Mocs shut out by Illinois in first loss of season

AP photo by Charles Rex Arbogast / UTC quarterback Preston Hutchinson is sacked by Seth Coleman, right, and Jer'Zhan Newton during Thursday night's game at Illinois.
AP photo by Charles Rex Arbogast / UTC quarterback Preston Hutchinson is sacked by Seth Coleman, right, and Jer'Zhan Newton during Thursday night's game at Illinois.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach Rusty Wright knew his football team was going to be up against its toughest obstacle of the season, by far, Thursday night when the Mocs visited Big Ten member Illinois.

As part of the Football Bowl Subdivision, the Fighting Illini have 22 more scholarships to play with as it is, which is why it's rare for Football Championship Subdivision teams such as UTC to win these games. But Illinois was also coming off an open date and was well rested, while the Mocs had just played five days earlier, defeating North Alabama to reach 3-0.

If that wasn't enough, the Illini had essentially been warned against looking too far ahead when fellow Big Ten program Northwestern lost to FCS opponent Southern Illinois last week.

The Illini played like an inspired team, while the Mocs — ranked ninth by FCS coaches and 10th in the Stats Perform Top 25 — were seemingly shell-shocked from the start, giving up 334 yards of total offense in the first half and never recovering in a 31-0 loss in Champaign.

The Mocs are on the road again next week, returning to Southern Conference action and facing rival East Tennessee State on Saturday, Oct. 1, in Johnson City.

After the game, Wright expressed some regret in playing the game at midweek, noting he "didn't give his team the best chance to be successful."

"I didn't help us, making it a short week. I didn't help these kids out," Wright said. "There's nobody else to blame but me on this one. There was some things we could have taken advantage of, and we didn't. They pushed us around, don't get me wrong. They're a good football team, but we helped them out."

Illinois (3-1) finished with 502 yards of total offense, with quarterback Tommy Devito throwing for 329 yards and three scores, while running back Chase Brown — who entered the week leading the FBS in rushing at 165.3 yards per game — had 108 yards on 20 carries and the game's first score.

The Mocs could never get going and finished with 142 yards. Preston Hutchinson, who was sacked four times and hurried eight others, threw a pair of interceptions and was 6-for-18 for 49 yards. Ailym Ford had a couple of big runs, including a 39-yarder, and finished with 93 on 17 carries, while 18 of Gino Appleberry's 34 yards came on one of his 11 carries.

UTC's Devonnsha Maxwell had two sacks, giving him 33 for his career and moving within four of tying Davis Tull's school record. John Prince had the Mocs' other sack, and Kenneth Dicks III and Kam Jones tied for the team lead in tackles with seven.

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.

Upcoming Events