SATURDAY GAME STORY |
TICKETS
CHATTANOOGA (Updated 3 pm with SoCon news & quote addition)---Rail Rivalry Week starts with big news for the Chattanooga Mocs. Senior punter/kicker
Clayton Crile is the
Fed Ex Ground National Special Teams Player of the Week released by Stats Perform.
Crile scored a school-record 16 of the Mocs points in the 22-10 win at Mercer. He nailed five field goals, another new program standard, and the PAT. Crile's 5-5 performance on treys came from 32, 37, 37, 45 and 27 yards out.
He also punted three times with a season-best 48.8-yard average dropping three inside the 20. His work there and on kickoffs throttled the Bears explosive return game with 7.0 punt and 11.3 kick return average.
"Clayton's is very well-deserved," Coach
Rusty Wright began. "He played a big part in what we did on Saturday, probably his best game of the year. Just mixing it all in (P/PK/KO), I think some guys are natural to it, and Clayton's an athletic guy to handle all of those things. It is different and difficult, but he seems to relish the role."
Crile was also credited with the Southern Conference Special Teams Player of the Week and was joined by a very special guest. Edge
Jay Person earned the defensive honor for the first time in 2023.
Person's dominant day led a shutdown effort for his unit. He recorded six tackles with 4.0 for loss including a sack. The sack was the 20th of his career, one of five Mocs to record 20 or more in their careers.
He led a defensive effort that…
- Allowed ZERO rushing yards, 8th-best total in school history. Fewest for the Bears in their modern era (2013-current). The zero total was 160.00 below Mercer's season average entering the contest.
- Allowed the fewest rushing yards since 364 days before holding VMI to -4 on Oct. 15, 2022.
- Allowed the 2nd fewest on the road all-time (-11 at Marshall, Oct. 27, 1984).
- Forced six 3-and-outs.
- Forced a season-high three takeaways (2 FR/1 Int).
- Earned a season-high 12.0 tackles for loss with 5.0 sacks…13th time with 12 TFLs or more in program history & most since 12 in last season's win over VMI.
"Honestly, I'm not sure who was better on the ends between Jay and Ben (Brewton)," Wright added. "They both had a big impact on a good day for our defense. Jay played hard and made things happen just giving himself a chance to go and have a good afternoon. He's been close a couple weeks in a row of playing at that level.
"Our d-line as a whole was really good. I thought it was one of
Marlon Taylor's best days in the middle of our run defense."
The SoCon race got a bit more clarity on Saturday with the Mocs win at Mercer and Furman's at Samford. At this time last week, six teams were within 1.5 games of each other. Now, four are just a game apart with three more within two back trying to make it nervy:
Western Carolina/Furman: 3-0
Chattanooga: 4-1 (behind solely on percentage points)
VMI: 2-1 (1.0)
Mercer: 2-2 (1.5)
ETSU: 1-2 (2.0)
Samford: 2-3 (2.0)
The Rail Rivalry was conceived before the 2018 contest by ETSU administrators and marketers. It's a battle for the most prestigious railroad tie in college sports, a humble boast according to the tie's Twitter presence @RailRivalry1961..The Bucs won the first year, but the Rail has enjoyed the good life in Chattanooga ever since with wins in 2019, 2021 & 2022. It adroitly social distanced in 2020-21.
Week 7: #20 Chattanooga (5-2/4-1) vs. ETSU (2-4/1-2)
Last Week:
Chattanooga 22, at Mercer 10 |
at ETSU 41, Wofford 10
Game Time: 1 p.m. |
Location: Finley Stadium; Chattanooga, Tenn. (
Tickets)
Series: 24-19-1 (
History) | Media: Nexstar/
ESPN+ |
Mocs Sports Network |
Live Stats
Game Time Awareness
Kickoff this week is at
1 p.m. It changed after the printing of several season tickets. Game time is 1 p.m., not 1:30.
White Out
This weekend is a WHITE OUT game with all fans encouraged to wear white.
Chat with the Mocs
Chat with the Mocs radio show is back at Miller's Ale House tonight from 7-8 p.m. Live attendance is encouraged, but fans can also listen in on the Mocs Sports Network Flagship Station, WFLI 96.1 FM/1070 AM. "Voice of the Mocs" Jim Reynolds is joined by Coach
Rusty Wright every week during the season along with a selected student-athlete. This week's guest appearance is
Reuben Lowery III.
Everything Is Cashless Now On Gamedays
No cash will change hands at Mocs athletics venues in 2023-24. That includes tickets, concessions, merchandising and even parking. Be prepared to pay by credit card when coming to enjoy the hard-working efforts of our student-athletes and coaches.
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