If you wanted to see a lot of offense in a college football game, then you should have been at Finley Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Playing in front of an announced crowd of 10,763 on a spectacular fall day, the Chattanooga Mocs took advantage of an offensive explosion as they improved to 4-0 in the Southern Conference and 5-3 overall with a 38-31 victory over the Mercer Bears.
Chattanooga, which built a 21-14 lead at halftime and made it 35-14 with two quick scores in the third quarter, had to hang on for dear life at the end as the Bears never quit battling and had the ball at the Mocs’ 16 in the waning moments.
Chattanooga’s defense, which allowed 440 yards, finally got an important stop on that next to last drive to preserve the win.
Mercer, which had one big play after another, got a 39-yard run from Alex Lakes to move from the Mercer 44 to the Chattanooga 17. The Bears couldn’t get any closer as quarterback John Russ was stopped for a four-yard loss before throwing two incomplete passes.
The Mocs were able to pick up one first down, but were unable to run out the clock and punted for the last time, giving Mercer one final shot from its own 20 with four seconds left.
A long incomplete pass then ended the game.
Chattanooga coach Russ Huesman, who takes great pride in defensive football and probably spends more time with those guys than anyone in practice, was simply shaking his head during his post-game comments.
“First of all, give Mercer a lot of credit because they came here with a good game plan and they had plans to win this football game. They also played a lot smarter than we did, but we finally executed on offense and that probably saved us.
“Defensively, it was one of our worst performances in a long time as it was a horrible defensive effort. Mercer did a good job of exposing our secondary and we have to get that fixed. But we didn’t tackle well and we missed a lot of coverages,” he continued.
“But going 4-0 in the conference at this point is a huge positive for us. Wins are hard in any league against any opponent, but we have to get our defense fixed. But I’m not surprised at how well Mercer played. They’re going to win a lot of football games in the future,” the coach added.
Chattanooga quarterback Jacob Huesman played one of his best games as he set career marks for passing yards and also total offense.
He was Chattanooga’s leading rusher with 99 yards on eight carries, including a long of 48 yards. He also completed 24 of 36 pass attempts for a whopping 359 yards and two touchdowns, including a long of 61 yards to Xavier Borishade.
He too was just happy to be heading back to campus with another victory.
“It was back and forth all afternoon, but luckily, we were able to answer every time. We were able to get big chunks of yards through the air as my receivers did a great job, but I’ll do anything to get a win in this league.
“I think I just ran out of gas on that long run as I should have scored, but it’s always nice to leave here with a big win,” he added.
The Bears drew first blood when Russ scored on a keeper from the 8 with 10:23 left in the first quarter.
The Mocs answered two possessions later when Huesman found Troy Dye open in the end zone from the 4 to even the score with 2:35 left in the first.
Mercer came right back to drive 75 yards in two plays, the last one a 74-yard pass from Russ to Tee Mitchell 56 seconds later. The Bears had the lead at 14-7 when the first stanza ended.
Huesman scored on a keeper from the 6 on the fifth play of the second quarter while teammate Keon Williams put the Mocs ahead with a blast from the 1 on fourth-and-goal with 1:51 remaining before halftime.
Then at the start of the second half, Chattanooga got an interception from Lucas Webb and it was quickly 28-14 when Derrick Craine bulled his way into the end zone from the 1 two plays after Huesman’s 48-yard scamper.
Then following another Mercer punt, Huesman hooked up with Borishade for that 61-yard strike with 6:11 showing in the third and it looked like the Mocs might finally pull away following Henrique Ribeiro’s fifth-straight extra point.
The Bears came back just as quickly with JeTarii Donald hooking up with J.T.
Palmer on an option pass from the 8 with 1:11 left in the third before getting a little closer on a 41-yard strike from Russ to Chandler Curtis 25 seconds later.
That last touchdown was set up by an interception by Alex Avant.
The Mocs added a 45-yard field goal by Ribeiro with 10:26 to play for a 10-point advantage.
Mercer concluded its scoring on a 42-yard field goal by Jagger Lieb with 3:48 to play, but the Bears couldn’t get any closer.
Huesman’s 99 yards rushing topped Chattanooga’s ground attack while Craine followed with 53 yards on 13 carries.
Borishade, Craine and C.J. Board all had five pass receptions with Borishade gaining 94 yards, Board 82 and Craine 55.
Lakes was the leading rusher for Mercer as he finished with 100 yards on 20 carries. Curtis was the leading receiver for the Bears with 89 yards on five catches, including the long of 41.
Robert Brown and Palmer both had three catches for 84 and 23 yards, respectively, while Mitchell had two grabs for 82 yards, including the 74-yarder in the first quarter.
The Mocs are now 5-3 overall and 4-0 in the SoCon. They will travel to Western Carolina for next Saturday’s 2 p.m. kickoff while Mercer will host The Citadel next week after falling to 5-4 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
MERCER 14 0 14 3 -- 31
CHATTANOOGA 7 14 14 3 -- 38
MER – John Russ 8 run (Jagger Lieb kick), 10:23 left in first;
UTC – Troy Dye 4 pass from Jacob Huesman (Henrique Ribeiro kick), 2:35 left in first;\
MER – Tee Mitchell 74 pass from Russ (Lieb kick), 1:39 left in first;\
UTC – Huesman 6 run (Ribeiro kick), 12:53 left in second;
UTC – Keon Williams 1 run (Ribeiro kick), 1:51 left in second;
UTC – Derrick Craine 1 run (Ribeiro kick), 8:24 left in third;
UTC – Xavier Borishade 61 pass from Huesman (Ribeiro kick), 6:00 left in third;
MER – J.T. Palmer 8 pass from JeTarii Donald (Lieb kick), 1:11 left in third;
MER – Chandler Curtis 41 pass from Russ (Lieb kick), 0:46 left in third;
UTC – Ribeiro 45 field goal, 10:26 left in fourth;
MER – Lieb 42 field goal, 6:32 left in fourth.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)