It came at least a year later than he would have liked, but Ty Boeck finally got his first touchdown.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior linebacker nearly scored in 2021, returning an interception 85 yards against Mercer before being pushed out just shy of the end zone. Saturday against North Alabama, it was a much easier jog as the former Soddy-Daisy High School standout scooped up a blocked punt and returned the ball 12 yards for the score, helping cap the Mocs' 41-14 win on homecoming in front of 10,254 at Finley Stadium.
UTC (3-0) topped 10,000 in attendance for the first time since 10,469 witnessed the Mocs defeat Samford 27-20 on Sept. 22, 2018, to improve to 4-0.
"I don't think that was something that we were trying to exploit coming into this game. It just kind of worked out in our favor," Boeck, who also had a team-high seven tackles, said of the Mocs' two blocked punts. "I know after the first time that the guys were kind of teeing off, looking for it, and it worked out."
It was the Mocs' first blocked punt for a touchdown since Marcus Pendergrass scored from 2 yards out against The Citadel on Nov. 9, 2002.
Although they weren't great, the Mocs — ranked ninth by Football Championship Subdivision coaches and 10th in the Stats Perform Top 25 — still made it seem like another night at the office. There were dropped passes, missed assignments in the secondary and missed kicks, and they didn't run the ball great at 4.2 yards per carry, but quarterback Preston Hutchinson threw for 303 yards with a completion percentage better than 70% and had five total touchdowns, including three through the air.
Two of those went to running back Ailym Ford, who rushed for 96 yards and had 41 receiving. The other touchdown pass went to sophomore Jamoi Mayes, who caught his first touchdown pass since scoring against Mercer during the Southern Conference's spring 2021 season.
Sam Phillips led the Mocs with 96 yards on five receptions, while tight end KeShawn Toney had 42 on four. The team played without freshman Javin Whatley, the team's leading receiver last week, who was banged up in practice.
"It's nice to have everybody in that receiver room capable of making plays, and they take that serious, too," offensive lineman McClendon Curtis said. "Honestly, we used to have to run the ball a lot, and now we can throw it over the top — you know, balance it out a little bit to give us a little break and get it downfield quicker. It's always good to run the ball, but you know if we could get a 30-yard pass, it's fine."
The defense wasn't great, but it was good. The ASUN's Lions (1-2) were limited to 60 yards on 23 carries, but they found success in the passing game with quarterback Noah Walters' 250 yards and two scores. The Mocs' young secondary struggled at times, especially against receiver Takairee Kenebrew, whose three catches for 107 yards included a score.
And then there were special teams, which had the two blocked punts that didn't require a Moc to touch the ball. In both cases, UTC defenders pushed a blocker into the punter, causing the kick to glance off the back of a Lion. The first time led to first-and-goal for the Mocs and a Hutchinson rushing touchdown; the second was Boeck's score.
It's a short week of practice as the Mocs — 3-0 for the first time since 2018 — travel to face Big Ten member Illinois (2-1) at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on Thursday.
"I think we have an identity to a certain degree," UTC coach Rusty Wright said. "I think that part of it is not an issue, but I think we have to keep figuring out how to make ourselves better, because it's been three games. It's still kind of new for some of them, and I think we have to continue to work it and figure it out and kind of go from there."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.