Despite falling 23-20 to the No. 7 Jacksonville State in the season opener, the eighth-ranked Chattanooga Mocs have some positives to build on going forward with Montrell Pardue making an impact.
 
In his regular season debut for the Mocs, the redshirt freshman was able to give his team the momentum boost needed to erase a 16-13 deficit.
 
With 8:16 remaining in the fourth quarter, the 6-foot, 200-pound defensive back seized his moment and forced a fumble by stripping the Gamecocks' Troymaine Pope. It was a clean grab which he capped off with a 55-yard touchdown return to give the Mocs a 20-16 lead.
 
"Last year, it was tough to watch the season as a redshirt, so that made me want to go out and make big plays this season," Pardue said. "We were all trying to emphasize getting a turnover, and that's what kept us in last year and today."
 
Despite falling at the end of the game, Pardue's play gave UTC a crucial momentum shift they needed.
 
"We coached that [stripping the ball] up and it was a great job by him," head coach Russ Huesman said. "The guy was up, wasn't stopped and he just ripped it right out. That is what we talk about and plays like that are what we worked on. He executed and it was pretty cool by him to do that."
 
Just one play earlier, Pardue tried to strip the ball and was unsuccessful, but deliberate practice turned out to be key, as he was able to finally force a turnover the defense was looking for.
 
"I saw that the opportunity presented itself and the ball was a little bit loose in his hand," Pardue said. "When I tried to get the strip, it just fell into my hands. I then just took off and looked behind me with nothing but blue, so then I knew that I was good."
 
"He's an example of just young guys stepping up and making plays," junior captain Keionta Davis said. "Montrell Pardue came in as a redshirt freshman and made a big play. We have a lot of young guys out on the field that we will have to rely on to make some good plays.
 
"When they do things like that [Pardue's], then that's even better for us because it helps us out. I appreciate what he did for our defense and gave us a little bit of momentum going on our side during the game."
 
For the defense, stripping the ball and forcing turnovers is a deliberate practice that the team has worked on since training camp.
 
"During camp, we did things to where we had to get at least three turnovers in practice, "said Pardue, who also finished the game with seven tackles. "If you weren't trying to strip the ball, then you wouldn't get that amount of turnovers, and if you didn't get those amount of turnovers, then you knew that you were going to have to run. Instead of running, we wanted to emphasize on getting the strip attempts with our takeaway drills for that same purpose."
 
"It definitely put us in a position, and our job is to make plays so that the offense can get on the field. It's very crucial because the more plays that we are able to make on defense will help us out for the year, and hopefully we have a lot more plays coming up."