Terrell Owens, playing for the San Francisco 49ers during the 1996-2003 seasons.Since a season-opening loss to a Jacksonville State team that is ranked first in the nation in one FCS poll, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team has reeled off six consecutive wins on its way to a No. 4 ranking.
The team the Mocs face this Saturday is almost as hot.
Western Carolina has won four straight games, which is its longest streak since 2001. The Catamounts are 5-2 overall, 3-1 in the Southern Conference.
The 2 p.m. game at Finley Stadium will be part of UTC’s homecoming activities.
UTC offensive lineman Hunter Townson said the homecoming atmosphere should only enhance an important game.
“All the students are really into homecoming,” he said. “I’m friends with students that are involved in different organizations, and they’re all really excited and pumped up. They’re all really excited for the game, so we’re hoping for a pretty big crowd.”
Tuesday afternoon, former UTC and NFL standout Terrell Owens tweeted that he would be in attendance at Saturday’s game.
“Let’s #GOMOCS!! I will be in the house!! I wanna see a packed stadium!” Owens declared.
The two teams have had four common opponents, each of which both defeated: Presbyterian, Wofford, Samford and NCAA Division II member Mars Hill. The Catamounts have defeated the Blue Hose, Terriers, Bulldogs and Mercer during their streak, in different ways. They had to rally to defeat Mercer’s Bears on Oct. 10, then took a 21-point lead on the Terriers before holding on for a 24-17 victory on Oct. 17.
“It’s boiled down to our execution,” Western Carolina coach Mark Speir said during Tuesday’s teleconference. “We’ve had good weeks of practice, and that’s what it’s all about. The team that wins is the team that’s better prepared and the team that’s executing. There’s been nothing magical really about us winning other than guys having good chemistry, working hard and executing.”
The Catamounts executed poorly when they faced UTC last season in Cullowhee, N.C. The Mocs won 51-0 and noted after the game that they had been met during pregame warmups with trash-talk from the Catamounts. Obviously, the talk of being overrated helped motivate UTC to be so dominating that coach Russ Huesman called it the “best team performance by a million miles” in his then six seasons directing the Mocs.
Of course, a new team brings new expectations, and the Mocs are focused on the 2015 game against Western Carolina, not the last one. The Catamounts rank in the top five in the Southern Conference in both rushing and passing offense and are fourth in total offense at 419.1 yards per game.
Quarterback Troy Mitchell is the catalyst of the attack, having thrown for 1,389 yards and seven touchdowns. Sophomore running back Detrez Newsome is third in the conference in rushing, with 634 yards and seven scores, while Karnorris Benson is one of the league’s top receivers, with 450 yards and four scores.
Defensively, WCU is ranked sixth in the league, giving up 398.4 yards per game, but its average of 5.1 yards per play is the second best in the league behind the Mocs’ 4.8.
“They have good players,” Huesman said. “They’re talented on both sides of the ball. They can run. Once you get good players, you have to instill confidence in them. I think last year it really started that process for Mark and his staff to instill confidence that they can win.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.