Mocs Drop Home Finale to Samford 36-13 After Giving Up Two Special Teams Touchdowns

(gomocs.com)

— The 19^th-ranked Chattanooga Mocs football team struggled from start to finish and endured a tough 36-13 loss to Samford during Southern Conference action inside Finley Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

After the home finale defeat, Chattanooga drops to 6-5 overall with one game remaining while finishing SoCon play 5-3. Samford improved to 4-6 overall this season and enhanced its league record to 3-4 after the win.

The Mocs were outscored 14-0 in the second half after initially trailing 22-13 at the halftime break, with all 13 points coming in the second quarter. In total, Samford out-gained Chattanooga 465-177 in total yards while running 30 more offensive plays (92-62) and controlling the time of possession by a sizable 34:53-25:07 edge.

“Disappointing today, for sure. It is anytime you get beat that bad. I failed them. I failed that program as a football coach today,” said head coach Rusty Wright following the defeat.

“We have to learn from and figure out how to get better, but also have to give a lot of credit to Samford. They came to play and I got out-coached, no doubt about it … we have to go back to work and figure things out for next week and see if we can find a way to win a football game.”

HOW IT HAPPENED
Samford jumped out to an early 3-0 lead (1Q 10:52) after a 13-play drive on the game’s first possession resulted in a 23-yard field goal. After the teams traded possessions, the Bulldogs found the endzone on a 38-yard touchdown strike from Quincy Crittendon to Brendan Jenkins down the sideline, allowing the guests to take a 9-0 (2Q 12:48) lead after a missed extra point.

Chattanooga immediately responded as Javin Whatley went 99 yards on the ensuing kickoff to notch the team’s first kickoff return for a touchdown since 2010 while cutting the deficit to 9-7 (2Q 12:35). Jude Kelley’s career-long 49-yard field goal four minutes later gave UTC its first lead, 10-9, with 8:41 left before half.

Samford reached into its bag of tricks on the following drive when a fake field goat attempt at the UTC 18 saw William Thorley (holder) pick up the snap and avoid a few tacklers to reach the endzone, putting the Bulldogs back in front, 16-10 (2Q 5:58). Kelley converted his second field goal attempt, this one from 27, to make it 16-13 with 0:43 before the break.

With just 30 seconds left ahead of half, Samford’s DJ Rias joined the kickoff return parade with a 100-yard touchdown journey (XP no good) to give the guests a 22-13 halftime lead. The first half featured 324 combined kickoff return yards (two TDs), two interceptions (one each), two missed extra points (SAM) and a fake FG touchdown (SAM).

It was Samford who found the endzone first in the second half after a 12-play, 86-yard drive was capped off with a Crittendon 12-yard scamper to extend the Bulldogs lead, 29-13 (3Q 2:03). Struggling to find a grove on offense, UTC was forced to punt things away early in the fourth which proved to be the ultimate dagger in any comeback effort.

Samford, who started at its own two, took the possession all 98 yards in 16 plays and chewed nearly seven minutes of clock, ending the drive with a five-yard touchdown rush from Damonta Witherspoon to put the game out of reach, 36-13 (4Q 6:04). That would be the final score of the contest as the Bulldogs left Finley Stadium as winners for their second-straight visit.

RECORDS/SERIES – No. 19 Chattanooga 6-5 (5-3) ∙ Samford 5-6 (3-3) ∙ Chattanooga now leads the all-time series 34-12-3.

UP NEXT – at Austin Peay – Saturday, Nov. 23 – 2 p.m. ET – Clarksville, Tenn. – ESPN+

3 NOTES TO KNOW | MORE
1 – 99-yard kickoff return for touchdown by Javin Whatley in the second quarter is the first by a Moc in 14 years…the last was a 98 yarder by Brian Sutherland at No. 2 Auburn on Nov. 6, 2010…2nd longest KO return in school history behind 100 yards by Steve Baker vs. Appalachian State on Oct. 8, 1983.

2 – Held to 177 yards total offense – 29 rushing and 149 passing…fewest since 142 at Illinois on Sept. 22, 2022…fewest against an FCS opponent since 172 against Western Carolina on Sept. 30, 2017.

3 – WR Sam Phillips had eight catches for 66 yards today…career vs. Samford: 30 catches for 327 yards… last catch was No. 150 in his career…tied for fifth all-time at Chattanooga with Alonso Nix (2003-04)…went from 10th to fifth passing the now seventh-place duo of Bryce Nunnelly (2017-20) and C.J. Board (2013-16) with 146 apiece and Terrell Owens (1992-95) and Jeremy Grier (2001-03) now in ninth at 144.

QUOTABLE | MORE
HC Rusty Wright on how he thought he failed the program today.
“When you get beat that bad in a conference game, it’s not the kids’ fault. It’s not the kids’ fault. I’m not going to put that on them ever. You get beat that bad at home in a conference football game, the only person you can look at is yourself.”

Senior DB Reuben Lowery III on his time here at Chattanooga.
“It’s been a blessing, for real. God granted me this position to be here in Chattanooga and to play in this stadium in front of this crowd. It’s really been great. My family’s been supporting me, my teammates have been supporting me, and really this whole organization and program has been great. I’m just glad to have been a part of it. You have a game like this and you see how everybody is picking up their teammates, and that’s just a reflection of the culmination of the program and people around us. I’m glad to have this team around me.”