account). Ten of 11 offensive starters will be back, including one of the country’s top receiver corps and perhaps the best quarterback situation in the SoCon with two strong options.
That starts with presumed 2024 starter Chase Artopoeus, who passed for 2,672 yards and 20 touchdowns in 10 games this year, and a trio of receivers in Jamoi Mayes, Sam Phillips and Javin Whatley who combined for more than 2,600 yards. It continues with four offensive linemen back and the team’s three leading tacklers: Alex Mitchell, Jordan Walker, Josh Battle and Kobe Joseph, who announced Saturday that he will use his extra season to return.
The senior linebacker, even while trying to digest the end of this season, gave a strong glimpse as to why the Mocs are excited about the next one.
“People have been going down and people have been stepping up,” Joseph said. “It’s just part of our defense and part of our team. As Coach Wright has been saying, ‘We’re a team, we’re not just a group of players.’
“We’re a great football team, and getting those guys the experience they need and the plays they need is going to help us a lot next year. We have a lot of guys coming back and then a lot of guys that are going to have to step up in place of others.”
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com.