There’s a class of competition that has seemed to be a level above the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga this season.
Memphis, which beat UTC in the opener way back in August, is there, of course. The Tigers, as part of the Football Bowl Subdivision, are literally in a higher level of NCAA Division I competition than the Mocs.
Even within their own Football Championship Subdivision, though, three of UTC’s opponents in 2025 have seemingly been in a different stratosphere: Tennessee Tech, Tarleton State and Mercer, with the latter also competing alongside the Mocs as members of the Southern Conference.
All three of those opponents are currently among the top 10 in the FCS national polls. All three of those games took place on the road for UTC. None of the three matchups were particularly close, with UTC losing by a combined score of 160-58.
Saturday against eighth-ranked Mercer, which is the outright SoCon champion for the second season in a row, the Mocs seemed a step — or two — behind their hosts at Five Star Stadium in Macon, Georgia. The 63-17 final in favor of Mercer (9-1, 8-0) wasn’t even that close, as the Bears reeled off 56 consecutive points after UTC freshman defensive back Kamari Todd’s 34-yard interception return set the Mocs up in great field position for what turned out to be a 24-yard field goal by Jude Kelley.