“All over the USA everyone thought UTC was dead, but America you are wrong. Our guys have a lot of confidence and can respond and they did today.”
--- UTC coach Russ Huesman after the 31-21 win at Samford Saturday
It was the perfect formula for success and a win for Chattanooga football as the head coach changed his demeanor, the defense was dominant (six sacks, one interception, one fumble recovery) and the offense controlled the clock (plus 13 minutes) and the scoreboard.
Led by quarterback Jacob Huesman’s two touchdown passes and 300-plus yards in total offense, the UTC Mocs traveled to Birmingham Saturday afternoon and posted a solid 31-21 victory against Samford in the Southern Conference opener for both schools.
UTC is now 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the SoCon, while Samford is 2-1 and 0-1. Coac Huesman is 6-1 vs. Samford, including 3-1 on the road.
“All over the USA everyone thought UTC was dead, but America you are wrong,” said a happy, smiling satisfied UTC head coach Russ Huesman in post-game comments. ”Our guys have a lot of confidence and can respond and they did today.”
“We needed this win really bad for our confidence and we needed a statement game and we got it on both sides of the ball, “ said junior linebacker Nakevion Leslie who led UTC with 11 tackles, the most he has made since having 14 stops against Wofford as a freshman in 2013.
A Coach Changes His Mood: “When I went to bed Monday night I told myself that I have been too negative toward the players and that wasn’t right,” stated Huesman. “So for the rest of the week I worked on being positive and encouraging.
“And for the first time this season I will sleep well tonight.”
Senior Toyvian Brand said with a smile,” it was good to see coach in a good mood this week.”
While the Chattanooga offense controlled the clock ( 36:42 to 23:18) and total offense (452 yards to 313) the Mocs defense had something to prove today and more than stood its ground against the nation’s No.2 offense yielding only 99 total offensive yards by halftime as the Mocs led 24-14.
Samford led by 7-0 and 14-7 in the first quarter, before the Mocs scored 17 unanswered points to lead by 10 at intermission.
In the first half, UTC's Jacob Huesman ran for one score (11 yards) and threw two more - 28 yards to Xavier Borishade and 43 to C.J. Board - plus a 45 yard field goal by Henrique Ribeiro.
"The offensive line was tremendous today in the pass and run game," said Jacob Huesman. ""The guys up front opened up great holes to run through. Today, was another huge step for the O-Line as they continue to get better."
Samford's scores came on a 63 yard pass from Michael Eubank to Emmanuel Obajimi for the 7-0 lead and a 100 yard kickoff return to the Mocs end zone by Karel Hamilton to lead 14-7
The Blue and Gold extended the lead to 31-14 on an 18 yard run to pay dirt by Alejandro Bennifield at 14:54 of the fourth quarter capping a 6-play, 48-yard drive which was kick started by the defense.
Co-captain Josh Freeman had a forced fumble recovered by Dee Virgin at the Samford 48 on a third and 8 which the offense parlayed into the aforementioned touchdown.
Samford's final score came on a Kelvin McKnight 37 yard run at 12:40 of the fourth quarter.
“Today was the day we needed to make something happen and we turned in a dominant defensive effort,” states senior defensive end Keionta Davis who had three tackles, two sacks and two tackles for a loss. “We answered some questions (about our ability to perform) today.”
Mocs Sack Attack (6): Most since six against Eastern Kentucky in 2010 ...
Today - Keionta Davis (2), Isaiah Mack (1.5), Vantrel McMillan (1), Toyvian Brand (0.5)
Scoring Summary (Final)
2015 Chattanooga Football #10 Chattanooga vs Samford (Sep 19, 2015 at Birmingham, Ala.) Chattanooga (2-1,1-0) vs. Samford (2-1,0-1) Date: Sep 19, 2015
• Site: Birmingham, Ala. • Stadium: Seibert Stadium ... Attendance: 9088
UTC 31, Samford 14
UTC 7 - 17 – 0 - 7 -- 31
Samford 14 – 0 - 0 - 7 – 21
1st Quarter
08:29 SAM - E. Obajimi 63 yd pass from Michael Eubank (A. Pistelli kick), 6-84 1:51 7-0 00:42
UTC - X. Borishade 28 yd pass from Jacob Huesman (H. Ribeiro kick), 6-42 2:17 7 - 7 00:29
SAM - Karel Hamilton 100 yd kickoff return (A. Pistelli kick) 14-7 2nd 08:42
2nd Quarter
UTC - Jacob Huesman 11 yd run (H. Ribeiro kick), 5-35 2:30 14 - 14 06:06
UTC - C.J. Board 43 yd pass from Jacob Huesman (H. Ribeiro kick), 2-55 0:36 21 - 14 00:00
UTC - H. Ribeiro 45 yd field goal, 13-61 5:07 24 - 14
4th Quarter
14:54 UTC - A. Bennifield 18 yd run (H. Ribeiro kick), 6-48 3:00 31 - 14 12:40
SAM - Kelvin McKnight 37 yd run (A. Pistelli kick), 8-80 2:09 31 - 21 Kickoff time: 2:30 PM • End of Game: 5:43 PM • Total elapsed time: 3:13
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@Comcast.net