UTC players celebrate with fans after defeating Indiana State Saturday at Finley Stadium on Dec. 6, 2014.The question was simple. The Finley Stadium scoreboard still beaming the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga ‘s 35-14 NCAA playoff win over Indiana State nearly an hour after Saturday’s final horn, Mocs football coach Russ Huesman was asked what this could mean for the program going forward.
Said Huesman, UTC class of 1983: “We really have no idea what to expect. We’ve never done this before.”
If the Mocs can successfully take the show they produced against the Sycamores on the road to No. 1 overall seed New Hampshire this week, expect UTC to pull off the biggest upset of the FCS postseason.
Not that it may actually be an upset anywhere except the seedings. Against an ISU team strong enough to erase a 16-point hole at Eastern Kentucky last week, the Mocs mashed, mauled and mutilated the visitors from the outset.
Or as losing coach Mike Sanford noted, “We blocked field goals well (2). We punted well. That’s about all I can think to say we did well.”
In other words, almost from the final note of the national anthem it was pretty clear that although it wasn’t the same sport, Indiana State’s most famous alum, all-time NBA great Larry Bird, wasn’t walking through any door or gate to save the Sycamores.
How completely dominant were these Mocs? Consider these six words to sum up UTC’s first score, which arrived exactly 60 seconds into the game: One play, 3 yards, five seconds.
Those are the cold, hard facts from the 7-0 lead the Mocs owned after defensive back Sema’je Kendall intercepted a pass on the opponent’s third play from scrimmage, returned it 27 yards to the ISU 3, then watched running back Keon Williams barrel into the end zone one snap later.
Take away the blocked field goals, a 75-yard Sycamores touchdown pass and ISU basically staging a relay race to return a kickoff for another score — LeMonte Booker toted the ball to the 29, where, as Huesman later explained, “Nine guys hit him at once,” which caused him to fumble it 7 yards forward as if shot from a cannon, which led Booker teammate Jordan Wallace to pick up his gift and race the final 64 yards to pull the Sycamores within 28-14 about six minutes into the third quarter — and UTC looked about as untouchable as the 1985 Chicago Bears.
But can a single football win, even when it’s the first playoff victory in school history, make a lasting difference? Could these Scrappy Mocs, at least in the court of national public opinion, go from joke to juggernaut in one season? Is this monstrous triumph, the team’s seventh straight in its first-ever 10-win season, along with its guarantee of further exposure this coming weekend in New England, enough to make UTC the new Appalachian State or Georgia Southern of the retooled Southern Conference?
“To me, and I’ve been around this program a long time, this win is No. 1, numero uno,” said longtime supporter Frank “Porky” Kinser. “This is important for this town, this university, and for recruiting. This is where we’ve been trying to get to for so long. And next week could be bigger than this week.”
How big is it already?
Though no one wanted to see Alabama-Birmingham players forced to find other football homes because their administration decided it could no longer afford to field a football team, most of those FBS players will want to continue their careers elsewhere.
One of those, redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Bryant Novick, stood on the Finley home sideline Saturday, watching the Mocs’ first playoff game in 30 years.
“Just taking some visits right now,” said the Hoover, Ala., resident. “But I like what I see.”
How could any smart, talented football player not like what UTC has to show? A great town. A great school. As good a stadium as there is at the FCS level. A suddenly great program on its way to a third-round playoff game.
“I really can’t put into words how important it is to do well for my university,” said Huesman, whose son, Jacob, arguably did better by throwing for 241 yards and one TD and running for 153 yards and two scores.
“As great as this is, it’s way more special for me because it’s my alma mater.”
Whatever happens from this point forward, it’s special if only because it’s UTC’s first-ever playoff win.
But Coach Huesman added another thought, an idea that only figures to strengthen and grow as long as he coaches the Mocs.
“This shows our players how a winning program works,” he said. “What this really does is continue to help us build a winning program.”
Playing as the Mocs did against Indiana State, it just might show the rest of FCS football how you build a national championship program.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.