TICKETS

CHATTANOOGA---Twenty graduating Chattanooga Mocs are hitting the Finley Stadium turf for their final regular season contest Saturday. And oh what a big one it is.
 
The 13th-ranked Mocs and No. 2 Furman Paladins play for the Southern Conference Championship Saturday at Finley Stadium. The winner lays claim to at least a share of the league crown and earns the automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs.
 
But the focus is on these 20 young men.

• Gino Appleberry, RB, Atlanta, Ga. | Bachelor's in Sociology
• Ben Brewton, DE, Savannah, Ga. | Bachelor's in Criminal Justice
• JD Broussard, OL, Athens, Ala. | Bachelor's in Politics
• Kam Brown, DB, Mobile, Ala. | Bachelor's in Sport Management
• Evan Brown, TE, Trenton, Ohio | Master's in Business Administration
• Nick Cerimele, OL | Master's in Chronic Disease Prevention & Control
• Clayton Crile, P/K | Working on Master's in Business Administration
• Clay Fields III, DB, Somerset, N.J. | Post-Bacc: Communications
• Ailym Ford, RB, Florence, S.C. | Working on Master's in Criminal Justice
• Jay Gibson, TE, Cleveland, Tenn. | Working on Master's in Business Administration
• Jake Hall, LS, Saraland, Ala. | Master's in Education
• O'Shea Jackson, DT, Philadelphia, Pa. | Post-Bacc: Sociology
• Shamar Jones, DE, Johnstown, Pa. | Bachelor's in Liberal Studies
• Griffin McDowell, OL, Leesburg, Ga. | Post-Bacc: Child & Family Studies
• Cardavion Myers, DB, Piedmont, Ala. | Past-Bacc: Psychology
• Cody Olszewski, LS, Marietta, Ga. | Working on Master's in Data Analytics
• Jay Person, Edge, Cleveland, Tenn. | Post-Bacc
• Telly Plummer, DB, Riverdale, Ga. | Post-Bacc
• Malone VanGorder, OL, Athens, Ga. | Bachelor's in Sport Management
• Romeo Wykle, DB, Cleveland, Tenn. | Post-Bacc

 
On this list includes five who played their entire collegiate career at Chattanooga: Brewton, K. Brown, E. Brown, Ford & Olszewski. There are two more who played five seasons transferring as redshirt freshmen in 2019: Gibson and Person.
 
It's a testament to the closeness of the bond in the locker room that there are so few single-year transfers. In fact, there are just three: Crile, Fields and McDowell.
 
Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. It airs on ESPN+ as well as on the radio on the Mocs Sports Network.
 
Week 10: #13 Chattanooga (7-2/6-1) vs. #2 Furman (7-1/6-0)
Game Time: 1:30 p.m. | Location: Finley Stadium; Chattanooga, Tenn. (Tickets)
Series: 21-31 (History) | Media: ESPN+ | Mocs Sports Network | Live Stats
Game Notes: UTC Media Center
 
ICYMI
Weekly Stories: Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday
 
What to Know…
Offensively:
- 40 trips into the red zone ties for 3rd highest FCS total. 37 scores (22 TD/15 FG) is matched by only Youngstown State. The Paladins score on 84.2 percent of 38 entries with 25 TDs & seven FGs.
- 211 first downs on the season ranks second in the NATION. That's 55 shy of the school record set in 2003 (266).
- Chase Artopoeus is tied for 8th in season TD passes (18) with Kenyon Earl (1994) and Ryan McCall (2002). Needs two more to become 7th Mocs QB with 20+. Interestingly, McCall was also a UCLA transfer.
- Jamoi Mayes' 819 receiving yards ranks third in the FCS. He's 17 yards shy of cracking the top 10 on the Mocs season records list with No. 10 being Terrell Owens (836 in 1994).
- Whatley's seven TDs are the most since TE Chris James snagged seven in 2019 (12G). He is one TD catch from the top 10 in the season category with five tied for 6th at eight. Most recent? Xavier Borishade (2016). Whatley is three from becoming the 6th Moc with double-digit receiving scores.
- Sam Phillips (478) needs 22 yards for 500. If he reaches it, he'll join Mayes (819) and Whatley (700) as the first trio with 500 yards each since 2004: Alonzo Nix (819), assistant coach Tyrus Ward (660) & Emanuel Hassell (647).
- PFF Colleges rates the Mocs pass blocking at 88.3. That's 4th in DI (FBS/FCS) behind Arizona (89.4), Oregon (88.9) & Illinois State (88.5) and just ahead of Furman (86.2) & Georgia (85.4).
- Gino Appleberry is 8th in the SoCon in rushing yards (479) and 6th in rush TDs (6).
 
Defensively:
- Allowed just 20 trips with 13 scores (7 TD/6 FG). Furman has allowed only 19 trips with 13 TDs & zero FGs (68.4%).
- SoCon leader and 7th nationally in sacks (27). Furman, like the Mocs o-line, has only allowed 12.
- 8th in the FCS in turnovers gained (17). Paladins has only turned it over five times (4 INT/1 Fumble).
- Person leads league with 13.0 TFLs with Brewton (5th, 7.0) also in top 5. They rank 31st (Brewton, 83.4) & 43rd (Person, 81.9) on PFF Colleges DI edge defender list.
- Person (52.0) is 8.0 off Davis Tull's '14 school-record 60 TFLs & 3.5 behind 2nd-place Devonnsha Maxwell.
- Four different Mocs have won SoCon Defensive Player of the Week awards this season: DB Jordan Walker (Week 2), LB Alex Mitchell (4), Person (7) and LB Kobe Joseph (9).
- Walker leads the team in picks (3) and is tied for second in the SoCon.
- Clay Fields III is tied for 4th in the SoCon in PBUs (6).
 
Something Special:
- Clayton Crile handled all the kicking duties the last five weeks with 13-16 on FGs scoring 53 points and averaging 44.8 yards per punt on 19 attempts with eight downed inside the 20.
- Kickers combined for 94 points - Crile (53) & Jude Kelley (41). That's 10.4 per game.
- Olszewski (48 GP) is two games shy of becoming the 10th Moc to record 50 games played. Kam Brown has 47 with 46 for Brewton and Person.
- Mocs are 21-27 (.778) on FG, 18-20 inside 45 yards, 3-7 outside it.
 
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