As bad as things have been this season for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team where its record is concerned, it could have been far worse.
But veteran players would not let that be the case.
The senior class - 20 players who will participate in the final game of their collegiate careers when the Mocs (2-8, 2-5 Southern Conference) host East Tennessee State University (4-6, 3-6) at 2 p.m. today at Finley Stadium - have led the recent surge of improvement during the past three games, all of which have come down to close finishes. A 23-21 upset of eighth-ranked Samford on Oct. 21 was the highlight, but the Mocs also fell 11 yards short in a 20-14 loss to The Citadel the week after that and lost 24-21 in double overtime to eighth-ranked Wofford on Nov. 4.
Today, they'll have a chance to do something a UTC football team has done only four times since 1994, the beginning of the Buddy Green coaching era: win its final game. (Of the season-ending losses during that span, three came in the playoffs and two were against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents.)
This year's Mocs were 1-7 after a disappointing loss at Mercer on Oct. 14 and about to play three consecutive games against ranked opponents, but that's when something just seemed to click within the program. Practices started improving and players started speaking of having a "swagger."
"It hasn't been the number of seniors that's been important, it's the group of guys that make that class," UTC coach Tom Arth said. "What we've seen with the leaders, the captains, the seniors that are part of the leadership council has been incredible. They've been able to really learn from the situation we've been in. They've been able to come back, work hard and continue to stay positive through everything.
"They've been a great group."
The members of this year's senior class who began their UTC careers in 2014 have experienced 30 wins; that number is 38 for fifth-year seniors. From 2013 to '15, the Mocs won outright or shared the SoCon championship, and the past three seasons ended with playoff appearances.
This year's struggles contrasted with that and challenged the veteran Mocs.
"I'll look back and feel like I did what I needed to do at the time," receiver Alphonso Stewart said. "It's hard to continue to play to the best your your ability and bring people along as best as possible when the record is what it is, but it took a lot to stay true to what I believe in and stay true to what Chattanooga football is about, but we did it.
"The season won't end like we wanted it to, but right now we feel like we put ourselves in a position for next year to continue to keep things rolling how we know Chattanooga football should be rolling."
Although a step back was expected with the loss of five All-Americans and most of the team's experienced players, a drop this substantial wasn't.
The Mocs struggled at quarterback and on the offensive line early in the season. A 63-7 win at Virginia Military Institute on Sept. 23 provided good feelings, but things came crashing back to earth a week later in a lopsided home loss to Western Carolina in which UTC's top two quarterbacks, senior Alejandro Bennifield and sophomore Nick Tiano, were lost to injuries. Redshirt freshman Dominic Caldwell finished that game, but a week later, true freshman Cole Copeland - coaches planned to redshirt the former Bradley Central standout this season - got the call and has been in ever since, throwing for 1,023 yards and six touchdowns in five starts.
Still, the improved performances of the past three games support the view that better days are on the horizon. If so, the program can thank the seniors, who will be honored before today's game, for keeping things afloat when they could have gone awry.
"I expect in a year or two for this thing to be back to what it was or even better," defensive lineman Taylor Reynolds said. "I think Coach Arth and his staff will do a tremendous job of recruiting and getting players in here, and I think they'll progress to getting better every week, so going into next year and so on, the guys will play a lot better and the record will show.
"Looking back on it one to two years from now, we'll be happy with the fact that we finished it the right way and had the pride to not go out there and (only) play the game, but to go out there with a purpose and execute the game plan. I think it'll help tremendously, especially for the coaching going into the offseason, to have the confidence to get players in here. Looking back at it, it sucked because we're seniors and we wanted to finish it the right way, but we'll take some of that and be happy for these guys that are younger than us."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.