Coach Russ Huseman and members of the UTC football team celebrate with fans after the Mocs beat the Citadel on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn., by a score of 31-17.Moments after the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s 31-23 home win Saturday over The Citadel, which clinched an automatic berth into the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, the team assembled in front of the band and swayed side to side as the alma mater played.
It was a moment of solidarity. A moment to reflect on what had been a long process to get back to the same status the Mocs enjoyed a year ago: Champions of the Southern Conference.
As was the case in 2013, UTC must share the crown – the eighth-ranked Mocs and 20th-ranked Bulldogs both finished 6-1 in conference play – but unlike that year, thanks to its head-to-head advantage against the Bulldogs, the automatic bid for the playoffs is going to the team picked in July to win the league title.
If last season’s road to the SoCon championship was a smooth straightaway on the interstate, the 2015 road was more of a bumpy stretch that had the potential to blow out a tire – or at the very least cause headaches and discomfort.
UTC’s average margin of victory over league opponents last season was 20 points, and Mercer came closest to victory by being within a touchdown. This year, the Mocs’ six SoCon wins were by an average of 14 points, but they lost their first conference game in two years, falling 17-14 at Mercer.
“You can’t imagine how hard it is to repeat,” UTC coach Russ Huesman said Saturday. “It was a hard year, really hard. I don’t want to say last year was easy, but we had the chip on our shoulder. Sometimes complacency can set in, some of the younger kids don’t understand what it took to get to this point. All they know is, ‘We’ve got a couple of conference championships, this is easy stuff.'”
The Mocs were tested most in October, when they hosted Furman, then played at Virginia Military Institute and Wofford before a home game against Western Carolina. They were solid in the home wins against the Paladins (31-3) and the Catamounts (42-13), but struggled in the road contests, outlasting the Keydets 33-27 and needing a last-second field goal by Henrique Ribeiro to secure a 20-17 win at Wofford on Oct. 24.
“We knew what we had to do,” UTC safety Lucas Webb said. “We knew we were a talented team, but people also knew that, so they came at us with the best they’ve got – especially the past few weeks in conference. That’s what we’ve got from each team.”
The stretch of challenging games culminated with the Nov. 7 loss at Mercer, which ended a string of consecutive conference wins at 13. Senior quarterback Jacob Huesman said it might have been what the Mocs needed.
“I think it gave our team a wake-up call and kind of reminded us what kind of work is necessary to be put in to be a championship team,” he said. “I think we learned from that, but man, I’m so proud of this football team.
“We’ve been through a lot, but it’s paid off in the end here.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/genehenleytfp.