CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — University of Tennessee at Chattanooga quarterback Chase Artopoeus had to sat idly by with a torn labrum at the end of the Mocs’ 2023 schedule, missing not only the regular-season finale but both the program’s first trip to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs and first postseason win since 2016 as well as the second-round loss.
Another injury this fall, a Grade 2 pectoral strain, sidelined the sixth-year senior and second-year starter entering November, the most important month of the team’s season, and this time he had to watch the Mocs sandwich disappointing performances in losses to Western Carolina and Samford around a win at The Citadel — a 1-2 stretch to close Southern Conference play that left UTC with a 5-3 league mark and put the program’s playoff hopes on the ropes.
With his recovery process complete, Artopoeus was cleared to start throwing some early this past week, and he naturally wanted to get back out there for Saturday’s regular-season finale at Austin Peay. His coaches, though, told him that Luke Schomburg would instead make his fourth straight start — and the seventh of his UTC career, having filled in for Artopoeus a year ago as well — but when the redshirt sophomore went down with an injury, the veteran got his chance to make a difference for the Mocs.
He did, and the question now is whether it was enough to ensure another opportunity for the entire team.
Artopoeus entered in the first quarter, and he engineered three scoring drives as the Mocs held on to their playoff hopes with a 24-17 win over the United Athletic Conference’s Governors at Fortera Stadium, with the defense making two big stops in the fourth quarter. Artopoeus was 15-for-21 passing for 161 yards with a pair of touchdowns and an interception, and he ran for another score.