There were things the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team needed to do better Saturday in Johnson City.
What might be more notable about UTC’s 14-3 loss at East Tennessee State University — and certainly more painful for the Mocs — is falling short despite getting the job done in a key area where most teams hadn’t against the Buccaneers.
The result will sting for a team that held one of the Southern Conference’s most explosive offenses to its lowest point total against a fellow Football Championship Subdivision program this season, but the performance up front from the Mocs’ defensive line was the biggest reason the game was still in doubt for the Bucs deep into the fourth quarter.
“I knew if we could play well defensively, which we did, that we’d have an opportunity to go win, which we did,” UTC coach Rusty Wright said after the Mocs fell to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in SoCon play.
Four UTC defensive linemen — ends Ryan Bell and Orlando Daniels and tackles Montrell Henderson and Ky Tayo — recorded a sack of ETSU quarterback Mason Mims. The Bucs had allowed just 10 sacks through their first five games. Henderson and Tayo were each credited with two tackles for loss in all, and the Mocs finished with seven as a team.