2021 Chattanooga Mocs Football 
at Samford – Oct. 23 – Seibert Stadium
Postgame Notes
 
GENERAL
- Chattanooga Mocs cruised to a 55-13 Southern Conference road win at Samford...UTC is 4-3, 3-1 in the league…the Bulldogs are 3-4 overall, 2-3 in the SoCon.
- Seventh straight win over Samford and 11 of last 12.
- 33rd win in the series ties for most against SoCon opponents with The Citadel (33-19-2).
- 2-2 on the road this season with wins here and at North Alabama (20-0)…132-70 margin including narrow losses at FBS No. 14 Kentucky (28-23) and at No. 21 VMI (37-34 ot)…won four of last six on the road overall
- Held fourth quarter leads in every game this season…153-86 through three periods this season, 65-55 after.
- Samford entered the game No. 4 in the nation in total offense (491.5), No. 4 in passing offense (347.7) and No. 7 in scoring offense (39.7)…limited 200 total yards with 131 in the air and 69 on the ground…13 points is a season low as was total offense and passing yards.
- Second-fewest passing yards allowed this season (52 at North Alabama)…limited ETSU (182) and Samford (131) to 313 combined passing yards and 542 total after allowing 306 in the air and 485 total in the OT loss at VMI.
- 1,000th football game in Samford history…came into the contest 476-476-47 all-time.
 
SERIES
All-Time Meetings: 46
Record: 33-10-3 | Home: 23-5-2 | Away: 11-5-0 | Neutral: 0-0-1

• 11-2 in SoCon matchups…6-1 in Birmingham.
• Last 5: 5-0 | Last 10: 9-1 | Last 20: 17-3

 
COACH
Rusty Wright (Chattanooga '96)

• Record: 13-11 | Home: 7-4 | Away: 6-7
• vs. SoCon: 11-5 | Home: 6-2 | Away: 5-3
• vs. Samford: 2-0 | Home: 0-0 | Away: 2-0

 
TEAM
- The Mocs scored on their first four possessions – TD/TD/FG/TD…last time they scored on the opening four possessions was a FG-TD-FG-TD start in the 34-24 win at UT Martin on Sept. 15, 2018.
- Four turnovers forced ties season high (Western Carolina)…fourth time with three or more (at Kentucky & ETSU)…19 total takeaways this season.
- Three interceptions raises the total to 13…17 in the last 11 games.
- Season-high 55 points…most since 60 in Sept. 28, 2019 win over Western Carolina (36)…most on road since 63-7 triumph at VMI on Sept. 23, 2017…most against Samford since 56 on Nov. 12, 1910 in Chattanooga.
- 193 rushing yards…fewest in a SoCon game this season for the Mocs…13 of the 16 SoCon games under Rusty Wright have topped the 200-yard mark.
- 15 of 23 games under Wright has had at least one 100-yard rusher…today it was Ailym Ford's 139.
- 1,289 rushing yards over last six games (214.8 per game).
- Season-high 299 yards passing…previous high was 247 against Western Carolina…completed 14 of 17 with two touchdowns and an interception…17.6 yards per attempt.
- Nine tackles for loss…six or more in 11 of the last 14 games.
- Rashun Freeman's pick-6 was the second of the season…first also came in Alabama by Jerrell Lawson at North Alabama in Florence…Freeman read bubble screen prior to the snap collecting the pass at the 2 and quickly darting in the end zone.
- 42:48 time of possession…highest TOP since school-record 42:57 vs. Indiana State (Dec. 6, 2014 in FCS playoffs).
- 2-yard touchdown run by Cole Copeland with 6:26 left in first quarter snapped a nine-TD streak of scores by Tyrell Price (5) and Ailym Ford (4).
 
INDIVIDUAL
- Cole Copeland had four touchdowns which is a career best…two rushing (2, 1) and two passing (42, 17)…threw for a season-high 261 yards on 11 of 14…48-yard connection with Chris James is a career long…42-yard TD to Tyrell Price is career long on a score.
- Devonnsha Maxwell's 0.5 TFL today gives him 39 for his career…that's four behind Keionta Davis (43.0) for second-place all-time at Chattanooga.
- Ailym Ford is 101 shy of 2,000 career yards after 139 today (1,899).
- 4th straight game with a running back scoring on a 40+ run or catch after Tyrell Price's 42-yard touchdown on the Mocs first play…previous three weeks: Ford (65, 54 & 49) and Price (59, 57 + today's 42).
- Price's second quarter TD run gives him 20 career on the ground while the catch makes it 22 total…he's tied for eighth all-time with James Roberts '93, Robert Smith '70, Kenneth Strong '30 and Clarence Lautzenheiser '29 in career rushing TDs.
- Brandon Dowdell claimed his 11th career interception…that's tied for sixth all0time with Kadeem Wise '13 and David McCrary '85…Lucas Webb '17, Phillip Aldridge '85 and Bucky Wolford '68 hold the record with 13…he's one ahead (5) of Jerrell Lawson (4) for the season lead.
- Career-high 83 yards receiving for TE Chris James…topped previous mark of 71 at Samford in 2019…career-long 48 yard reception.
- WR Tyler Walker caught his first career touchdown on a 17-yard pass from Cole Copeland in the fourth quarter.
- Aaron Sears' two field goals today were Nos. 9 and 10 of the season…third freshman in school history along with your good neighbor Rodney Allen (11) and Nick Pollard (10) to make double digits in first campaign…first came from 21 yards and second was from 40…10-12 (.833) for the year and 3-3 from 40+.
- All-time freshman scoring record: 61-Nick Pollard '11, 56 for Sears, 54-Ford '19 and 49-Allen '89.
 
SOCON SCOREBOARD
Western Carolina 45, at The Citadel 31
ETSU 17, at Furman 13
Wofford at Mercer, 6 p.m. | Live Stats
VMI is off