CHATTANOOGA --- The 18th-ranked Chattanooga Mocs football team suffered a 30-20 loss to 20th-ranked Austin Peay during the 2021 season opener on Thursday night in front of 8,115 fans inside Finley Stadium.
Chattanooga fell in a home season opener for the first time since 2015 and will open the young season 0-1. APSU starts the year 1-0 following its first victory in the Scenic City in the program's history.
"They made us play. There were a lot of differences in us and they played in a way we don't see a lot in our league," said head coach Rusty Wright.
"We didn't play well enough to get it done."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Chattanooga jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead after a three-yard touchdown run from Tyrell Price capped off a 6-play, 53-yard drive with 8:17 left on the clock in the opening frame. The short plunge into the endzone marked the 14th career rushing score for Price.
Austin Peay responded quickly with a 5-play, 63-yard touchdown drive which took up just 1:14 of game clock. Quarterback Draylen Ellis connected with receiver Baniko Harley on a free play from scrimmage from 30 yards out before an ensuing two-point attempt was halted, allowing UTC to hold a 7-6 lead.
After the teams traded punts, Drayton Arnold was intercepted at the UTC 39 with 13:09 left in the second, setting up a quick score from the visitors. APSU needed just two plays in 15 seconds to pull ahead 13-7 following another 30-yard throw and score from Ellis to D.J. Render.
It was an emphatic answer from the Mocs offense which marched 75 yards in just 2:14 needing just seven plays. Ailym Ford rolled over the APSU defense for a three-yard score before an Aaron Sears successful PAT put UTC back in front 14-13.
The Govs re-gained the lead heading into the half, 14-13, after a 6-play, 60-yard drive was finished off by a 26-yard field goal from Maddux Trujillo. It's just the second time in the last six games for the Mocs dating back to 2019 in which the team was trailing at the break.
"We knew it was coming," Wright added when talking on the constant response from Austin Peay.
"I did a poor job at practice helping these guys understand what we had to do throughout the course of the game. We didn't do some basic football things defensively to handle situations and take care of plays."
After a swap in possessions, the UTC offense took over at their own 43-yard line before Austin Peay committed three personal foul penalties on defense which led to a 4-play, 57-yard touchdown drive, allowing UTC to take the lead 20-16 with 6:41 left in the third. The XP attempt from Spears failed.
The Mocs defense forced a punt with just under two minutes in the quarter, but a muffed fair catch attempt saw the Govs recover at their own 24. APSU went all 76 yards in just 1:05 after Ellis sparked the drive with a 57-yard completion to Drae McCray to put the road team ahead 23-20.
The Mocs offense sputtered down the stretch, totaling just 31 yards in the final quarter against a whopping 127 for the APSU side. The game-altering fourth quarter drive saw the Govs convert on four third-down opportunities including a 31-yard rush from Ahmaad Tanner on 3rd-and-13. Ellis connected with Tanner on a four-yard swing pass to cap off the 11-play, 86-yard series and put APSU for good, 30-20.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Govs outgained the Mocs 452-228 on offense including a wide 325-130 margin through the air. APSU converted on 6-of-16 third down opportunities, five of which occurred in the final quarter of play.
The UTC defense was anchored Brandon Dowdell who recorded two interceptions and 6.0 total tackles and Jay Person who totaled 8.0 tackles including a sack, 3.0 TFLs and a forced fumble. Dowdell became the first Moc to record multiple picks in a game since Lucas Webb in 2014. Ty Boeck and Kam Jones each finished with 7.0 tackles in a tough defensive effort.
On the ground, UTC rushed for 98 yards with Ford leading the way with 61 yards on 17 carries including a touchdown. Price added 42 yards on seven rushes and a score.
Arnold finished the day 11-of-26 passing with 130 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions while Henderson led the receiving core with five catches for 56 yards and a touchdown. Tyron Arnett added four receptions for 45 yards to aid the offense.
Gabe Boring shined on special teams after averaging 47.8 yards per punt on four attempts, dropping two inside the 20 and booming the second-longest punt of his career at 66 yards.
RECORDS – No. 18 CHATTANOOGA (0-1/0-0) | No. 20 AUSTIN PEAY (1-0/0-0)
SERIES – Chattanooga leads the all-time series 6-1
QUOTABLE
On the penalties in the first half:
"You can't anything going. Just stupid penalties. I mean we got a guy blocking a guy whose helmet comes off, you got to turn him lose… you can't keep blocking him. That's credit to [Austin Peay], they got after it up front and played hard. They got after those guys and played like you're supposed to play." – Rusty Wright, Head Coach
On the defensive mindset after interceptions and the offense was not able score:
"We always have a mentality that we are one of the best defenses. We go out there and believe we can stop them and we have trust in our offense that they can put points on the board. It's just our first game and better games are coming." – Brandon Dowdell, Sr., DB
Check out all we heard at the quotes link at the top of the story.
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- Brandon Dowdell's had the first two interception game since Lucas Webb in the 2014 win over Samford on Sept. 27…it was the seventh and eighth career picks for the 5th-year senior.
- Ailym Ford led the squad with 61 yards rushing on 17 carries…topped the 1,200-yard mark in the second quarter…now has 1,234 yards and 10 TDs for his career.
- Allowed 325 passing yards and 479 yards of total offense…most passing yards since 344 at Jacksonville State on Sept. 7, 2019…highest total O since 499 against The Citadel on Nov. 16, 2019.
Check out all the extra info at the notes link at the top of the story.
NEXT GAME – Chattanooga at North Alabama, 7 p.m. ET | Sept. 9 | 2021 Schedule
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Football Falls to No. 20 Austin Peay in Season Opener, 30-20 - University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Athletics - GoMocs.com
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