NOTES | QUOTES | PHOTOS

ATLANTA, Ga. (September 7, 2024) --- The Chattanooga Mocs football team suffered a back-and-forth narrow 24-21 defeat at FBS-foe Georgia State on a gorgeous Saturday night inside Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta, Ga.
 
Following the defeat, Chattanooga drops to 0-2 on the season after facing two bowl division teams in the first two weeks. Georgia State evens its mark to 1-1 following its home-opening win.
 
A game that featured seven total scores and seven lead changes between the two teams, it was Georgia State who ultimately scored last to escape with the victory. UTC led the Panthers 21-17 with 11:33 left in the game before the hosts put together a touchdown drive with 7:01 remaining to gain a 24-21 edge.
 
"Bottom line, we didn't play well enough to win. I didn't do a very good job with them. We didn't learn enough from last week to this week on some basic football things," said head coach Rusty Wright.
 
"We gave ourselves a chance to win, but you have to make the plays and overall, we just didn't get it done."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Georgia State won the opening toss and deferred to the second half before both teams went scoreless on each of their first offensive possessions. GSU intercepted a Chase Artopoeus pass near midfield on the ensuing drive and cashed in on a 44-yard field goal to forge an early 3-0 lead with 7:16 left in the first.
 
Chattanooga immediately responded with an 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive, capped off with an Artopoeus one-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dalton Restelli on fourth down to give UTC a 7-3 lead with 1:27 left in the opening frame. The reception and touchdown were both career firsts for Restelli.
 
The Panthers answered with a nine-play, 64-yard touchdown drive that needed just 3:56 of clock to allow the hosts to regain the lead, 10-7 (12:31 2Q). The score remained the same at the halftime break as GSU missed a 40-yard field goal attempt (4:09) and was stopped on fourth down (1:02) at the UTC27 in the half's final moments.
 
The Mocs created an initial second-half spark when Leroy Harris III scooped up a loose ball on an E.J. Thomas strip-sack, allowing the offense to set up shop at the GSU10. Three plays later, Reggie Davis punched it in from two yards out to give UTC a 14-10 lead (10:56 3Q).
 
Georgia State once again answered in quick fashion, stringing together a 75-yard touchdown drive in just seven plays to jump ahead 17-14 with 7:35 left to play in the third. Sam Phillips created electricity after racing away with an 84-yard touchdown reception to give UTC a late 21-17 lead with 11:33 left in the contest.
 
It was another quick scoring drive from the Panthers as a 12-yard touchdown rush capped off a nine-play, 59-yard effort in just 4:32 to put the squad ahead 24-21, and ahead for good. UTC earned a chance at a game-tying (or winning) drive in the final moments before an intercepted pass over the middle with less than a minute sealed the outcome.

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
7:16 – GSU – FG – L. Rickman 44-yd field goal – 3-0 UTC
1:27 – UTC – TD – D. Restelli 1-yd reception from C. Artopoeus (XP GOOD) – 7-3 UTC
 
2^nd Quarter
12:31 – GSU – TD – J. Ford 19-yd reception from C. Veilleux (XP GOOD) – 10-7 GSU
 
3^rd Quarter
10:56 – UTC – TD – R. Davis 2-yd rush (XP GOOD) – 14-10 UTC
7:35 – GSU – TD – T. Hurst 22-yd reception from C. Veilleux (XP GOOD) – 17-14 GSU
 
4^th Quarter
11:33 – UTC – TD – S. Phillips 84-yd reception from C. Artopoeus (XP GOOD) – 21-17 UTC
7:01 – GSU – TD – F. Brock 12-yd rush (XP GOOD) – 24-21 GSU
 
RECORDS/SERIES – Chattanooga 0-2 ∙ Georgia State 1-1 ∙ All-time series tied 1-1.

3 NOTES TO KNOW | MORE
1 – Sam Phillips 84-yard TD reception is the longest scoring play since Ailym Ford's 86-yard run against Wofford on Sept. 3, 2022… longest TD pass/reception since August 30, 2018, TD pass by Nick Tiano to Bryce Nunnelly 89-yarder vs. Tennessee Tech.
 
2 – Chattanooga put together a 98-yard scoring drive during tonight's effort… last 98+ yard drive - September 22, 2018 v. Samford... 13 plays, 99 yards, 5:50 TOP which resulted in 18-yard TD pass from Nick Tiano to Tyrell Price.
 
3 – The early 7-3 lead was the first against an FBS program since going up 16-14 with 13:27 left in the fourth quarter at Kentucky on Sept. 18, 2021... seven lead changes as the two teams traded the lead throughout after the opening kickoff.
 
QUOTABLE | MORE
DB Jordan Walker on what the team's mentality was going from one FBS team (Tennessee) last week to another (Georgia State) this week.
"We took that week one loss to Tennessee very personal. It felt like we had a great week of preparation coming into this game, and we came out here and laid it all on the line. At the end of the day, we beat ourselves with costly penalties and stupid mistakes. We've got 10 more games in front of us, and we look to go into this week with our heads down ready to work so we're prepared for Mercer next week."

HC Rusty Wright on more depth stepping up and not putting it all on the starters.
"That's what you want them to do. That's what you want to see. That's growing. We got to continue to grow those guys, and they've got to continue to do that for us. It's a long year, it's a long season, and they've got to go play. When we're locked in, we're pretty good. We still have a chance to have a good football team, there's no doubts in my mind. We have to go do it."

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