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Mocs in must-win territory as unbeaten East Tennessee State comes to Chattanooga

Staff photo by Robin Rudd / UTC running back Gino Appleberry finds a hole in Austin Peay's defense during a nonconference game on Sept. 2 at Finley Stadium. After losing that night, UTC bounced back to post a shutout at North Alabama, but through five games this season the Mocs have yet to win consecutive contests while struggling with inconsistency from week to week.
Staff photo by Robin Rudd / UTC running back Gino Appleberry finds a hole in Austin Peay's defense during a nonconference game on Sept. 2 at Finley Stadium. After losing that night, UTC bounced back to post a shutout at North Alabama, but through five games this season the Mocs have yet to win consecutive contests while struggling with inconsistency from week to week.

By Gene Henley 4 min read

Maybe the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program has taken its talent for granted.

Maybe it wasn’t as good as the preseason prognostications – which tabbed UTC the Southern Conference favorite – suggested.

Or maybe the Mocs are just inconsistent.

Whatever the case is, UTC hasn’t had the same sort of effort in any of its five games so far, and as a result the Mocs are 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Socon heading into their clash with 10th-ranked East Tennessee State University (6-0, 3-0) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Finley Stadium. UTC has a 23-19-1 lead over the Buccaneers in the series dubbed the Rail Rivalry.

If there was a question regarding UTC heading into the season, it was about who would step up at quarterback, and that has been filled by junior Cole Copeland, who has been OK at the position. It wasn’t about the receivers, who have been plagued by drops in some key moments. It wasn’t about the defense, which has struggled to make stops in key moments.