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2020 Chattanooga Mocs football
Conference Southern Conference
Record3–2 (3–1 SoCon)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJoe Pizzo (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward (2nd season)
Home stadium Finley Stadium
Seasons
←  2019
2021 →
2020 Southern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 11 VMI $^   6 1     6 2  
No. 22 East Tennessee State   4 1     4 1  
Chattanooga   3 1     3 2  
Mercer   5 3     5 6  
Samford   4 3     4 3  
Furman   3 4     3 4  
Wofford   1 4     1 4  
The Citadel   2 6     2 10  
Western Carolina   1 5     1 8  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
  • † – Chattanooga and Wofford opted out of the remainder of the spring season on March 29 and April 5, 2021, respectively.
Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2020 Chattanooga Mocs football team represented the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon). The Mocs were led by second-year head coach Rusty Wright and played their home games at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

On March 29, 2021, Chattanooga announced that it would opt out of the remainder of the 2021 spring season due to safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. [1]

Schedule

Chattanooga originally had a game scheduled against James Madison (September 12), but it was canceled on July 17 due to the CAA's decision to cancel fall sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [2]

Chattanooga's game at Western Kentucky ended in controversy when the Mocs returned a kick off for a touchdown putting them ahead 16-13 with 1:09 remaining. The touchdown was later overturned when officials claimed a fair catch had been called after review, even after video showed no fair catch called. The result of the bad call on the part of the officials would cost Chattanooga the victory. [3]

On October 29, Nebraska attempted to replace their game against Wisconsin game with a game against Chattanooga because Wisconsin had a mass outbreak of COVID-19. However, it was denied by Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren. [4]

Chattanooga's games against VMI (postponed from February 20), Western Carolina (April 3), Samford (April 10), and East Tennessee State (April 17) were canceled when Chattanooga opted out of the remainder of the spring season. [1]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
October 244:00 p.m.at Western Kentucky* ESPN3L 10–133,905
February 2712:00 p.m. WoffordESPN+W 24–130
March 61:00 p.m.at The CitadelNo. 18ESPN+W 25–243,108
March 201:00 p.m.at No. 13 FurmanNo. 11ESPN+W 20–182,102
March 2712:00 p.m. MercerNo. 9
  • Finley Stadium
  • Chattanooga, TN
ESPN+L 28–353,144

[5] [6]

Game summaries

at Western Kentucky

Chattanooga at Western Kentucky
1 234Total
Mocs 7 030 10
Hilltoppers 3 037 13
  
Pregame line Over/under
WKU –14 53.5 [7]
Statistics Chattanooga Western Kentucky
First downs 13 14
Total yards 225 254
Rushing yards 135 122
Passing yards 90 132
Turnovers 0 2
Time of possession 32:21 27:39
Team Category Player Statistics
Chattanooga Passing Drayton Arnold 9/23, 90 yards
Rushing Ailym Ford 25 carries, 92 yards
Receiving Tyron Arnett 2 receptions, 30 yards
Western Kentucky Passing Tyrrell Pigrome 4/8, 73 yards, 1 TD
Rushing Gaej Walker 17 carries, 88 yards
Receiving Mitchell Tinsley 4 receptions, 46 yards

References

  1. ^ a b "Chattanooga Football Opting Out of the Remainder of the 2021 Spring FCS Season". University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Athletics. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  2. ^ Singelais, Mark (July 16, 2020). "Reports: CAA football won't play this fall". Times Union. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  3. ^ "How a controversial fair catch call led to a Chattanooga bad beat". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  4. ^ McKewon, Sam. "Big Ten reportedly rejects Nebraska's bid to play Tennessee-Chattanooga this weekend". Big Red Today.
  5. ^ "2020 Chattanooga Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  6. ^ "2020 Chattanooga Football Schedule". Southern Conference Football. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  7. ^ "Chattanooga Mocs vs WKU Hilltoppers". Odds Shark. Retrieved December 27, 2020.