2024 Chattanooga Football
Postgame Notes & Records
September 28, 2024 – Portland State – Finley Stadium
 
SETTING THE SCENE
- The Chattanooga Mocs captured a 45-30 win over Portland State Saturday night at Finley Stadium…Chattanooga is 1-3, while the Vikings move to 0-4.
- Chattanooga entered the contest receiving votes in both the Stats Perform Top 25 AFCA FCS Coaches Poll.
- The Mocs and Vikings have played the strongest schedules in the FCS entering the contest…Chattanooga lost to two FBS opponents – at Tennessee & at Georgia State – before a conference loss to a nationally-ranked Mercer (#23 at the time)…PSU lost at Washington State and Boise State around a road conference loss at Weber State, currently ranked.
- Third of four non-conference games…seven straight weeks in the SoCon follow before the regular season finale at Austin Peay closes the non-league slate.
- 117th season…570-557-35 (.506) all-time record.
- 28th campaign in Finley Stadium…77-66 (.539) in the facility…seven games away from 150 total.
- Game captains: Chase Artopoeus, Reuben Lowery III, Quay Wiggles & Reid Williams…1-2 when losing the toss.
 
COACH RUSTY WRIGHT
- 31-25 in his sixth season…16-9 all-time in Finley Stadium.
- 1-0 vs. Portland State.
- 1-0 vs. Big Sky opponents.
 
SERIES
All-Time Meetings: 1
Record: 1-0 | Home: 1-0 | Away: 0-0 | SoCon: 0-0 | Streak +1

• Last 5: 1-0 | Last 10: 1-0 | Last 20: 1-0
• Third meeting with Big Sky Conference…3-0 with wins over Boise State (1992) and Weber State (2016).
• First meeting with a school from the Pacific Time Zone.

 
BYE BYE
- Squad is 5-1 under Rusty Wright coming off a bye week….lone loss was last year at No. 8 Alabama.
- Five wins off an open week ties Wright for third all-time in program history with Leslie Stauffer…Stauffer went 5-0 during his 4-year reign (1910-13)…Scrappy Moore (1931-67) holds the record with a 22-10-3 mark, while Russ Huesman (2009-16) is second at 6-3.
- Wright's .833 winning percentage trails only Stauffer with a minimum five games played…Joe Morrison was 3-0 during his 7-year run (1973-79)…H.D. Drew (1929-30) was 2-0, while Mike Balenti (1914) went 1-0.
- 9-2 (.818) in the last 11 years following an open date.
- 63-40-3 (.609) record after an idle date all-time.
 
