Staff Photo by Robin Rudd UTC’s Isaiah Mack (8) adjusts his pads before the next play. The University of Tennessee/Chattanooga Mocs hosted the Shorter University Hawks in NCAA football action on Sept. 1, 2016.Isaiah Mack and C.J. Board are each listed at 6 feet, 2 inches tall.
Both wear No. 8 for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, but Mack, a defensive tackle, weighs 100 pounds more than his teammate, a wide receiver. Yet one Saturday earlier this season, someone close to Mack didn’t know the difference.
“One of my friends was watching the game with my mom, and my mom was wondering, ‘Man, Isaiah done lost some weight!'” Mack said after Saturday’s win over Western Carolina. “I was like, ‘Wow, Mom. We look nothing alike.
“It was the most embarrassing thing.”
Mack and Board are one of three same-number combos who have played for the Mocs this season.
Mack, an All-Southern Conference freshman team honoree last year, has 3.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss, while Board has 468 yards receiving with five touchdowns and a 10.2-yard average on 18 punt returns. He had a 72-yard punt return against Western Carolina.
The number 5 is shared by senior linebacker Nakevion Leslie and sophomore receiver Bingo Morton, while No. 15 is worn by both junior quarterback Alejandro Bennifield and sophomore defensive tackle Derek Mahaffey, who has come on strong in his last few games with four tackles against The Citadel and Western Carolina.
Mack switched from 89 to 8 this past offseason because he liked low numbers. Coach Russ Huesman told him then that if he didn’t produce, he would have to go to an offensive lineman’s number, and Mack has responded by ranking in the top 20 in the SoCon in both sacks and tackles for loss. But Saturday he wasn’t worried about the stats he has; he was more bemoaning the stats he could have.
“I should have 14 sacks this season,” Mack said matter-of-factly. “I had missed nine before this game and I missed two or three today. It bothers me a lot; to lead the country in sacks right now would be awesome, especially from a 300-pound defensive tackle.
“I’d be happy.”
Playoff seed possible?
The Football Championship Subdivision presented its first set of rankings for the 2016 playoffs, which start on Nov. 26. In the initial rankings, the Mocs were listed as the No. 8 seed.
The top eight team receive byes in the playoffs and host second-round games.
Jacksonville State, who knocked the Mocs out of the 2015 playoffs, was selected as the overall top seed, followed by undefeated and top-ranked Sam Houston State, Eastern Washington, five-time defending champion North Dakota State and James Madison.
The Citadel was the No. 6 seed, followed by Richmond, UTC, Charleston Southern and Central Arkansas.
Craine academic star
UTC senior running back Derrick Craine repeated on the CoSIDA academic all-district team with his 3.61 grade point average as a health and human performance major.
He was a second-team Academic All-American as well as an all-conference player last year, and he is averaging 102.1 rushing yards per game this season but has missed the last two games with an injury.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.