The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team is on a three-game winning streak that has kept the Mocs in the Southern Conference title race entering the final month of the regular season. It has also preserved hopes for the program’s second appearance in three years in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
Now they’re about to host Western Carolina, though, and the Catamounts have won not only their past five games this year but their past three meetings with UTC, a trio of close encounters that reduced the Mocs’ advantage in the all-time series to 30-20.
In 2022, the teams met in their regular-season finale, and UTC head coach Rusty Wright put the fate of the game — with the Mocs needing a win to have a reasonable shot at making the 24-team field for the postseason — on his defense. He used all of his second-half timeouts on the Catamounts’ final possession, only for them to score with 53 seconds left and win 32-29 in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
The following year they faced off at Finley Stadium in early October, and the Mocs seemed to have that contest won, going ahead by one with 53 seconds on a dramatic 2-point conversion that followed the short touchdown pass that capped an 80-yard drive. The Catamounts had other ideas, marching 60 yards in five plays and kicking a 32-yard field goal as time expired to win 52-50.
Then there was last November, when backup quarterback Luke Schomburg found out on Thursday (after the practice week had ended) that he would be starting due to a lingering injury to Chase Artopoeus. Despite the lack of preparation, Schomburg was solid, throwing for 314 yards and two scores, but he was also picked off three times, the final interception coming in the red zone with 33 seconds to play and sealing a 38-34 home win for the Catamounts.
In other words, it’s very possible that Saturday’s game — it’s homecoming, and kickoff at Finley is set for 4 p.m. — will again come down to little things. Is this version of the Mocs, who in terms of personnel are vastly different than those prior teams, ready for that?
“Absolutely. We know what we’re getting into,” junior linebacker Zion Rutledge said. “We know everybody is kind of out for us, if that makes sense. That’s kind of how (playing for) Chattanooga is, and we’re embracing it. We’ve got a little bit of steam to let off from last year, we’re still mad about that. It was the same with Samford, we had a little bit of steam to let off, and we’ve got guys that are ready to play and take on the challenge.
“We know it’s going to be a fight, a dog fight, and we’re OK with it. We’re ready to go after it.”
It’s going to take every hand on deck for the Mocs (4-4, 3-1 SoCon) to knock off the Catamounts (5-3, 4-0), who haven’t lost since getting preseason FCS All-America quarterback Taron Dickens back after he missed the first three games due to what has been reported by multiple media outlets as an academic eligibility issue.
Meanwhile, it has taken the Mocs taking advantage of opportunities presented to them to get their overall record to .500 for the first time this season. In their three-game streak that started after a home loss to The Citadel to open SoCon play, the Mocs have committed one turnover (Camden Orth was intercepted at Virginia Military Institute in the first win during the streak) while forcing three and scoring 112 points. Their defense has also generated eight sacks after totaling three in the first five games.
“It’s all the coaches have been talking about this week and last week. We have to take care of the little things,” said senior receiver Jamarii Robinson, a Northern Colorado transfer who has three touchdowns in the past two weeks. “We have to take advantage of what they give us and just be ready to take advantage of those chances.”
The Mocs are running the ball well, they’re throwing it well, and the defense is improving, but poor play overall wasn’t to blame in their past three losses to Western Carolina. It was their failure to take advantage of late opportunities (needing a stop on defense in 2022 and a score on offense in 2024) or giving the ball away (two turnovers in the 2023 game, including a pick-six).
Wright and his staff’s message this week has been clear.
“We have to take advantage of every opportunity we get Saturday. Our kids know that,” he said. “We can’t make a whole bunch of mistakes and go win. You get an opportunity to get somebody out on third down, you’ve got to get them out. Last year, the biggest play of the game was the score before the half (a 32-yard touchdown pass that put the Catamounts up 17-14) because we had them at third down and let them out.
“We have to maximize our opportunities. There’s going to be some Saturday, and we’ve got to take advantage of them, we’ve got to probably create some if we can, and see where it goes from there.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.