TEAM NOTES
- 48 points is a season high…9-1 under Rusty Wright when scoring 40 or more points.
- 30 points ties Portland State's season high for points…also had 30 in the opener at Washington State..
- 11 of 13 on third downs tonight…84.6 percent conversion is a school record…most conversions since 12 (15) at VMI on Sept. 23, 2017...entered the contest four of 37 for the year.
- Season highs for total offense (567), passing yards (396), rushing yards (171) and first downs (29).
- Chattanooga (567) and Portland State (463) combined for 1,030 yards of total offense with 702 by air and 328 on the ground.
- The Mocs did not punt on the night…the Vikings had two for a 47.0-yard average.
- Chattanooga held a 35:06 to 24:55 advantage in time of possession.
- Scored on the opening drive for the first time this season…took over after holding the Vikings to a 3-and-out to open the game…scoring drive was eight plays for 65 yards in 3:11 ending with a Justus Durant 1-yard plunge.
- The Mocs 21-point first quarter is the highest scoring quarter since 24 last Oct. 7 in the 52-50 loss to Western Carolina.
- Scored touchdowns on the first four drives of the game…last time that happened was win the 48-3 win last Sept. 16 over The Citadel…streak stopped when the Mocs got a fourth down stop with 48 seconds to play in the half and ran twice before going into the locker room for intermission…scored on first six full possessions.
- Five pass breakups for the defense…one off season high of six at Georgia State…7th time in the last two seasons with five or more with a high of nine in last season's win over ETSU…14th time in the Rusty Wright era.
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- QB Chase Artopoeus threw for a season-high 396 yards…three shy of his career best (399-Western Carolina-Oct. 7, 2023)…completed 24 of 32 passes with four touchdowns and one interception.
- Fourth career 300-yard effort for Artopoeus, first of the season…he ranks third in school history for career 300-yard games behind Chris Sanders '00 (12) and B.J. Coleman '11 (6).
- Artopoeus had a career-high 403 yards total offense adding his seven yards rushing…12th time a Moc has topped the 400-yard plateau, his second (401 vs. Western Carolina, 2023)…most since Jacob Huesman '15 racked up 428 at New Hampshire in the 2014 FCS Playoff Quarterfinals.
- Artopoeus completed passes to seven different receivers…that's a season high.
- WR Sam Phillips had 150 yards on five catches with a TD…score was on a 78-yard catch-and-run.
- Fourth career game with 150+ receiving yards for Phillips…2nd this season.
- Phillips now has 480 yards on 24 receptions…third Moc this century to record 450+ yards in the first four games of the season: 654-Bryce Nunnelly (2018) and 506-Joel Bradford (2010).
- WR Javin Whatley had 108 yards on eight catches with three scores…2nd career multi-TD game.
- Whatley's third career 100-yard game…third time with seven or more catches.
- The duo of Phillips and Whatley are the first Mocs pair with 100 yards each since last November against Furman: Jamoi Mayes (105) & Javin Whatley (102).
- RB Reggie Davis recorded his first 100-yard collegiate contest…ran for 116 yards on 22 carries with a TD…24-yard rush on the score was his long this season.
- The last time the Mocs had two 100-yard receivers and a 100-yard rusher was 2015...the 31-23 win on Nov. 14 over The Citadel featured C.J. Board (5-116) & Xavier Borishade (5-107, 1 TD) handling the receiving chores while Jacob Huesman ran for 118 yards on five carries with two scores...Huesman accounted for 310 yards total offense.
- Justus Durant ran for 33 yards on 11 totes…first quarter touchdown (1yd) was the first of his UTC career…16th of his collegiate career collecting 15 in two seasons at Shorter.
- True freshman TE John McIntyre had a career night with four catches for 50 yards…entered the game with three receptions and 45 yards on the season…49 of tonight's 50 yards came after the catch.
- LB Alex Mitchell had a career-high 2.5 tackles for loss…has 4.5 over last two games…ended the night with a team-best eight tackles.
- DE Chris Victor had a career-high six tackles…was a reserve last year after transferring from Mississippi Valley State…was disruptive with a half TFL and two QB hurries.
- DB Reuben Lowery III collected his second career interception…also had a half TFL.
- DB Beni Mwamba made his first career start…added his first interception and also had a pass breakup.
 
RECORD WATCH
Pass Yards (Career):
1) Jacob Huesman (2012-15): 8,197
9) Tim Couch (1984-86): 4,133
10) Antonio Miller (2004-07): 3,832
Chase Artopoeus (2023-present): 3,700
 
Pass TDs (Career):
1) Jacob Huesman (2012-15): 64
9) Brian Hampton (1995-98): 28
10) John Green (1955-58): 27
Chase Artopoeus (2023-present): 26
 
300-yd Pass Games (Career):
1) Chris Sanders (1999-00): 12
2) B.J. Coleman (2009-11): 6
3) Chase Artopoeus (2023-present): 4
 
Receptions (Career)
1. Emmanuel Hassell (2004-06): 169
8. Jeremy Grier (2001-03): 144
tie. Terrell Owens (1992-95): 144
10. Joel Bradford (2008-11): 134
Sam Phillips (2022-present): 128
 
Receiving Yards (Career)
1. Stefpon Hawkins (1996-99): 2,375
9. Alonzo Nix (2003-04): 1,879
10. Rocky Turner (1968-71): 1,864
Sam Phillips (2022-present): 1,765
Javin Whatley (2022-present): 1,614
 
SOCON SCOREBOARD
Mercer 22, at Wofford 3
ETSU 34, at The Citadel 17
Samford at Furman, ppd.