2018 Football Preseason Preview: Chattanooga

Throughout this preseason, Purple & Gold will preview all of Western Carolina's 2018 football opponents.

For the sixth game of the season, we'll look at the Chattanooga Mocs. The Mocs travel to Cullowhee for what will be the first home game after two weeks on the road.

The Cats won against the Mocs in Chattanooga last season, breaking an eight-game losing streak against the Mocs.











Chattanooga

When: Saturday, October 13 - Time 3:30 pm ET

Where: E.J. Whitmire Stadium, Cullowhee, NC

Radio: Catamount Sports Network

TV/video:  ESPN3 or ESPN+

Games that will be played by the Mocs this season prior to the WCU contest:  (Six games) The Mocs open the season at home vs. Tenn. Tech prior to traveling to Charleston to open conference play with the Bulldogs. In game 3, the Mocs remain on the road traveling to Martin, TN to meet UT Martin, then return home to face another conference foe, Samford.  For game five, the Mocs travel to Johnson City to play ETSU, then return home to face Wofford.

The Series: The Cats own a 17-27-0 all-time record against the Mocs, having first played in 1973. Last season the Cats broke an 8 game slide to Chattanooga with a  45-7 victory in Finley Stadium over the Mocs.

The last game played vs. Chattanooga:  September 30, 2017 - Catamount Football Derails Chattanooga in `Complete Team Win,' 45-7 - Western Carolina forced three fumbles - two recovered in the end zone for touchdowns - and running back Corey Holloway eclipsed the 100-yard mark adding a pair of scores on the ground as the Catamounts halted an eight-game losing skid with a strong, 45-7, road win over Chattanooga Saturday night at Finley Stadium. WCU (4-1, 2-0 SoCon) tallied a season-high seven sacks - matching its seasonal total entering the game - to lead a strong defensive effort that limited the Mocs to 172 yards of total offense including just 49 on the ground. Combined, WCU's seven sacks totaled 63 yards in losses.

Head Coach: Tom Arth - 2d season as head coach at Chattanooga -  Tom Arth is the 23rd head coach of the Chattanooga Mocs football team, announced on Dec. 20, 2016. Arth was the NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year from John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio when hired by the Mocs. A former NFL quarterback, Arth (35) owns a 40-8 overall record in four seasons at his alma mater. His building of the John Carroll program was highlighted by this year's road victories over two No. 1 ranked opponents in Mount Union and Wisconsin-Whitewater. The 2016 Ohio Athletic Conference Coach of the Year guided the Blue Streaks to the NCAA Division III Playoffs for the third time in his four-year tenure.


Last Season's Record (Chattanooga):  3-8 overall,  1-4 home, 2-3 away,  3-5 in the SoCon, with wins over VMI. Samford, and ETSU.

Base Offensive Alignment:  multiple

Base Defensive Alignment:  multiple

Offensive starters - Returning/Lost:  5   /  6

Defensive starters - Returning/Lost:  6   /  5

Specialist - Returning/Lost:  5   /   1

Key losses:
Offense -  Preseason All-SoCon C - Josh Cardiello; TE - Malcolm Colvin; X - Alphonso Stewart; Z - James Stovall; LS - Emory Norred.

Defense -  Preseason All-SoCon E -4 Taylor Reynolds; Preseason All-American M - Dale Warren; W - Tae Davis; All-SoCon FS - Lucas Webb; C - Trevor Wright

Prior to the start of this season, it was announced that Mocs QB Cole Copeland has been suspended for the 2018 season for academic reasons. Head coach Tom Arth said the sophomore will be "re-evaluated" after the season. This is the second time in as many seasons the Mocs lose a starting quarterback for academic issues. Alejandro Bennifield was suspended for the first four games of 2017 because of an NCAA academic issue. Other unexpected losses from the offseason for the The Mocs are all-SoCon tight end Bailey Lenoir and incoming freshman Josiah Futral. Redshirt freshman Chris Broadwater also will not be with the team.

The Mocs lost 20 seniors,  including quarterback Alejandro Bennifield, running backs Darrell Bridges and Richardre Bagley, receivers James Stovall, Alphonso Stewart and Dy’Kari Hickey, fullback Chris Jones, tight end Malcolm Colvin, offensive linemen Josh Cardiello and Alex Hooper, defensive linemen D.J. Prather, Taylor Reynolds and Brandon Bourk, linebackers Tae Davis, Dale Warren, Joshua Phillips and T.J. Jenkins, defensive backs Trevor Wright and Lucas Webb and long snapper Emory Norred.

The Mocs must replace their two top rushers, D. Bridges & R. Bagledy, as well as their top receiver, Alphonso Stewart.

Since Tom Arth took over as HC in December of 2016, he has had lost 3 DCs, 3 OLB coaches, 3 DB coaches, 2 ILB coaches and 2 DL coaches. Every coach has left for a position at a higher level, including 2 (Brandon Staley-Bears, Demarcus Covington-Patriots) in NFL, but he has had pepetual turnover of assistant coaches.

Top returnees:  QB - Cole Copeland (started last 5 games, replaced senior Alejandro Bennifield); Kicker - Victor Ulmo; Punter - Colin Brewer

In the offseason, the Mocs lost their Defensive Coordinator, Tom Kaufman, Defensive Line Coach, Brian Cochran, and defensive backs coach Jonathan Cooley, all to Kent State.
 
The Mocs promoted last year's LB coach, Matt Feeney, to fill the  Defensive Coordinator position and hired Oscar Rodriguez to coach their Inside LB's. Rodriguez comes to Chatt from University of La Verne (CA). The Mocs hired Davern Williams as their DL coach (from East Mississippi Community College) and Jeremiah Wilson as the DB coach.


2017 Chattanooga Statistics
Rushing Offense: 1202 yards
Yards per game: 78.1
Yards per rush: 2.6 yards
Rushing 1st downs: 55
TDs rushing:  8
Passing Offense: 2085 yards or 189.5 yards per game
Avg. per pass:  5.6 yards
Passing 1st downs: 99
Passing Comp-Att-Int: 221-372-17
TDs Passing: 14
Total Offense: 2944 yards or 267.6 yards per game
Fumbles-Lost: 12 - 8
3d Down Conversions: 47 of 150
4th Down Conversions: 11 of 22
Field goal attempts: 9 - 12
PAT-Attempts: 22 of 23 (96%)
On-side kicks:  0-0
Red Zone Scores: 24 of 32  (78%)
Red Zone Touchdowns: 17 of 32  (53%)
Punts-Yards: 60 - 2393 - Avg per punt: 39.9
Penalties-Yards: 78 for 630
Touchdowns scored:  24


Game prediction:  Per the Massey Ratings, the Cats have a 65% probability of winning (29-24) over the Mocs.

According to Massey, Cats should be 4-2 after this game.  I'm going to disagree, the Cats are 5-1 after this game.

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