The most important game for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team is today against Mars Hill, because it’s the next one on the schedule.
It’s also the last one at home for a while – the last time for the Mocs to sleep in their own beds on a Friday night and the last time that most of the fans present will be their own, until Oct. 10.
The 10th-ranked Mocs host the NCAA Division II Lions this afternoon at 1 at Finley Stadium. UTC won’t play in Finley again until that Oct. 10 date against Furman, preceded by road games at Southern Conference opponent Samford and Big South member Presbyterian and then an off date on Oct. 3.
Beating the Lions is crucial for the Mocs. Both coach Russ Huesman and linebacker Nakevion Leslie noted that UTC hadn’t won a game at Finley since Dec. 5 against Indiana State in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. Of course, the Mocs have played only two games since then – losses at New Hampshire in the FCS quarterfinals and to Jacksonville State last week – but the time frame has been long enough.
“It seems like forever since we’ve won here,” Huesman said Thursday. “We need a win. We’ve got to focus on winning, and we’ve got to focus on each individual playing to their fullest potential.”
The road games will take care of themselves in due time. The Lions have big-play potential in the backfield with running backs Shaikel Davis and Minnesota transfer Jamel Harbison and on the perimeters with Keshaun Taylor, former Georgia and Texas signee Gilbert Johnson at receiver and preseason All-South Atlantic Conference tight end Marquez Williams, who also spends time at fullback.
“We’ve been honing in and focusing on our keys all week,” Leslie said. “We just have to do whatever it takes to get this win on Saturday. Offensively, their scheme is a lot like Jacksonville State’s, so we know we’ll see a bunch of what we saw last week.
“We need this win. It’ll be huge because we can get our confidence and our step back. It’s been a while since we had a win here, and we need to help build up our confidence leading into conference play.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.