The numbers suggest Virginia Military Institute’s defense – which the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga offense will face this week – isn’t good.
That’s why the Mocs aren’t looking at the numbers this week. Instead, they’re keeping the focus on themselves.
The Keydets (0-7, 0-6 Southern Conference) are at or near the bottom of the 124-team Football Championship Subdivision in most defensive statistical categories as they prepare to face the Mocs (5-2, 3-2) at 3 p.m. Saturday at Finley Stadium.
VMI is last in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 51.3 points per game, in total defense (543.7 yards per game), in rushing defense (288.9 yards per game) and in pass efficiency defense (163.2 rating). The Keydets have given up an average of 254.9 passing yards per game, which ranks fifth in the SoCon, but that’s because opposing offenses have run on 64 percent of their plays against VMI.
It’s easy to point at all of that to conclude the Mocs shouldn’t have a difficult time moving the ball.
Just don’t tell them.
“We just want to put up as many points as we can,” sophomore receiver Bryce Nunnelly said. “Their defense plays hard. They play to the end on every play. They give up a lot of yards running, so if we can run the ball, we can establish the pass downfield, but at the end of the day, it’s all about us. It’s all about what we do.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re playing VMI or the number-one team in the country, as long as we go out and execute what the coaches put in the game plan, we’ll be fine.”
While the Mocs’ offense has not been explosive since its hot September, it was effective in UTC’s most recent game, a 26-6 win at Western Carolina on Oct. 13. UTC generated an efficient 348 yards of total offense, with Nick Tiano throwing for 210 yards and Tyrell Price compiling 173 total offensive yards, with 135 of those on the ground. The latter was a promising sight for the Mocs, who had failed to reach 100 rushing yards in each of the three previous games, when Price totaled 101 rushing yards.
In the win at Western Carolina, the Mocs averaged more than 5 yards per play for the first time since Sept. 22, when they held on to defeat Samford 27-20 to improve to 4-0. Two losses were sandwiched between UTC’s two most recent wins, and to create another winning streak, the Mocs must continue their offensive success this week and beyond.
“We just have to do our job, play to the best to our ability and give everything in practice,” offensive coordinator Justin Rascati said. “All we’re worried about is today’s practice, giving our best and executing. We’ll take what we’ve learned in meetings, what we saw on tape, go out here and execute today. Then we’ll clean things up tomorrow.
“It’s been a good week so far, so I think our guys are going to be ready.”
Mocs coach Tom Arth would like to see good things happen from start to finish Saturday, which hasn’t been the case even in some of UTC’s wins this season.
“We just want to continue to improve and be consistent in every phase of the offense: The ability to run the football, the ability to protect, the ability to throw it down the field,” Arth said. “All those things are going to be important for us, but the big thing is going out there, competing and playing with consistency for four quarters.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.