Football Falls 14-3 at ETSU in Rail Rivalry Battle on Saturday

Saturday, October 3

Johnson City, Tenn.

3:30 PM

Chattanooga

3-3 , 2-1

ETSU

4-2 , 2-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Chattanooga	3	0	0	0	3
ETSU	7	0	0	7	14

Notes Quotes

Photo by: Dakota Hamilton

10/3/2026 7:19:00 PM | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

The Chattanooga Mocs football team saw its six-game win streak over the Bucs snapped during Saturday’s defeat.

Box Score | Notes | Quotes | Photos

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (October 3, 2026) --- After scoring on its first possession, the Chattanooga Mocs football team was held scoreless for the remainder of the contest and ultimately suffered a 14-3 road defeat at rival ETSU during Southern Conference action on Saturday afternoon inside William B. Greene Stadium in Johnson City.

Chattanooga falls to 3-2 overall and 2-1 inside SoCon play after seeing its six-game winning streak over the Bucs come to an end. ETSU improves to 4-2 overall and remains unbeaten in league play at 2-0.

Quick Records & Series
Chattanooga: 3-3, 2-1 SoCon
ETSU: 4-2, 2-0 SoCon
Series: 49th all-time meeting… UTC now leads 28-20-1… UTC had won the previous six meetings before today's defeat.

Game Breakdown

On Chattanooga's first drive, Jude Kelley connected on a 47-yard field goal to open an early 3-0 lead before ETSU responded with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to jump ahead 7-3 with 5:54 left in the first.
UTC held ETSU out of the endzone with a crucial goal line stop midway through the second, thwarting the only real scoring chance for either team during the quarter.
The initial first-quarter scoring marked the only points of the half as ETSU held on to the slight 7-3 edge at the break. In addition to the goal-line stop, the Mocs defense accounted for a pair of sacks in the half while the offensive unit was held to just 112 yards of total offense.
With UTC finally knocking on the doorstep, ETSU created the game's largest momentum swing by forcing and recovering a fumble at their own 10-yard line with 3:41 left in the third.
The Bucs converted the turnover into points after a 20-yard touchdown connection from Mason Mims to TJ Peyton capped off a 12-play, 90-yard scoring drive that gave ETSU a 14-3 lead with 13:12 remaining.
ETSU continued its defensive prowess on the Chattanooga offense, holding the unit to just 71 yards of total offense in the second half, and walked away with the 14-3 victory.

Inside the Stats

Chattanooga was held to a season-low 183 yards of total offense… accumulated just 71 yards in the second half… ETSU posted 345 yards of total offense… Bucs earned a 186-75 (+111) edge in passing yards.
Chattanooga failed to reach the redzone during the defeat… held ETSU to a 50.0% success rate in the redzone (2-of-4; two TDs)… Bucs won the time of possession battle 32:10-27:50 (+4:20).
LB Zion Rutledge led all tacklers with 14 total tackles… five solo with a QB hurry and a forced fumble… LB Kristian Ozane followed with 12 total tackles… added an interception and a breakup.

Game Notables

The 17 combined points marked the fewest in the series since the Mocs 10-3 win on Nov. 18, 2017 in Finley Stadium.
Chattanooga has allowed just 29 points over the last three games... that's the fewest in SoCon play since 2024: (10-at Furman, 5-Wofford & 10-VMI).
LB Zion Rutledge posted a season-best 14 stops and had a forced fumble... marks the third time in four games with double digit tackles... 46 tackles over that span.

Postgame Quotes
HC Rusty Wright's opening thoughts.
"We had some opportunities to do a couple of things that would help us win a football game. We had a chance, as crazy as it was, we had a chance to take the lead in the third quarter while playing the field position game. We got the ball down there and did some good things, but we didn't take advantage of those opportunities. We have to do a lot of things right, both sides of the football and also in the kicking game, to be a good football team. They made a couple of more plays than we did. That was the difference."

DL Ryan Bell on the defense's success.
"It just comes down to practicing a lot of situations. We can't have a perfect defense, that's obvious, no one can, we just really succeed in the way we fight and how aggressive we play. Even when things happen negatively, we always bounce back and are still swinging. We just have a cohesive group who knows their assignments and we play with confidence."

Up Next | Buy Tickets
Chattanooga returns home to host Southern Conference foe Samford next Saturday, October 10, inside Finley Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. (ET). Fans can watch the game live on ESPN+, follow live stats at GoMocs.com, or listen on WFLI 96.1 FM/100.3 FM/1070 AM.

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