Football Dominates Wofford in Southern Conference Opener, 41-7

Saturday, September 19

Chattanooga, Tenn.

6 PM

Chattanooga

2-2 , 1-0

Wofford

2-2 , 1-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Wofford	0	7	0	0	7
Chattanooga	0	31	7	3	41

Notes Quotes

Photo by: Laura O'Dell

9/19/2026 10:10:00 PM | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

The Chattanooga Mocs football team scored 31 second-quarter points enroute to a lopsided SoCon victory over the Terriers.

Box Score | Notes | Quotes | Photos

CHATTANOOGA (September 19, 2026) --- The Chattanooga Mocs football team dominated the line of scrimmage, racked up over 300 rushing yards, and scored 34 unanswered points during a 41-7 rout over Wofford in its Southern Conference opener on Saturday evening inside Finley Stadium.

Following the win, Chattanooga evens its record at 2-2 and begins SoCon play 1-0. Wofford also evened its overall record at 2-2 and now sits at 1-1 inside league play following the defeat.

Chattanooga dominated the rushing game with 310 of its 356 yards of total offense coming via the ground attack. On the flip side, the Mocs defense recorded six sacks and forced two turnovers while holding the Terriers scoreless over the game's final 42-plus minutes.

Quick Records & Series
Chattanooga: 2-2, 1-0 SoCon
Wofford: 2-2, 1-1 SoCon
Series: 33rd all-time meeting between the two programs… series was tied coming in… UTC now leads 17-16.

Game Breakdown

After a scoreless first frame, Chattanooga put together a massive second quarter that featured 31 points, two forced turnovers (including a pick-six) and a commanding 31-7 lead heading into the halftime break.
Chattanooga opened the scoring with a lengthy 13-play, 87-yard scoring drive (Journey Wyche 2-yard TD rush) to take a brief lead before Wofford immediately responded on the next play from scrimmage (75-yard TD reception) to tie things 7-7 with 12:26 left in the second.
The Mocs scored 24-straight points to end the quarter, highlighted by rushing touchdowns from Kevin Lalin (2 yards) and Harrison Bey-Buie (7 yards), a 26-yard interception return for a touchdown by Jaden Nelson, and a 42-yard Jude Kelley field goal.
Lalin recorded his second touchdown of the night to open the second half, again from two yards out, to extend the hosts lead to 38-7 with 8:57 remaining in the third.
Kelley put the final touches on the 41-7 lopsided victory with a 37-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter (8:51).

Inside the Stats

Chattanooga out-gained Wofford 356-250 (+106) in total offense… 310-92 (+218) advantage in total rushing yards… UTC averaged 5.8 yards-per-carry to Wofford's 2.6 average.
Six different Mocs recorded at least three carries… three different Mocs recorded at least one rushing TD… RB Journey Wyche led the team with 122 yards on 13 attempts including a TD… RB Kevin Lalin went for 110 yards on 16 attempts and two TDs… Harrison Bey-Buie added the other rushing TD after a nine carry, 22-yard effort.
Chattanooga registered 17 first downs during the victory… allowed Wofford to move the sticks just nine times… UTC went a perfect 5-of-5 inside the redzone (four TD's)… Terriers never took a snap inside the 20.
Chattanooga earned a large +13:48 advantage in time of possession… 36:54 to 23:06… ran seven more plays than Wofford (60-53)… 5.9 yards-per-play average to the Terriers 4.7 mark.

Game Notables

The 31-point second quarter explosion marked the most points in a quarter for UTC since 31 against Western Carolina on Sept. 28, 2019... that was also in the second quarter… 9-second sequence between the 7-yard Harrison Bey-Buie TD run and 26-yard Jaden Nelson pick 6 was the first back-to-back scores on offensive plays since Sept. 23, 2023 at Samford.
DE Orlando Daniels had five tackles and two sacks to go with a forced fumble… ties his career high for sacks done twice before when he played at Albion…third multi-sack game as a Moc with 1.5 in wins at Samford and over Furman in 2025.
UTC ran for 310 yards on 53 carries… 5.8 yards per rush… four touchdowns… last time with 300+ against a SoCon opponent since Sept. 28, 2019 against Western Carolina (400).

Postgame Quotes
HC Rusty Wright opening thoughts: "You know, the kids executed [tonight]. I know there's plenty of things we have to get better at, everything's not always roses when you win, and it's not always just awful when you lose, but those kids went out and executed tonight. We talked about our actions coming into this game today, controlling our actions and controlling the things we can control, and I thought on both sides of the football and the kicking game, we did that."

QB Battle Alberson on the running game: "They've done a phenomenal job [running game]. You know our guys up front, the guy's running the ball, they've done really well this year. Everyone has just done a really good job in the overall aspect of running the football."

Up Next | Buy Tickets
Chattanooga continues Southern Conference play next weekend with a road trip to Charleston, S.C., to face The Citadel on Saturday (September 26) inside Johnson Hagood Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2 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.

GoMocs.com is the official website of the Chattanooga Mocs. Buy officially licensed gear in our online store. The Mocs can also be followed on their official Facebook page or on Twitter. Find out how to join the Mocs Club and support more than 300 student-athletes by clicking here.