There is a belief among University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football players that Saturday's game against the Tennessee Volunteers could mean more than just funding for the Mocs' athletic programs.
"We're not going up there to get a check," sophomore running back Jeffrey Wood said. "Coach (Rusty) Wright hasn't talked once about money. It's all about winning the game. We plan to go up there and show them what we've got."
History suggests otherwise.
For every Appalachian State upset of Michigan, there are dozens of examples of football teams from the Bowl Subdivision blowing out opponents from the Championship Subdivision. For instance, the Mocs have been routed in their past 11 games against Power Five conference teams, including losses of at least 35 points the past two seasons to Southeastern Conference foes South Carolina and LSU. Seven of those opponents were ranked (five were in the top five) at the time UTC faced them; two of them, Alabama in 2009 and Auburn in 2010, went on to win national championships.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / UTC football coach Rusty Wright claps as his players leave the locker room and prepare to take the field for the season opener Aug. 29 at Finley Stadium.Kickoff at Neyland Stadium is at noon, and the SEC Network will televise the game.
The last time the Southern Conference program from Chattanooga went to Knoxville, the Mocs lost 45-10 in 2014 to a team that came in 2-3 under Butch Jones.
Tennessee is favored by nearly 30 points against the Mocs (1-1) this time despite an 0-2 start to Jeremy Pruitt's second season as coach that includes an opening loss to Georgia State, which was picked to finish last in the Sun Belt Conference. Last week the Panthers won 48-42 against Furman, which shared the SoCon title last season.
Wright, an assistant to Shawn Elliott at Georgia State the past two seasons, has dissected video of the Panthers' 38-30 victory in Knoxville, and while he was thrilled for his former team to get the historic win, he knows there was a bit of fortune smiling on the Panthers.
"Listen, to get those types of wins it takes some good luck," Wright said. "Georgia State got lucky a few times in that game. Tennessee missed some easy plays that were wide open. Shawn's team played a great game and deserved to win, but they had some help, just like we will need some Saturday.
"Make no mistake, though, we are going up there to win. These guys have worked too hard to believe anything else."
The Mocs must find a way to negate a huge speed advantage for the Vols in all three phases of the game. Big plays by FCS power Jacksonville State kept UTC from pulling off an upset last Saturday, and this week the Mocs were focused on eliminating such defensive lapses.
"It is frustrating when you turn around and see a blown coverage and a guy is wide open," sophomore linebacker Ty Boeck said. "We watched film, and on every play there is something every guy could have done better. It's a team effort and it's something we need to fix. I think we can adjust to their speed, but we can't make mistakes.
"They are 0-2, it's still an SEC school and they are really good and they can play great football. We're going to do our best and see what happens. A win Saturday would be huge for this program, no doubt. First we have to start playing better ball before we can do that."
Wright, a former UTC player and assistant, has been a part of several David and Goliath matchups, so he knows the dangers.
"These games get away from you when schematically you get outleveraged," he said. "Kicking the ball to the wrong spot, doing things where you don't give your guys a chance to succeed. There are some bad matchups for us, no question. We have to limit those things and keep the ball in front of us.
"We can't worry about who we are playing. Honestly, I'm more worried about us than them. They are a good football team and it's going to be a challenge, no matter if they were 2-0 or 1-1."
Ulmo on watch list
For the second year in a row, UTC junior Victor Ulmo is on the Fred Mitchell Award watch list for the top place-kicker in the FCS, Divisions II and III, the NAIA and the NJCAA. The list includes 31 kickers, and community service comes into play.
Ulmo, a Baylor School graduate, is 3-for-4 on field-goal tries this season and 25-for-35 for his Mocs career.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.