2023 Chattanooga Mocs Football
vs. #17 Western Carolina – Oct. 7 – Finley Stadium – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Postgame Notes
 
GENERAL
- The Chattanooga Mocs dropped a heart-breaking 52-50 shootout to Western Carolina Saturday afternoon at Finley Stadium…Mocs are now 4-2, 3-1 in the Southern Conference…the Catamounts are 5-1, 3-0 in SoCon play.
- Entered the game ranked 20th AFCA FCS Coaches Poll and 24th in the Stats Perform Top 25…WCU was No. 17 (AFCA) and 11th (Stats Perform)…1st matchup with both teams ranked.
- 79-81-1 as a ranked team (54-53 at the FCS level)…48-23 in home games as a ranked team, 22-15 at FCS level…4-4 all-time against Western when ranked (2-2 in Chattanooga)…0-3 against ranked Catamount squads.
- 22nd ranked week in the Rusty Wright Era…13-10 under Wright as a ranked team, 1-2 vs. Western.
- 95th Homecoming contest with a 61-30-4 (.663)...25th Homecoming game at Finley Stadium: 16-9 (.640).
- Most frequent Homecoming opp? The Citadel (7-1) & Western Carolina (6-2) at eight apiece.
- 4-game win streak snapped...6th streak of three or more games under Rusty Wright...most by a Mocs ball coach in their 1st five seasons.
- All-time SoCon record at 167-167-2…1st SoCon matchup was in 1977…won championships in 1977*, 1978*, 1979, 1984, 2013*, 2014, 2015* (*co-champs).
- Game captains: RB Ailym Ford, DB Reuben Lowery III, Edge Jay Person & OL Reid Williams.
 
SERIES
All-Time Meetings: 49
Record: 30-19 | Home: 16-8 | Away: 14-11 | SoCon: 27-18 | Streak -2

• Last 5: 3-2 | Last 10: 7-3 | Last 20: 15-5
• Series is just shy of 30 years old…1st meeting a 14-0 loss in Cullowhee on Oct. 20, 1973.
• 1st back-to-back wins in the series for the Cats since three straight from Oct. 21, 2000 through Oct. 26, 2003.
• 15-8 at home in SoCon meetings.

 
COACH
Rusty Wright (Chattanooga '96)

• Record: 26-19 | Home: 14-7 | Away: 12-12
• vs. Western Carolina: 2-2 | Home: 2-1 | Away: 0-1
• vs. SoCon: 21-11 | Home: 11-5 | Away: 10-6

 
TEAM
- 102 combined points is a season high…most since 115 in the 59-56 win over #17 Appalachian State on Oct. 30, 2004.
- 1,094 yards combined in total offense…the Mocs rolled up 543 while the Catamounts posted 551…most since 1,337 yards in the win over App State (695/642).
- 543 yards total offense is a season high…most since last October's 609 in the win over VMI.
- 551 yards allowed is the most since 602 at South Carolina in the 2018 season finale.
- 41:03 time of possession is the third-highest total in a game…most since 42:38 in the 2021 win at Samford…record is 42:57 in the 2014 FCS Playoff win over Indiana State…6th time with 40:00 or more minutes of possession.
- Western's Desmond Reid's 211 yards rushing is the most since Western's Connell Young's 217 in the 2019 meeting, also on Homecoming.
- Scored on all five red-zone entries…four touchdowns and one field goal…now 26 for 27 on the campaign (96.3%).
- 33 first downs…tied for second most in a game in program history…most since 33 in the 2010 win at Furman…record is 34 on Oct. 28, 1979 against Middle Tennessee.
- -2 turnover margin with zero takeaways…Western scored 14 points off those miscues.
 
INDIVIDUAL
- Javin Whatley recorded career highs in receptions (11), yards (231) and TDs (4).
- School-record 353 all-purpose yards including his 114 on kick returns and six rushing…broke the mark of 328 by Charles McNeill vs. Kentucky State on Nov. 24, 2001…1st time a Moc had 300+ in a SoCon game.
- Whatley is the third Moc with four or more receiving TDs in a game…most since the record of six by Cos DeMatteo vs Mississippi Valley State on Sept. 16, 2000…NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens had the other in the Oct. 1, 1994 matchup at Marshall.
- Whatley's 231 yards are the most since Bryce Nunnelly's 268 against The Citadel on Sept. 8, 2018…it is the eighth 200-yard game in school history…ranks fifth all-time.
- Career-high 399 yards passing from Chase Artopoeus…completed 29 of 45 passes with five TDs and 2 interceptions.
- 3rd 300-yard effort of the season by Artopoeus…matches Preston Hutchinson's total from a season ago…season record of six was set by Chris Sanders in 1999 and done again by the Texan in 2000…tied with Hutchinson in third place on the career list.
- 22nd time a Mocs QB topped 350 passing yards…10th time with 399 or more…most since 432 by B.J. Coleman in the comeback win at Furman on Oct. 23, 2010.
- 7th time a Mocs QB threw for five or more scores…tied for fourth on the all-time list…most since five by Coleman against Elon on Oct. 30, 2010, a week after this 432-yard effort at Furman.
- 401 yards of total offense for Artopoeus...his 1,836 yards to date is the most in the first six games of a season...1,706 passing yards is second only to Sanders' 2000 start with 1,785.
- Evan Brown's fourth quarter TD catch is the first of his career.
- Ailym Ford ended with 89 rushing yards on 21 carries and a touchdown…also threw the PAT conversion giving the Mocs a 50-49 lead with 53 seconds remaining after Brown's catch.
- Ford now has 3,890 career rushing yards…needs 110 to become the second Moc with 4,000 career yards…161 short of Jacob Huesman's record of 4,051.
- Ford's rush touchdown was the 36th of his career…seven shy of Huesman (43) on the ledger.
- Ford's 776 carries are 12 shy of Huesman's mark (788).
- Jamoi Mayes had six catches for 66 yards…now has 97 career receptions topping the 1500-yard mark (1,513).
- Sam Phillips collected six catches with 59 yards…topped 1,000 career yards (1,023).
- Clayton Crile handled all things kicking again this week…accounted for 12 points with six PATs and 2-2 performance on FG (47, 23)…touchbacks on five of eight kickoffs with an 11.5 return average when the Cats tried to return…three punts for a 43.0 average including a long of 51.
- Bo Spearman and Alex Mitchell tied for team high in tackles with seven.
- Alex Mitchell tied a season high with 11 tackles ... 1.5 TFLs included a sack ... added a PBU…reigning SoCon Defensive Player of the Week.
- Fellow starting LB Bo Spearman added nine stops, a new career high.
 
OPPONENT SCOREBOARD
Samford 31, at Wofford 10
at Furman 28, The Citadel 14
Mercer 24, at ETSU 6