There were two reasons in particular for the preseason hype surrounding the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program: the defense and the running game.
Both were prevalent to UTC being competitive Saturday afternoon in a 28-23 loss to Kentucky in Lexington, and after a 1-2 start to the season, the Mocs may have found their recipe for success.
An efficient offense. An aggressive, stingy defense. Solid special teams. It was almost enough to pull off what would have been one of the biggest upsets of a Football Bowl Subdivision program by a Football Championship Subdivision team this season, as Kentucky was receiving votes in the national polls ahead of UTC’s visit. Now the Wildcats are 3-0, and although it’s early, they’re atop the Southeastern Conference’s East Divisions standings alongside third-ranked Georgia.
“We practice to play in stadiums like this,” said UTC sophomore running back Ailym Ford, who had 128 yards on the ground during Saturday’s game in front of an announced crowd of 55,000-plus at Kroger Field.
“High intensity. Defense showed out like every week. They gave the offense a chance to drive down the field. O-line was very confident. They were moving bodies. We have some good, disciplined guys. They play hard and are experienced. All we have to do is run behind them and trust them.”
AP photo by Michael Clubb / UTC football coach Rusty Wright looks up at the video board during Saturday’s game in Lexington, Ky. Wright’s Mocs threatened to become the latest FCS team to beat an FBS and Power Five program but lost 28-23 to the SEC’s Kentucky Wildcats.After a 30-20 loss to Austin Peay at Finley Stadium, a 20-0 win at North Alabama and a good performance against an SEC foe, the Mocs have an open date before hosting Western Carolina at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 2. It will be their first of eight straight games against Southern Conference foes to finish the regular season for the Mocs, the preseason favorites to win the league title.
Ford touched on the topic, but here are three keys to the Mocs nearly pulling off the upset at Kentucky.
Takeaways and defensive domination: Takeaways are the staple of the aggressive UTC defense, which added three more to the four combined from the first two games. Interceptions by CaMiron Smith and Rashun Freeman were great individual plays, as was the Ty Boeck sack on fourth down to force a fumble that was recovered by Jay Person. UTC got two of those takeaways in the first half, but the Mocs simply dominated the second half by limiting the Wildcats to 87 yards of total offense.
Controlling the line of scrimmage: The defense shut down a Kentucky rushing attack that was coming off a 332-yard performance against Missouri a week earlier, holding the Wildcats to 102 yards on the ground. Kentucky became one-dimensional, relying on the pass due to its inability to run, which allowed the Mocs’ deep defensive line to rush quarterback Will Levin, which played a part in him throwing two interceptions. Offensively, the Mocs were able to run pretty much at will, with 23 of their 28 carries going for positive yardage. Kentucky’s two previous opponents – fellow SEC program Missouri and fellow FBS program the University of Louisiana at Monroe – had 121 yards on 67 carries; led by Ford, the Mocs averaged just more than 6 yards per carry while totaling 171 yards on the ground.
QB play: The offensive line’s ability to keep Cole Copeland off the ground – he wasn’t sacked – gave the junior quarterback an opportunity to make throws as he started for the second straight game. It wasn’t a perfect performance by any means, with his pick-six in the fourth quarter a backbreaker and some miscommunication between Copeland and the receivers leading to some drops. After the game, UTC coach Rusty Wright put the onus on the receivers, calling the passes “basic football plays. We have to be able to do those things.” Copeland was mostly solid, throwing for 168 yards and a score. It’s the type of performance expected of Mocs quarterbacks, and if he can produce that sort of efficiency during SoCon play, UTC will have a chance to win every remaining game on its schedule.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.