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UTC Mocs recall mistake-filled loss to Mercer last year

UTC defensive back Trevor Wright, right, tackles Fordham wide receiver Jordan Allen in the first half of their FCS playoff game last Nov. 28 at Finley Stadium. The Mocs won but likely would have had a weaker second-round opponent if not for a loss to Mercer three weeks earlier. Mercer comes to Finley this week.
UTC defensive back Trevor Wright, right, tackles Fordham wide receiver Jordan Allen in the first half of their FCS playoff game last Nov. 28 at Finley Stadium. The Mocs won but likely would have had a weaker second-round opponent if not for a loss to Mercer three weeks earlier. Mercer comes to Finley this week. UTC defensive back Trevor Wright, right, tackles Fordham wide receiver Jordan Allen in the first half of their FCS playoff game last Nov. 28 at Finley Stadium. The Mocs won but likely would have had a weaker second-round opponent if not for a loss to Mercer three weeks earlier. Mercer comes to Finley this week.

By Gene Henley 3 min read

It was one loss, but the ripple effect of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s 17-14 loss at Mercer last Nov. 7 was long-lasting.

The Mocs were ranked third in the country at the time, riding a 12-game Southern Conference win streak. The Bears, who had given UTC its toughest game during an undefeated 2014 conference run, came in with four losses in SoCon play by a combined 13 points.

“We still have that bitter taste in our mouth,” UTC running back Derrick Craine said Monday. “We went out and made some mistakes and they capitalized on it. For us, this week we have to go out, execute, practice as hard as we can, prepare mentally and physically and do what we do best: execute.”

The 2015 loss – a game in which the Mocs turned the ball over four times, missed a field-goal try and failed to score from the 1-yard line – dropped them in the national standings and cost them a national seed, which led to a second-round matchup against top-seeded Jacksonville State.

The Mocs would lose in overtime to the Gamecocks, who went on to the national final. A win against Mercer would have helped UTC claim a national seed and a bye, effectively bypassing the Gamecocks until later in the playoffs.