STATS | NOTES | QUOTES | GALLERY
 
CHARLESTON---The 11th-ranked Chattanooga Mocs ground out a 31-21 win at The Citadel on a pristine Saturday afternoon at Johnson Hagood Stadium. It was the sixth win in the last seven trips to visit the Bulldogs.
 
It was a pivotal win in the Southern Conference standings. The Mocs are now 5-1 in the league, tied for second with Furman and Mercer, one game behind Samford. If you think that sounds bunched up, the nation agrees with Samford, Mocs, Bears and Paladins ranked 10-13 in the FCS Stats Perform Top 25.
 
"I am just really proud of these players and coaches bouncing back after last week and giving themselves an opportunity to come down here and win," Coach Rusty Wright began to explain. "We had a lot of adversity from Friday morning until the time we got here, and I thought everybody handled it great. Everyone pitched in and we got a good team win.
 
"We had some guys get sick and could not play today. In 24 hours, we had to move Reuben from his over-hang spot on the corner to free safety. Kam Brown was sick today. There was a lot coaching and finagling going on this morning."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Mocs overcame a slow start with two third quarter touchdowns to stretch a 10-7 halftime advantage to 24-7. Ailym Ford scored his second of the game on the opening possession of the second half from five yards out. Camden Overton added a 36-yard score down the right sideline from Preston Hutchinson with 3:18 left in the frame.
 
The Bulldogs did not roll over. Quarterback Peyton Derrick connected with Christian Hilton and Cooper Wallace from 19 and 14 yards, respectively. Those touchdowns sandwiched a 1-yard burst from Gino Appleberry cementing the win.
 
The Mocs turned the ball over on downs with 2:45 remaining. The defense was in no mood to be charitable. Three sacks in four plays gave the Mocs the ball back with 1:18 remaining. Jay Person, Ben Brewton and Reuben Lowery III all got to the Derrick with Lowery's ending any Bulldog threat.
 
The victory formation saw two snaps and all zeros on the scoreboard.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
Offense
QB – Preston Hutchinson – 12-20-1, 202 yards, 1 TD
RB – Ailym Ford – 29 carries, 130 yards, 2 TD & 3 catches for 67 yards (all team highs)
TE – Camden Overton – 1 catch, 36 yards, 1 TD
 
Defense
DB – Reuben Lowery III – 9 tackles, 1.0 sacks, 1 fumble recovery
LB – Ty Boeck – 9 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery
DT – Devonnsha Maxwell – 8 tackles, 1.0 sacks
Edge – Jay Person – 7 tackles, 2.5 TFL (1.0 sacks)
CB – Kameron Brown – 6 tackles (all solo stops) & 1 interception (41 return yards)
 
TEAM 
TOTAL OFFENSE – UTC: 350, CIT: 306
PASSING – UTC: 202, CIT: 118
RUSHING – UTC: 148, CIT: 188
 
RECORDS – #11 Chattanooga (7-2, 5-1 SoCon) – The Citadel (2-7, 2-5 SoCon)
 
SERIES – Chattanooga leads the all-time series 34-20-2 overall and 15-12-1 in Charleston.
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- 25th 7-win season all-time…just the fifth since 1997 with the other four coming from 2013-16 with Russ Huesman at head coach assisted by…Rusty Wright.
 
- Generated three turnovers and a +2 margin on the day…two fumble recoveries – Reuben Lowery III and Ty Boeck – raising the season total to 11 on the season…entered the game ranked seventh in the nation behind Elon and Morehead State with 11 each.
 
- Ford recorded a record-tying 16th 100-yard game for his career…matches Gwain Durden '80 who passed away over the summer. He now has 953 yards for the season…119.1 per game…need 47 yards to become the first Moc with three 1,000-yard campaigns.
 
QUOTABLE
"It was a terrible feeling staying at home watching the game. I was supporting from a distance.  I felt like I owed my guys this week.  They fought their tails off last week and a I feel like we really deserve this win.  We worked our tails off on the mistakes from last week." - RB Ailym Ford
 
"We knew coming in this game was going to be a hard-fought game.  Four quarters, physical, so we knew we had to prepare all week and really get ready mentally.  We knew it was going to be pretty physical." - Edge Jay Person
 
NEXT GAME – Samford at Chattanooga – Sat., Nov. 12 – 1:30PM – ESPN+. It's a major SoCon Saturday with all four teams in the top two spots playing each other with Furman traveling to Mercer.
 
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