His college football career winding down, Devonnsha Maxwell can see his goals the same way he sees opposing quarterbacks.
They're right in front of him.
The 6-foot-3, 296-pound defensive lineman sees the career sacks record for both the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the Southern Conference, which he can take sole possession of with two sacks. He also sees a chance for the Mocs to get that elusive Football Championship Subdivision playoff berth, which would be their first since 2016, as well as a SoCon championship, which would be their first since 2015.
So while the individual goals are great for him, he sees — and wants — more.
"This has been an extremely special year, because when you're here from day one, you see what it was and you see exactly what goes into it," said Maxwell, a 2017 signee whose 35.5 career sacks include six this season. "You know that just as easily as you see things going up now, they could have gone the other way.
"Winning is way more fun than losing. I hated it; I'm a sore loser. I've hated losing in the past, and then this year we finally get to win, so it's way more than it's ever been."
Maxwell is one of 15 seniors who will play their final regular-season home game when the Mocs (7-2, 5-1) face Samford (8-1, 6-0) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Finley Stadium. However, he is one of just two sixth-year seniors — offensive lineman McClendon Curtis is the other — who has endured a three-win 2017 season and nothing but six-win seasons in every full campaign since. (The Mocs won three of five games played in their pandemic-altered schedule that stretched across the 2020-21 school year.)
Linebacker Ty Boeck, punter Gabe Boring, edge rusher Austin Collier, receiver Andrew Manning and cornerback CaMiron Smith joined the fray a year later for Tom Arth's second and final season as coach. Quarterback Cole Copeland — a SoCon All-Freshman selection in 2017 — left the program after that 2018 season but came back two years later.
They've all been through the journey that has them this close to something bigger.
The growth has been gradual. Maxwell and the rest of the seniors had to go through those hard times, including a 2018 season when three of four league losses were by single digits, and a 2021 season when four of five total defeats were by single digits.
A play here, a play there, and perhaps the playoff drought could have ended earlier. But it's also why Maxwell and others who are in their final fall at UTC — a senior class that fourth-year head coach Rusty Wright has routinely called "a special group" — don't take anything for granted.
"Since we've got here, they've stayed," Wright said. "I've been one of those guys who went through head coaching changes, and if I decided to quit, nobody would have ever said anything. To see what those guys have done, how hard they have worked to be good players, good people, good leaders, you want good things to happen for them.
"Now ultimately, they're the ones who have to go out there and do it, but I trust them to go out there and give us everything they have to try and go get it done."
The Mocs aren't in the playoffs yet. One win — either against Samford or next week at Western Carolina — will likely solidify a berth, but likely doesn't equal guaranteed. With two wins for the Mocs plus a Furman loss in one of its final two regular-season games against Mercer and Wofford, UTC will clinch the SoCon's automatic bid and can breathe easy on Nov. 20, the day the selection committee will reveal the full 24-team FCS bracket and the top eight seeds that receive first-round byes and host second-round games.
A win against Samford would certainly strengthen UTC's credentials for being seeded. The Bulldogs are ranked ninth by FCS coaches and 10th in the Stats Perform Top 25, with the Mocs 11th (Stats) and 12th (coaches).
"It's so much fun," said quarterback Preston Hutchinson, a graduate transfer who joined the Mocs in January after spending five years at Eastern Michigan. "I've had a couple of seasons where you're just playing for yourself and you're just playing for film and the guys beside you at that point, whereas we're playing for much more than that, and it's just so cool.
"Being able to still have all your goals alive as far as winning the conference, going to the playoffs, so on and so forth, it's awesome. To be able to send those guys out that have played 30 home games and this is our last one, to be able to send them out on a high note, that's definitely a great thing to chase."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.