Alejandro Bennifield hands off to Derrick Craine last week in the Mocs win over Mercer.
photo by Greg Davick
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team has a huge Southern Conference road game at The Citadel this weekend. The third-ranked Mocs visit the No. 8 Bulldogs on Saturday, Oct. 15, for a 3:04 p.m. (E.D.T.) kickoff in Johnson Hagood Stadium in Charleston, S.C.
Catch the top 10 SoCon showdown on Fox Sports Southeast (EPB - 333) in Chattanooga, or listen to the Mocs Sports Network radio call on 96.1 FM. Fans outside of the region can watch the game on the ESPN3 link on the football schedule page on GoMocs.com.
Both Chattanooga (6-0, 4-0 SoCon) and The Citadel (5-0, 3-0 SoCon) are undefeated on the season, and were the top two picks in the SoCon preseason polls.
These two teams shared the SoCon title last year with identical 6-1 league records. The Mocs defeated the Bulldogs 31-23 on Nov. 14, 2015, in Chattanooga to grab a share of the league crown.
This is the first top 10 matchup between a pair of SoCon teams since No. 7 Georgia Southern topped No. 4 Wofford (17-9) in 2012. It is also the first time the Mocs have been in a SoCon game when both teams were ranked in the top 10.
The SoCon is the only league in the Football Championship Subdivision with two undefeated teams remaining, and Chattanooga is the only 6-0 squad in the FCS. North Dakota State (5-0), Sam Houston State (5-0) and Harvard (4-0) round out the list of remaining teams with a perfect record to this point in the season.
UTC's 6-0 start is the best since the 1968 season when head coach Harold Wilkes' University of Chattanooga team opened 7-0 on their way to a 9-1 campaign. For the Bulldogs, it is their best start since 1992.
The Mocs stay at No. 3 in the FCS Coaches Poll for the fourth week in a row, tying a school record they also reached prior to last year's Mercer game. Chattanooga is No. 5 in the STATS FCS Top 25, the other poll officially recognized by the NCAA. UTC has been ranked for 42 consecutive weeks, the sixth longest streak in the FCS.
The Citadel is No. 8 in the STATS Top 25 and ninth in the FCS Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs have been ranked for 12 straight weeks, the 2nd-longest streak in program history. They are in the top 10 for the fourth straight week, their longest stretch inside the top 10 since 1992.