NOTES | QUOTES | STATS | PHOTOS
 
JOHNSON CITY---The 20th-ranked Chattanooga Mocs rallied late but fell 17-14 at ETSU Saturday night at Greene Stadium. The Mocs trailed 17-0 entering the fourth quarter yet ended the contest driving in quest of the winning or tying tally.
 
The first drive of the fourth quarter was the offensive turning point. Nick Tiano converted a 3rd-and-18 pass to Joseph Parker for 31 yards to get the Mocs to the three. Tiano later found Bryce Nunnelly wide open in the middle of the end zone to get the visitors from the Scenic City on the scoreboard.
 
The defense held the Bucs with a three-and-out, putting the offense back to work. A couple of strong runs by Tiano and Tyrell Price followed by a Tiano-Nunnelly connection got the Mocs into the Bucs end of the field.
 
Two incompletions and a false start penalty made it a little dicey with a 3rd-and-15 situation. Wil Young's 14-yard catch in traffic made it fourth and a yard. Price used second effort to get the first down and keep hope alive. The methodical march of 14 plays culminated in Price's three-yard plunge to cut it 17-14 with 4:27 on the clock.
 
ETSU tried to run out the clock. Two Jacob Saylors runs were followed by Austin Herink escaping pressure in the backfield to get the first down on an 18-yard scamper. The defense stopped progress from there, but the Bucs worked three precious minutes off the clock, pinning UTC on its own five.
 
Tiano and Young got together for 25 yards on first down. They got the ball to their own 43 when incompletions and a dwindling clock were catching up. Six seconds remained when Tiano hit Parker across the 50. He pitched it to Nunnelly who, as he was being stopped, attempted to shovel it to a teammate. The ball was loose but recovered by Chris Barnes after time expired.
 
The offense entered the fourth quarter with 148 total yards, but torched the home defense for 173 in the fourth quarter comeback effort. The defense was stout as well allowing just 37, half coming on the Henrink scramble that proved key to the victorious side.
 
It was all Bucs early. They scored on a 54-yard run-and-catch by Quay Holmes from Henrink. That was quickly followed by Holmes four-yard run after a turnover gave the Bucs a miniscule field at the Mocs 10 yard line. A late second quarter field goal of 33 yards by J.J. Jerman built the advantage to 17-0.
 
The turnover at the 10 was one of three fumbles for UTC in the first half. Twice the squad had drives stymied in the Bucs territory in the second quarter on fumbles.
 
With the win, ETSU sits alone atop the Southern Conference standings at 3-0. Wofford is a half-game back in second, while the Mocs and Mercer are third at 2-1.
 
RECORDS
No. 20 Chattanooga: 4-1 | 2-1 SoCon
ETSU: 4-1 | 3-0 SoCon
 
SERIES
UTC leads the series 22-19-1...7-10-1 on the road.
 
QUOTABLE
Check out all we heard at the quotes link at the top of this story.
 
"I thought we got off to a really poor start, offensively. We turned the ball over, uncharacteristically, a number of times and put our defense in some tough situations." - Coach Tom Arth.
 
"There is a lot that we could look at negatively, but I think a lot of guys made some plays in that second half. Wil Young had some really tough catches to make, and I thought he showed up big in that second half. I thought Joe Parker's catch on that third down to put us in scoring position on the first touchdown was a big-time play. Tyrell's run on fourth-and-one, just his extra-effort. Defensively, coming up with stops on three-and-outs to give our offensive a chance. Unfortunately, it just took us a little too long to get going." - Arth.
 
"It's what we talked about in the locker room. Every goal we set out for the season is still in front of us. We need to take it week-by-week, keep getting better and learn from this and grow from it." – Junior QB Nick Tiano on what to take forward from tonight's game.
 
NOTABLE
Three notes from today's contest. Check out the full complement of facts and figures in the link above.

• UTC had a negative turnover margin (-2) for the first time in 2018. Came into the night a league-best +7.
• Fewest yards rushing (49) for the program since Oct. 14, 2017 with 44 against Mercer.
• Career highs for completions (32) and attempts (56) for Nick Tiano. Most pass completions and attempts since B.J. Coleman completed 33 of 63 vs. Elon on Oct. 30, 2010.

 
STATS
Check out the final stats at the link above. Here are three stats of note…

• The Mocs turned the ball over three times tonight, all on fumbles. Entered the contest with just four turnovers total all year. ETSU's defense forced eight in their first four, 2.0 per game.
• UTC had 13 plays this season of 30 or more yards coming into tonight's game. It had one against the Bucs, a 31-yard fourth quarter hook up between Tiano and Nick Parker.
• The Bucs 265 yards of total offense are the fewest of 2018 by an opponent. Previous low was 328 in the opener by Tennessee Tech. The Bucs averaged 7.1 yards per play in the first quarter (19-135) and 3.3 over the final three periods (39-130).

 
NEXT UP
The Mocs return home to welcome No. 6 Wofford at Finley Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m., broadcasting on ESPN+. ETSU closes out a three-game home swing with a visit from Gardner-Webb.
 
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