Terriers rip Mocs' chances

Wofford wallops UTC 45-14, leaving the visitors with a 6-5 record and out of the FCS playoffs.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The football playoffs will have to wait until next season for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

The Mocs needed to beat No. 9 Wofford on Saturday to have a chance at reaching the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. But the Terriers weren't biting. Not at all.

Wofford crushed the Mocs and their postseason hopes, while earning itself a share of the Southern Conference championship, with a dominating 45-14 win.

photo Chattanooga linebacker Ryan Consiglio (45) buries his head in his hands late in the fourth quarter as Wofford defeated the Mocs 45-14 on Saturday Nov. 20, 2010 at Gibbs Stadium in Spartanburg, S.C..(AP Photo/Willis Glassgow)

"It hurts," Mocs senior Garrett Hughes said. "This isn't the way we wanted to go out. I know all of us seniors, we weren't ready to be done yet."

Despite the sour ending, Mocs coach Russ Huesman said UTC made progress and achieved a lot in 2010. The season ends with a record of 6-5 and a 5-3, third-place finish in the league, their highest since 1991.

The Mocs had back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1990-91, five SoCon wins for the first time since 1985 and other than Saturday UTC had one of the most explosive and productive offenses in the FCS.

"This program's made progress - unbelievable amount of progress in two years - and it's because of those guys in that [locker] room right there," Huesman said. "I'm proud of them.

"This isn't [the finish] we wanted, obviously, but we'll regroup and we'll be better next year."

On its first drive of the game, Wofford (9-2, 7-1) scored on a 38-yard run by Eric Breitenstein, the SoCon's leading rusher. That set the tone for the Terriers offense, which finished with 474 yards and 23 first downs. Breitenstein finished with 131 yards and three touchdowns.

Wofford quarterback Mitch Allen ran the triple-option offense almost flawlessly. He ran the ball for 65 yards and a touchdown and surprised UTC's defense a few times with deep passes, finishing 7-of-9 passing for 165 yards and a touchdown.

"They just did everything right, and even when they weren't right they broke some tackles and went up over us," Mocs defensive coordinator Adam Fuller said. "It was them being really good and us not being very good."

Mocs defensive end Chris Donald suffered a left leg injury on that drive and missed most of the game, no small thing for a UTC defense that typically uses only a couple of backups.

On UTC's second drive, facing a fourth-and-3 at the Wofford 34-yard line, UTC's Keon Williams burst free up the middle. Just before the goal line, cornerback Blake Wylie stripped the ball free and it rolled toward the back of the end zone.

Mocs wideout Joel Bradford appeared to recover the ball before going out of bounds, which would have given UTC a touchdown, but instead the official ruled it a touchback.

"I scored a touchdown right there," said Bradford, who had eight catches for 121 yards. "I didn't touch the back line. After I had possession of it for about two seconds, they pushed me out of bounds, I guess. But the ref told me I was out of bounds."

The play seemed to deflate the Mocs, who trailed 21-7 at halftime. Their only points in the first half came on a 4-yard Erroll Wynn touchdown run.

Wofford opened the second half with another drive that ended with a Breitenstein touchdown run, but a play earlier in the drive was a killer.

On third-and-12 at the Wofford 45, Allen faked a handoff and passed to 6-foot-4 wideout Brenton Bersin for 42 yards to the UTC 13.

"Even on the times when we had people defended, everything was falling their way," Fuller said.

Meanwhile, UTC's offense was held to 322 yards, its lowest total of the season. Quarterback B.J. Coleman was held without a touchdown pass for the first time this season and finished 15-of-34 for 210 yards. His interception came in the fourth quarter, when Wofford was cruising.

The Mocs came into the game leading the SoCon in total offense with 440.8 yards per game, while Wofford was the top defense at 282.4.

"We couldn't get in a good rhythm, couldn't get set into what we wanted to do," said Coleman, who threw 26 touchdown passes this season, one shy of the school record. "It's going to bite you against a good team like this."

Rather than looking like a playoff contender that went toe to toe with some of the top FCS teams this season, the Mocs looked more like the hapless 2008 bunch that went 1-11 and was blown out by Wofford 56-7.

"We will be better next year," Huesman said. "I guarantee it."

Contact John Frierson at jfrierson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6268. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mocsbeatCTFP.

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