NOTES | QUOTES | PHOTOS
CHATTANOOGA (October 19, 2024) --- The No. 19 ranked Chattanooga Mocs football team used a dominating and balanced effort to help capture its fourth-straight win after claiming a lopsided 37-5 victory over Wofford during Southern Conference action on Saturday afternoon inside Finley Stadium in Chattanooga.
Following the victory, Chattanooga improves to 4-3 overall this season and enhances its SoCon record to 3-1. Wofford drops to 3-4 overall this year and 1-3 inside league competition.
"That's a good football team we just played. When we practiced Tuesday, I thought it was the most physical practice we had in six years. When you go and prepare, do things right, prepare the right way, you have a chance to be pretty good," said head coach
Rusty Wright after the victory.
"Our kids prepared extremely well this week, and they knew there was a good football team coming in here. I thought our staff did a great job this week on coming up with a game plan."
HOW IT HAPPENED
After receiving the opening kick, Chattanooga lost a fumble on the second play from scrimmage which resulted in a Wofford recovery at the UTC 22. The Mocs defense limited the Terriers to just three yards on four plays, resulting in a 37-yard field goal from Devery Cagle to give the visitors an early 3-0 lead (12:17).
UTC responded with a 13-play, 47-yard scoring drive that ended with a 31-yard
Jude Kelley field goal to tie the game 3-3 with 6:25 left in the opening quarter. A defensive stop led to a lengthy 16-play; 70-yard touchdown drive capped off with a
Jay Gibson two-yard reception to allow the hosts to claim a 10-3 lead at the 12:43 mark of the second.
The Terries pinned the Mocs at its own one-yard line on a 44-yard punt before knocking
Reggie Davis back on the first play of the series to record a safety and cut its deficit to 10-5 (8:39) before half. The two teams would head into the locker room separated by the five-point difference after exchanging empty possessions down the stretch.
Chattanooga kicked off the scoring in the second half with a one-yard
Chase Artopoeus sneak following a seven-play, 81-yard touchdown drive at the 10:32 mark to extend its lead, 17-5.
Kobe Joseph came away with an interception on the following Wofford possession to set the offense up deep in enemy territory at the 16-yard line.
Two plays later, Artopoeus tucked and escaped a couple would-be Wofford tacklers with a few elusive moves to score from 13 yards out, giving the Mocs a sizable 24-5 (9:42) advantage. The rushing touchdown marked QB1's first career multi-score game on the ground.
The scoring continued for the Chattanooga squad with consecutive field goals from Kelley, who converted from 48 yards (3Q 2:27) and 44 yards (4Q 7:11) to make it 30-5 in the game's waning moments.
Reuben Lowery III decided to join the scoring affair on the defensive side with a game-sealing, 61-yard interception return for a touchdown to put the finishing touches on the 37-5 victory.
| TIME |
TEAM |
SCORING PLAY |
DRIVE |
SCORE |
| 1Q 12:17 |
WOF |
D. Cagle 37-yard field goal |
4-3; 1:57 |
3-0; WOF |
| 1Q 6:25 |
UTC |
J. Kelley 31-yard field goal |
13-47; 5:47 |
3-3; Tied |
| 2Q 12:43 |
UTC |
J. Gibson 2-yard TD rec. from C. Artopoeus (XP) |
16-70; 7:39 |
10-3; UTC |
| 2Q 8:39 |
WOF |
R. Davis 1-yard rushing loss; safety |
-- |
10-5; UTC |
| 3Q 10:32 |
UTC |
C. Artopoeus 1-yard TD rush (XP) |
7-81; 2:56 |
17-5; UTC |
| 3Q 9:42 |
UTC |
C. Artopoeus 13-yard TD rush (XP) |
2-16; 0:38 |
24-5; UTC |
| 3Q 2:27 |
UTC |
J. Kelley 48-yard field goal |
5-35; 2:25 |
27-5; UTC |
| 4Q 7:11 |
UTC |
J. Kelley 44-yard field goal |
8-33; 5:01 |
30-5; UTC |
| 4Q 5:22 |
UTC |
R. Lowery III 61-yard INT TD return (XP) |
-- |
37-5; UTC |
RECORDS/SERIES – No. 23 Chattanooga 4-3 (3-1) ∙ Wofford 3-4 (1-3) ∙ Chattanooga now leads the all-time series 16-15.
UP NEXT – VMI – Saturday, Oct. 26 – 4 p.m. ET – Finley Stadium – ESPN+ – Homecoming –
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3 NOTES TO KNOW | MORE
1 – 32-point margin of victory is the largest by the Mocs in series history… previous high was 31 done first on Oct. 15, 1927, 38-7, and later matched in the Sept. 3, 2022 31-0 season opening triumph… snapped 15-15 tie in all-time meetings... UTC now leads 16-15.
2 – LB
Kobe Joseph grabbed his fourth career interception in the third quarter… returned it 11 yards to the Wofford 16… it gives his 142 interception return yards for his career which is 11 shy of the top 5 with D.J. Key '13 in fifth with 153.
3 – 5th game with three or more TD involvements for Artopoeus… 1st time with multiple rushing TDs... three of Artopoeus' four career rushing touchdowns came against Wofford... Artopoeus is now tied for eighth in career TD passes with Alejandro Bennifield '17 with 29.
QUOTABLE | MORE
HC Rusty Wright on game planning each week with his staff.
"Too many times in this day in age in college football, I think, it's about coaches who want to run a certain system, do certain things, but at the end of the day, you have to do what your kids can do. You have to put them in a position to win. Every Saturday we play is different. It's a different game plan every time. Sometimes we get into it, and coach [Joe] Pizzo knows we have to score 40, sometimes we get into it and are playing good defense like today, the worst thing you can do is take shots and turn it over. I have two really good coordinators that are really smart, have seen a lot of football, and they aren't arrogant enough to not put our kids in positions to not win. I'm so thankful to have them."
DE Quay Wiggles on the dominant third quarter.
"That was probably one of the best third quarters we ever played since I've been here. Just sound offense and defense. Everybody's just doing their job. Everybody keeping each other accountable. Everybody just playing for one another. It was a blessing to see. It was good."
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