Amazing the difference a quarterback can make.
This isn't to place all the blame, or even the majority of the blame, for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's disappointing 6-5 season in 2021 on unsatisfactory quarterback play.
That was certainly part of it, but there was plenty of blame to go around, much of it placed at the feet of a senior class that had a number of members who provided little to no leadership and far less effort than had been predicted of them.
So a UTC bunch that began that season with lofty goals and weighty expectations ended with some degree of finger pointing and much head scratching, the hole far less than the sum of the Mocs' parts.
Yet if Saturday's 31-0 shutout of Southern Conference brother Wofford is any indication, those same problems shouldn't resurface this autumn. That would seem especially true of sixth-year senior Preston Hutchinson, the Eastern Michigan transfer who completed 11 of 18 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions in an outstanding debut performance at Finley Stadium.
"He didn't turn it over," were Mocs head coach Rusty Wright's first postgame words regarding Hutchinson. "He made good decisions for most of the night. Did a good job of managing the offense."
And lest anyone think he's a passer only, Hutchinson rushed three times for 6 yards net that included an important 10-yard run early.
"I'm not sure anyone realized it at the time, but that was a big first down," Wright said of the quarterback's run on third-and-9 from the UTC 20 that got the Mocs' initial first down of the game on a drive that wound up putting them on top 7-0 with 5:54 left in the opening period. "Keeping the ball there was huge."
There were a lot of huge moments in this game, and they were equally divided between the UTC offense and defense, which delivered the Mocs' first shutout in a season opener against a Division I foe since a 41-0 blanking of Charleston Southern at Chamberlain Field in 1995.
Beyond that, Wofford was held to 230 total yards, suffered an interception and lost two fumbles.
"We've got some great players on defense," Wright said. "If we can score 21 to 24 points a game, we should have a good chance of winning."
The defense and Hutchinson weren't the only bright spots. Ailym Ford, who only seems like he's been around since the second Bush administration, ran for 156 yards and two touchdowns, including an 86-yarder that was the seventh-longest touchdown run in school history. He also caught two balls for 49 yards.
"Man, we've worked so hard for this," Ford said. "We played all four quarters tonight. What an amazing feeling."
After making sure to tamp down any talk of a controversy with returning quarterback Cole Copeland — "Iron sharpens iron," Hutchinson said. "Cole's made me better for sure." — Hutchinson also said of his offensive teammates: "I think we could be dangerous."
He added of the announced crowd of 7,123: "The energy was electric. The fans brought the juice."
The energy will ebb or flow from this point forward depending on whether Wright was right about the Mocs when he said this: "Our best football is still ahead of us."
A road trip to Eastern Illinois — known in some circles as Tony Romo/Jimmy Garoppolo U. — is up next, followed by a home game against North Alabama and back-to-back trips to Illinois and East Tennessee State. If the Mocs can somehow come through that stretch with a 4-1 record, the next home game against VMI on Oct. 15 could energize Finley Stadium as it has rarely been energized for a UTC contest.
And if that happens, Hutchinson is almost certain to be a big reason why.
"Since Preston first stepped on this campus, he's been a leader," Ford said. "He leads without talking, and he talks a lot."
Just maybe not as much as others seem excited to talk about him.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.