The Fordham Rams football team with its 9-2 record and All-American running back Chase Edmonds comes to Chattanooga Saturday to face UTC in a rare trip to the Deep South.
Located in the Bronx, N.Y., the Patriot League runner-up and the Southern Conference co-champion Mocs meet in a first round FCS playoff game at Finley Stadium with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
With a rich gridiron tradition dating back to the 1880s, the Rams have played from Oregon to Miami (Fla.) and from New England to Northern California and many stops in between.
But seldom have the Rams journeyed to the Deep South.
The last time the Rams ventured below the Mason Dixon Line was in 1979 and a 27-15 win at Washington & Lee.
Third Trip to Tennessee: The Rams have played at LSU, Davidson, Miami (Fla.) and several other Southern schools, but Saturday is only the third game in Tennessee.
In 1942, the Rams lost to Tennessee, 40-14 in Neyland Stadium and 25 years later, playing on the oldest field (field, not stadium) in the South – lost to Sewanee, 51-7 on Oct.
7, 1967.
Fordham has also played two other Tennessee-based schools – Rhodes and Vanderbilt – but both games were played in New York.
UTC vs. Fordham – Sat. Nov. 28, 2015 – a strong Fordham team (9-2) looks to make it the third time is the charm in games played in the state of Tennessee with a win and the Mocs hope to make it 0-3 for the Rams.
Fordham does have a couple of starters from the South so maybe they can help with a pre-game breakfast of grits, eggs, ham, biscuits and gravy, sweet tea and a moon pie to eat on the plane flight home.
UTC coach Russ Huesman calls Chase Edmonds with 20 rushing touchdowns and 1,643 rushing yards, the best running back in the nation.
The Mocs counter with Derrick Craine whoalso has 1,000 plus rushing yards (12 touchdowns) on the season as does senior All-American quarterback Jacob Huesman.
The winner travels to No.1 seeded Jacksonville (Ala.) State Saturday Dec. 5. for a second round game
Oct. 3, 1942 – Tennessee 40, Fordham 14 – playing at Neyland Stadium before 25,000 fans (yes, a single level horse shoe open at one end stadium), the 1942 Sugar Bowl champion Fordham took a short-lived 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
The Vols, 9-1-1 in 1942 and headed to the 1943 Sugar Bowl, answered with 40 straight points on touchdowns by Walter Slater, Bud Hubbell, Lou Zontini (2), R.A. Long and Bill Hillman. Charley Mitchell kicked four extra points.
Fordham touchdowns were credited to Steve Filipowicz and Squatrito. Joseph Ososki kicked a pair of extra points.
Oct. 7, 1967 – Sewanee 51, Fordham 7 – Fordham was in its fourth of six years as a club team and would move to D-III status in 1970 … Sewanee was also playing at the small college level after being a charter member of the Southeastern Conference in 1933.
Playing on McGee Field, the oldest field in the South, the host Tigers were led in rushing by Jim Beene with 119 yards and three touchdowns and Bubba Owens with 57 yards.
Fordham had no answer for the Sewanee single wing offense of coach Shirley Majors as Bob Akins threw a pair of touchdown passes, including one to Lookout Mountain, Ga. freshman and future NCAA Post Graduate Scholar John Popham. Mike Underwood closed the books on the scoring with a late fourth quarter field goal.
Pete Signori scored the Fordham touchdown.
Popham’s father, John Popham Sr., was a Fordham graduate and was the long time managing editor of the Chattanooga Times retiring in 1977. Born in Virginia and a World War II vet with the Marines, he attended Fordham in the 1940s, then worked for the New York Times before being send to Chattanooga in the early 1950s.
Sewanee traveled to New York the next fall and won 21-0 handing the Rams (7-1) their only loss in 1968.
Playing in Great Old Stadiums: Fordham has played in such great sports landmarks over the years, including Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds in New York City, Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Tiger Stadium at LSU, Boston’s Fenway Park and Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C.
Tickets are available now on GoMocs.com. Fans can also call the UTC Ticket Office each day at 10 a.m. at (423) 266-MOCS (6627) to purchase tickets. All season tickets holders were mailed information last week on how to purchase their seats for the playoffs. Check your ticket account on GoMocs.com or call the UTC Ticket Office on Monday with any questions or to purchase additional tickets. Tickets prices start at $5 for students, $20 for general admission and $30 for reserved chairbacks.
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net