First Look
After six straight weeks of competition, the Chattanooga Mocs are getting a much-needed break in Week 7. The bye offers coaches and players the time to fine-tune fundamentals, evaluate depth and get extra reps in practice. While this weekend won't feature any game-day lights or roaring crowds, it's a crucial stretch behind the scenes — for recovery, reflection and preparation. It provides the squad with the opportunity to return to action next week with fresh legs, sharper focus and renewed energy for the push toward postseason play.

Breakdown

• The Mocs are 2-4 this season against, arguably, the toughest FCS schedule around. It includes a ranked FBS program (#23 Memphis) as well as two teams in the FCS top 10 (#3 Tarleton State & #7 Tennessee Tech). Oh, and all three were played on the road as well as four of the Mocs six games to date.
• No road issues ahead coming out of the bye. The Mocs host rival ETSU next weekend, Oct. 18, at Finley Stadium.
• Coach Rusty Wright is 5-1 coming off a bye week. Lone loss was at No. 8 Alabama in 2023. 4-0 against coming out of the bye into SoCon play.
• Chattanooga leads the SoCon and is 12th nationally in rushing yards per game (204.0). If the average stays above 200 yards, it would be the 16th time in school history topping that plateau and first since 2021 (205.5).
• The Mocs are conference leaders & 10th in the country in red zone offense scoring on 93.3 percent of entries. They're tied for sixth in TD conversion (66.7%).
• The defense has been led by three different double-digit tacklers over the past three games – 13 by Zion Rutledge (at Tarleton St.), 19 by Kam Baah-Slay (The Citadel) & 13 by TSWA Defensive Player of the Week Kamari Todd (at VMI).
• The 21-14 win over VMI was the second time this season the defense has not allowed a TD (Stetson).

 
Quotable
Coach Rusty Wright on the squad coming together:
"The biggest thing is these guys are getting more comfortable playing alongside each other. The communication part is getting better which comes from just that, playing together and growing as a unit (on both sides of the ball). We need to continue down that track and hopefully, we get healthy and don't have to switch so many pieces and parts out over the last six and get it figured out."

Bye Week or BUY Week
It's a bye week for the Chattanooga Mocs — but a Buy Week for the community. The ticket office is celebrating the midseason break with a special "Buy Week" deal, giving supporters a chance to grab discounted tickets and exclusive offers for the Rail Rivalry matchup with ETSU.
 
While the players rejuvenate and reset, fans can gear up for the stretch run with savings that bring even more energy to Finley Stadium. From Monday, Oct. 6, at 10 a.m., through Sunday, Oct. 12, at 11:59 p.m., fans can get special savings on single game tickets using the promo code "BUYWEEK". There is a $10 savings on reserved chairback seating ($18 including fees) and $8 off general admission ($10). Go here to enter promo code and purchase.
 
Call the ticket office for more information at (423) 266-MOCS (6627).
 
Tickets for all of the remaining three home games are available on GoMocs.com. It's important to buy ahead with a $2 discount for online purchases prior to gameday. Ticket breakdown: Saturday | 2-game Mini-Plan | 3-game Mini-Plan
 
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