Little by little, the memories of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team's last trip to Samford came back to coach Russ Huesman Tuesday afternoon.
He recalled that 2013 game, how then-sophomore quarterback Jacob Huesman had a knee injury that kept him from being effective in the read-option style the Mocs preferred. Then there were the recollections of former linebacker Wes Dothard's interception return for a touchdown for UTC's first points, and how the Mocs used a late score - although he couldn't remember how - to force the game into overtime.
Mocs glance
* UTC (1-1, 0-0 SoCon) at Samford (2-0, 0-0) * Seibert Sadium * Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EDT * ASN and 96.1 FM
And also, how they lost.
The defeat ended up being doubly bad for the Mocs, who despite claiming a share of the Southern Conference championship missed out on the national playoffs. It would be the last loss UTC has suffered in the SoCon, however, as it ran off seven consecutive wins on the way to last season's outright league title.
"They kind of out-physicaled us," Jacob Huesman said of the 2013 trip to Birmingham. "It was a huge game down there. It's a tough place to play."
He finished with 265 yards through the air while being limited basically to pocket passing. He was sacked five times and finished with negative-2 yards rushing on the day, as UTC gained only 104 yards on 44 runs.
Derrick Craine was the leading rusher with 36 yards on 10 carries. He said games like this Saturday's return trip to Birmingham will be about who wants it more, and there's no added motivation from the Bulldogs pinning the last loss on the Mocs in SoCon play.
The Bulldogs, who are ranked 26th in one poll and 29th in another, host the 10th-ranked Mocs at 3:30 p.m. EDT at Seibert Stadium.
"You're always motivated to win against Southern Conference teams," Craine said. "Last year we were the Southern Conference champions, and the vibe around here has been to three-peat. That's one thing that keeps us motivated is to go out there and win another Southern Conference (championship). This week we focus on Samford and take it one week at a time. Hopefully we'll get a win and continue on through our schedule, undefeated in the Southern Conference."
Quarterback Huesman added that since the team's goals are to win every conference game, the streak "just goes along with it."
"So that's more of what we think about it," he said. "We want to win every game in front of us, not look back at the ones we've won."
And in doing that, the Mocs can atone for the last one they lost.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.