Chattanooga Mocs Picked to Win SoCon Football Title Again This Season

SPARTANBURG, S.C.—At the risk of being repetitive, the Chattanooga Mocs football team is the pick to top the Southern Conference once again in 2015. The Mocs are two-time defending champions and claim first in a clean sweep of the coaches and media polls.

Chattanooga received seven of a possible eight first-place votes with Samford receiving the other. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own teams. The media poll saw 29 of 30 pollsters selecting the Mocs first with one choosing Western Carolina.

“I hope they’re right,” said Russ Huesman, who is entering his seventh year on sidelines for his alma mater. “We have good players. That’s the bottom line…that’s what this tells us. We’ve earned this with our play the last few years, but it is a new season so we have to prove it all over again.”

The coaches picked Chattanooga ahead of Samford and Western Carolina in second and third. Wofford and Furman are fourth and fifth, followed by Mercer, The Citadel and VMI. The Mocs got six of a possible eight first-place votes. Wofford is fourth followed by Western Carolina, The Citadel and a tie between Mercer and VMI.

The media almost agreed completely with the league’s leaders. They took UTC first but flip-flopped Western Carolina and Samford in second and third, respectively. Wofford, Furman, Mercer, The Citadel and VMI rounded out the eight-team field.

The coaches select the preseason all-conference teams. Eight Mocs earned first-team mention, while four more slotted on the second team. The 12 total are three more than last season. Not surprisingly, senior quarterback Jacob Huesman is the preseason Offensive Player of the Year. He earned the postseason honor each of the last two seasons.

He is joined on the first team offense by junior offensive lineman Corey Levin, while the defense netted five led by senior defensive tackle Josh Freeman. Juniors Keionta Davis (DE), Nakevion Leslie (LB) and Dee Virgin (Jr.) and sophomore safety Lucas Webb (FS) join Freeman. Junior Henrique Ribeiro is first team pick at place-kicker.

Three offensive performers and one defender are on the second team ledger. Junior safety Cedric Nettles accompanies senior guard Synjen Herron, junior wide receiver C.J. Board and sophomore center Jacob Revis.

“It’s great to be recognized for your performance,” the younger Huesman stated. “But what matters is where we stand at the end of the season. We feel like there is some unfinished business for us. Our focus is on the same goal…the conference championship and then winning it all. But you have to take it one game at a time and that starts on September 5.”

Freeman concurred at the league’s media day, “We know what we are capable of. The opportunity to do something special, something that’s never been done at Chattanooga is exciting. We are putting in the work now to prepare and make it a reality.”

The season kicks off at home in 2015. The Mocs tackle Jacksonville State in a battle of Top 10 teams and the only FCS regular season matchup of 2014 conference champions.