QUOTES | NOTES | PHOTOS
 
CHATTANOOGA --- In front of 10,254 fans on Homecoming weekend, the No. 9 Chattanooga Mocs football team racked up 469 yards of total offense and rolled its way to a convincing 41-14 victory over ASUN-member North Alabama on a beautiful Saturday evening inside Finley Stadium.
 
Chattanooga opens the season 3-0 (1-0 SoCon) for the first time since 2018 and the 15^th time in program history. North Alabama falls to 1-2 following the loss.
 
The Mocs used a balanced attack from quarterback Preston Hutchinson who passed for 303 yards and three touchdowns, in addition to scoring two more times on the ground for five total touchdowns. UTC also turned a pair of blocked punts into touchdowns including a 12-yard scoop and score from Ty Boeck.
 
While it looks good on paper, there's always room for improvement according to head coach Rusty Wright.
 
"We have plenty we can get better at, there's no question about that. But I promise you, I'd much rather be here getting better at it after a win than after a loss," said the ball coach.
 
"We still have some young guys that still have growing to do, plenty of growing. And that's the good thing about it, we figured out a way to win and we still have plenty of growing."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Chattanooga forced a North Alabama punt on the game's opening drive after Jay Person and Reuben Lowery III came up with a TFL on third down at the UNA 44-yard line. The Mocs marched 85 yards on the ensuing drive in just seven plays and 4:10, which was capped off by an 11-yard pass and catch from Hutchinson to Ailym Ford making it 7-0 (7:09 1Q).
 
After another defensive stop courtesy of a Person and Ben Brewton third down sack, Chattanooga put together a marathon scoring drive of 13 plays in 6:16 that covered 65 yards. Hutchinson ended the drive with a one-yard scamper to put UTC ahead 13-0 (14:23 2Q) as the XP was no good.
 
Hutchinson added another one-yard touchdown carry to his first half performance to extend the lead to 20-0 at the 12:50 mark after John Prince blocked a Lions punt which was recovered inside the UNA five. The Lions quickly answered with a five-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that was set up by a 59-yard deep ball to cut the tally to 20-7 (10:22 2Q).
 
North Alabama continued to cut into the Mocs lead after connecting on a 42-yard touchdown pass with 4:14 left in the half to pull within six, 20-14. The touchdown connection followed a dropped pass that would have led to six UTC points just a few plays later.
 
Right before the half, Jamoi Mayes hauled in an eight-yard touchdown pass in the far corner from Hutchinson as Chattanooga stormed 75 yards down the field in nine plays to take a 27-14 lead into the break. The Mocs racked up 16 first downs and 285 yards of total offense in the first half.
 
The third quarter saw sloppy play from both teams as each went scoreless and turned the ball over via the passing game. In addition, the two teams combined for five penalties that accounted for 51 total yards.
 
Chattanooga scored 14 unanswered in the fourth quarter in route to its 41-14 victory. Quay Wiggles, in similar fashion to Prince, pushed a UNA blocker into the kick which resulted in a 12-yard scoop and score from Ty Boeck before the game's final score came on a 30-yard screen pass from Hutchinson to Ford.

BY THE NUMBERS
Offense
QB – Preston Hutchinson – 22-of-31, 303 yards, 3 TD – 5 carries, 10 yards, 2 TD
RB – Ailym Ford – 21 carries, 96 yards – 2 receptions, 41 yards, 2 TD
WR – Sam Phillips – 5 receptions, 96 yards
WR – Jamoi Mayes – 2 receptions, 34 yards, TD
TE – KeShawn Toney – 4 receptions, 42 yards
 
Defense
LB – Ty Boeck – 7 tackles, 0.5 TFL, TD
CB – Reuben Lowery III – 5 tackles, 2.0 TFL
EDGE – Jay Person – 3 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 1.5 TFL, QBH
DT – John Prince – 2 tackles, 1.0 sacks, QBH, blocked punt
 
TEAM  
TOTAL OFFENSE – UTC: 469, UNA: 310
PASS – UTC: 303, UNA: 250
RUSH – UTC: 166, UNA: 60

RECORDS – Chattanooga (3-0, 1-0 SoCon) – North Alabama (1-2, 0-0 ASUN)
 
SERIES – Chattanooga now leads the all-time series 3-0.
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- Defense has allowed 34 points to start the year… fewest to open a full campaign since 14 in 2016 (Shorter, 66-0; Presbyterian, 34-0; at Furman, 21-14)... fewest against three DI opponents since 26 in 1985 (@Vanderbilt, 0-7; @ETSU, 12-0; Georgia Southern, 14-19).
- Ailym Ford topped 2,500 career rushing yards with his third carry of the first quarter… he's sixth all-time in rushing with 2,585 yards, 412 shy of the top 5 (Derrick Craine '16 with 2,997).
- 3-0 for the first time since 2018 (4-0)… 15th all-time: 1914 (3-0), 1922 (3-0), 1931 (4-0), 1951 (4-0), 1952 (3-0), 1960 (3-0), 1961 (3-0), 1968 (7-0), 1978 (3-0), 1979 (5-0), 1980 (3-0), 1991 (3-0), 2016 (6-0) & 2018.
 
QUOTABLE
"We got to figure out a way to run the football just a little better. That's in part of there's a lot of people down there, you know, they're going to force us to throw the football and whatever. I think we're getting to a point where we feel comfortable throwing it out there and doing some things." – head coach Rusty Wright on what can improve
 
"We needed it. I feel like we didn't have any three-and-outs, we just kept stalling. We made some penalties and I had a bad pick. We really needed that next touchdown to seal the game. Ty Boeck helped us on special teams, so that was big, and we figured it out." – quarterback Preston Hutchinson on needing a big touchdown to break things open
 
"I'm excited for the chance to play a Big Ten team. You have to perform well against teams of that caliber. This group doesn't approach it like we're going to play an FBS team. We approach it like we would any other game. We'll watch film and see what we did right and what needs corrected. We're excited." – Ty Boeck on matching up with Illinois on Thursday night
 
NEXT GAME – Chattanooga (3-0, 1-0 SoCon) at Illinois (2-1, 0-1 Big Ten) – 8:30PM ET – Big Ten Network
 
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