Zion Rutledge didn’t wait for anyone to hand the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s defense a way out.
Minutes after UTC’s 22-17 loss at Eastern Kentucky last weekend, the senior linebacker who had just made 13 tackles stood near the visitors’ locker room at Roy Kidd Stadium and put the number on himself and the 10 guys around him.
“It’s fundamentals,” Rutledge said. “You’ve got to block, got to catch, got to tackle, got to be up, got to read your right assignment. Fundamental things that obviously aren’t clicking right now, so we’ve got to get that right. But we’ve got hope because we’ve got fighters.”
UTC gave up 274 rushing yards on the Colonels’ 43 carries (6.4 per attempt), and the Mocs lost a game in which they led 17-16 midway through the third quarter. In most weeks, a defense that surrenders that kind of number has to wear it for seven days. This one didn’t, at least not publicly, because UTC’s offense managed just 254 total yards, went 3-for-13 on third down and didn’t score in the fourth quarter.
And yet nobody on the other side of the ball for UTC was trying to avoid taking the blame.