University of Tennessee at Chattanooga quarterback Chase Artopoeus ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, and the Mocs shook off a slow start Saturday afternoon at Finley Stadium to overwhelm Wofford 37-5 in a Southern Conference matchup.
The Mocs, who are ranked 23rd in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll, are above .500 overall for the first time this season after improving to 4-3 with a 3-1 mark in SoCon play.
Wofford dropped to 3-4 overall and 1-3 within the league, and the Terriers also fell behind in all-time meetings with UTC as the Mocs moved ahead 16-15 with their fifth consecutive win in the series. Wofford hasn’t beaten UTC since a 35-34 overtime victory in November 2019 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Artopoeus finished with 145 yards through the air and a 2-yard scoring toss to Jay Gibson, and the 6-foot-2, 208-pound senior quarterback ran for a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter after the sluggish Mocs went into the locker room at halftime up just 10-5 in a game they had largely dominated. UTC outscored the Terriers 17-0 in the third quarter.
Here are three observations from the win, the team’s fourth consecutive after an 0-3 start.
1. Another slow start at home: Maybe it doesn’t come back to bite the Mocs next week (they host Virginia Military Institute at 4 p.m. for homecoming) or in any of the team’s home games this year. But in two first halves against SoCon competition at Finley (Mercer on Sept. 14 and Saturday), UTC hasn’t been very good. The lethargy appears to rear its ugly head on offense, and while that hasn’t made its way over to the defense — which has been dominant lately — the Mocs don’t want to continue to test that.
2. About that “D”: Over the past two games, the Mocs haven’t been able to get to the quarterback as much, but that’s only given the defense chances to show off what’s becoming a pretty opportunistic group in terms of takeaways. A week after totaling five takeaways in a 41-10 win at Furman, UTC picked off four passes against the Terriers. It’s not surprising that a Rusty Wright-coached team is led by its defense, but this one has been playing as well as any in quite some time.
3. Depth on display: Everyone is dealing with injuries by this time of year, and the Mocs were missing starting left tackle Almarion Crim and receiver Sam Phillips, but it didn’t really matter as Chris Domercant had 100-plus yards receiving for the second time this season, totaling 101 on six catches, and backup running backs Lance Jackson, Solomon Locke and Journey Wyche combined for 66 yards on the ground. For the defense, 6-0, 240-pound sophomore Jamarr Jones — mostly a third-down rusher — had an interception, as did linebacker Kobe Joseph and defensive backs Reuben Lowery III and D’Arco Perkins-McAllister. The Mocs are starting to lose a few bodies, but it’s good for them to know those waiting in the wings are capable.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.