It’s no secret that the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program has had its struggles in the home stretch of the past two seasons.
Well, welcome to the home stretch, only a bit earlier this year.
By the time the Mocs (5-2, 4-1 Southern Conference) finally reach their open date on Nov. 11, their fate will likely be sealed as far as their inclusion into — or exclusion from — the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, as UTC’s only regular-season game remaining will be at Alabama on Nov. 18.
That puts an importance on the next three games, starting with Saturday’s 1 p.m. matchup with rival East Tennessee State (2-4, 1-2) at Finley Stadium. After that is a road trip to Virginia Military Institute (3-3, 2-1) before returning home to finish the FCS portion of the regular season against Furman (5-1, 3-0), which is currently ranked among the top five in both national polls.
The Mocs, ranked 20th by FCS coaches and 21st by media, are aware of their recent history as they try to earn their first postseason berth since reaching the second round of the playoffs in 2016. They went 1-3 down the stretch a season ago and dropped two of their final three in 2021, missing out in both cases when a bit more success late was likely all that was needed to earn an extra game.