Chattanooga 50, Fordham 20
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - In the first round of the NCAA Football Subdivision Championship (FCS) Playoffs, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga defeated Fordham 50-20 to improve to 9-3 overall.
“We played well, especially offensively,” head coach Russ Huesman said. “When you put up forty-eight points offensively and do the things you do, I’m proud of them.”
The Mocs were able to gain the early momentum with a 40-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Richardre Bagley.
After forcing the Rams to punt on their opening offensive drive, UTC was able to find the endzone again when senior quarterback Jacob Huesman completed a pass to junior C.J. Board, for a 43-yard score.
Up 14-0 with 45 seconds remaining in the first quarter, the Mocs’ defense came up huge after sophomore Lucas Webb intercepted a tipped pass for a 71-yard touchdown to give UTC a 21-0 lead. That play marked Webb’s third career pick-six and his ninth career interception.
Chattanooga opened the second quarter with a seven-play, 64-yard drive that was capped off by a Henrique Ribeiro field goal from 23 yards. That increased the lead to 24-0.
The defense forced another Fordham punt and the Mocs were able to move the ball into the Rams’ red zone. With 10 seconds remaining in the half, Huesman found sophomore James Stovall over the middle from 13 yards out to complete a 13-play, 90-yard drive that lasted just over four minutes. UTC led 31-0 at halftime.
To open the third quarter, Chattanooga continued their first-half dominance on the ground. Junior Derrick Craine, whose 14-yard touchdown at the 12:56 mark capped off a six-play, 65-yard drive and gave UTC more breathing room with a 38-0 lead.
Fordham answered with a quick touchdown pass from quarterback Kevin Anderson, who found Phazahn Odom from six yards out for their first score of the game.
After another Ribeiro field goal, the Rams were able to fire off another quick passing touchdown, as Anderson completed a 54-yard pass to Ben Johnson. That would be the last score of the third quarter, as the Mocs still had a 41-14 lead entering the fourth.
With big plays for UTC coming from the offensive and defensive side of the ball, the special teams unit started off the fourth quarter with an impact.
Deep in their own endzone, Fordham was forced to punt after an unsuccessful offensive drive. When the ball was snapped, sophomore linebacker Dale Warren blocked the punt, which forced the ball to roll past the back of the endzone for a safety. That gave UTC a 43-14 lead with 13:24 to go.
With 6:54 remaining in the game, the Rams were able to cut Chattanooga’s lead to 43-20, with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to Tony Patrignelli on fourth-and-goal. That score was followed by an unsuccessful two-point conversion attempt.
The final big play to seal the win came from Stovall, who caught his second touchdown pass from Huesman for a 38-yard score.
Huesman finished the game 17-for-25 passing for 211 yards and three touchdowns, with his longest being 43 yards. The senior quarterback also totaled 129 yards on the ground off 15 carries.
Out of UTC’s 560 total yards on offense, 360 were rushing. Craine finished with a game-high 154 rushing yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. It was his sixth 100-yard game of the year. UTC was also perfect in the red-zone (4-for-4) and on fourth-down conversions (2-for-2).
Defensively, Trevor Wright and Montrell Pardue paced the team with five tackles each. The Mocs defense recorded five sacks, forced Fordham to commit two turnovers and held the Rams to just 89 yards rushing.
Fordham’s Kevin Anderson finished 26-40 for 329 yards, three touchdowns and was sacked five times. Jarred Brevard led the Rams in rushing with 10 carries for 70 yards.
The Citadel 41, Coastal Carolina 38
CONWAY, S.C. – The Citadel football team earned a 41-38 win over Coastal Carolina in its first FCS playoff game since 1992 on Saturday in Conway, South Carolina.
The Citadel had three 100-yard rushers, led by sophomore quarterback Dominque Allen’s career-high 174 with two touchdowns. Junior B-Back Tyler Renew registered his third straight 100-yard game with 129 yards and one touchdown, and sophomore A-Back Cam Jackson added 113 yards and one touchdown.
Defensively, the Bulldogs forced four turnovers. Sophomore Kailik Williams grabbed an interception and recovered a fumble, and fellow sophomore Shy Phillips grabbed an interception. Senior Mitchell Jeter recovered a fumble forced by Tevin Floyd on the final defensive play of the game for The Citadel.
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the first quarter after a six-yard touchdown run by Jackson. The drive started at the Chanticleers’ 11-yard line after Williams picked off the pass at the 39-yard line and returned it 28 yards, setting up the three-play scoring drive.
Coastal Carolina answered on its following possession with a 91-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 7-7.
On The Citadel’s next possession, Renew continued to tear defenses apart on the ground and recorded his first touchdown of the day with 5:56 left on the clock in the first quarter. The score would give the Bulldogs their second lead of the day after starting the drive on the CCU 25-yard line.
The Chanticleers answered with a touchdown of their own to begin the second quarter after converting on a 26-yard pass to even the score at 14-14 with 13:20 left.
After Eric Goins missed a 47-yard field goal with 8:05 left in the second quarter, Coastal Carolina took its first lead of the day after a 44-yard touchdown run. The score was a result of a four-play, 44-yard drive to make it 21-14 with 6:49 left in the half. The Chanticleers would retain the seven-point lead heading into the halftime break.
The Citadel opened up the scoring in the second half with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that was capped with an Allen rushing touchdown from six yards out to tie the contest again at 21-21. The rushing touchdown was the 40th of the season for The Citadel, the second-highest single-season total in program history.
The game continued to be a back-and-forth affair after CCU recorded its third touchdown pass of the day, this time from 16 yards out to make it 28-21 with 8:47 left in the third quarter. That would be the last points the Bulldogs defense would allow for the next 13 minutes.
Allen responded with his second touchdown run of the day from one-yard out to tie the game yet again 28-28.
The Bulldogs’ defense came up with a huge stop with 3:26 remaining in the third quarter. Mitchell Jeter forced CCU to fumble on the 24-yard line and Williams recovered the ball before returning in four yards to The Citadel 30-yard line. 11 plays and 38 yards later, Eric Goins nailed a career-long 49-yard field goal to give the Bulldogs a 31-28 lead with 13:54 remaining in the fourth quarter. The 49-yard kick is tied for the eighth-longest made field goal in school history.
Forty eight seconds later, Shy Phillips gave The Citadel its biggest lead of the day after a 32-yard pick six made the score 38-28 with 13:06 remaining in the game. The interception returned for a touchdown is the fifth for the year for the Bulldogs, which is the most in FCS.
Coastal Carolina answered with 10 points of its own on its next possessions after a sack by Mark Thomas forced the Chanticleers to kick a 26-yard field goal and then a 16-yard rush with 5:38 left tied the score at 38-38.
After a blocked field goal with less than two minutes remaining gave Coastal Carolina the ball, Tevin Floyd came up with a huge strip sack and Mitchell Jeter recovered to give the Bulldogs the ball at the 41-yard line with 44 seconds left in the game. After three running plays, Goins would attempt the game-winning field goal again this time from 43 yards out. The senior would have no trouble as he nailed the kick to give The Citadel the win over Coastal Carolina 41-38.