STATS | NOTES | QUOTES | PHOTOS
 
CHATTANOOGA---The 10th-ranked Chattanooga Mocs hit the road in Week 2 and comes home 2-0 after a 38-20 win at Eastern Illinois Saturday night. The Mocs broke open a close game with a dominant second half.
 
Chattanooga led 14-10 at the break behind touchdown runs from Preston Hutchinson (20 yds) and Ailym Ford (4 yds). Hutchinson started the second half with a 51-yard catch-and-run connection with Javin Whatley. Ford's 21-yard dash sandwiched a 44-yard Stone Galloway field goal for the hosts.
 
The Panthers scored from 16 yards out late in the third to get within a single possession, 28-20, before the Mocs put their hosts in the rearview mirror in the fourth.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a dicey start with an interception off a tipped ball in the Mocs first possession, but a balanced evening ensued. The Mocs ran for 193 and passed for 278 tallying 471 yards averaging more than seven yards a play for the second straight week.
 
The defense was fierce again with six sacks and 11 tackles for loss. The Panthers were limited to 260 yards total and just 77 on the ground. The hosts averaged just 2.2 yards per rush.
 
When the Mocs didn't score in the second half, they pinned the Panthers in precarious places. The last three EIU offensive starts came at the 5-, 6- and 3-yard lines thanks to stellar pooch punting by Hutchinson and Jason Pierce. Thirteen of the Panthers 20 points came off short field from turnovers or off a missed 50-yard field effort in the first quarter.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
Offense
QB – Preston Hutchinson – 17-for-27, 278 yards, TD/6 carries for 64 yards, 2 TD
RB – Ailym Ford – 20 carries, 73 yards, 2 TD – 1 reception, 22 yards
WR – Javin Whatley – 4 catches, 79 yards, 1 TD
WR – Jamoi Mayes – 6 receptions, 61 yards
 
Defense
LB – Ty Boeck – 11 tackles, 1.0 Sack
DE – Ben Brewton – 2 tackles, 2.0 Sacks, FF
CB – Reuben Lowery III – 6 tackles, 2.0 TFL
 
TEAM 
TOTAL OFFENSE – UTC: 471, EIU: 260
PASS – UTC: 278, EIU: 183
RUSH – UTC: 193, EIU: 77
 
RECORDS – Chattanooga (2-0) – Eastern Illinois (0-2)
 
SERIES – Chattanooga leads 2-0. First meeting in Charleston. First meeting was a 24-10 win to open the Rusty Wright era in 2019.
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW

• Hutchinson's 300+ yards of total offense is the first since Nick Tiano (325) against VMI on Oct. 27, 2018...ended up with 342...most since 387 by Tiano (347 pass/40 rush) at The Citadel on Sept. 8, 2018.
• Ben Brewton also recorded 2.0 sacks and had a strip sack for the second straight week…career high besting 1.5 at Mercer last season…Mocs had 6.0 as a defensive unit which is the most since six in week 2 last season at North Alabama.
• Devonnsha Maxwell shared a sack with Quay Wiggles in the fourth quarter…he's now tied for second all-time at Chattanooga with Keionta Davis '16 with 31.0 apiece…6.0 shy of Davis Tull '14 who holds the school and conference mark of 37.0.

 
QUOTABLE
"This football team got better tonight. Not just because we won, but how we won. We figured out a way to go win on the road...on a long road trip." - Coach Rusty Wright
 
"That's a much better football team than we played in 2019. They are coached up well, but we can do so many things better than the way we played tonight. But give them credit too." - Coach Rusty Wright
 
"It is a tough place to play. It is somewhere we have never played. It feels good to come out here and win as a group. It wasn't the best. We stood with each other, kept growing and played against a very good team.  They played hard. They gave us everything they had. We just have to keep building from that." - Senior offensive lineman McClendon Curtis
 
NEXT GAME – Homecoming: North Alabama (1-1) at Chattanooga (2-0) – 6 PM – ESPN+
 
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