UTC plays WKU for Mocs only football game

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will play at Football Bowl Subdivision opponent Western Kentucky on Oct. 24, both schools announced Monday.

The game, which comes with a $350,000 payday that is important for the entire UTC athletic department, was originally scheduled for Sept. 3, then recently pushed to later in the season as football schedules across the country were altered — and in some cases canceled — due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Southern Conference announced recently a postponement of all fall sports with hopes of playing in the spring, but gave its member schools leeway to go out and pursue other games this fall. The Mocs had non-conference road matchups with WKU and James Madison, and North Alabama at home,but the two latter matchups will not be played this year, leaving the Hilltoppers as the only game on the slate.

The matchup makes 49 total games involving 14 Football Championship Subdivision programs this fall. Nine of those games are involving four of the nine teams in the Southern Conference as in addition to UTC’s game, the Citadel is playing four games while both Mercer and Western Carolina are scheduled to play two.

Monday afternoon, UTC head coach Rusty Wright didn’t write off the possibility of the program adding another game or two to the 2020 slate, although he noted it would ultimately be a decision that would be made “by the players.” He also noted that the team’s focus is currently on the

game against the Hilltoppers.

“We will have a fall camp leading up to the game and treat it like spring practice,” Wright said in a UTC release. “Instead of having a scrimmage at the end like we do in the spring, our guys will have a chance to compete against a quality FBS opponent.”

The Mocs, who were 6-6 in Wright’s first season as head coach, return nine offensive and eight defensive starters. He noted Monday afternoon that the practices leading up to the game — as well as the game itself — will serve as an opportunity for the coaching staff to evaluate the team, while noting that the staff will treat the week leading up to the game like a “bowl week.”

Practice for the Mocs — who never officially started their fall camp — will begin the last week of September.

The Hilltoppers, coached by former Tennessee offensive coordinator Tyson Helton, were 9-4 in 2019. There is some familiarity between the two programs, as WKU defensive line coach Kenny Baker coached the 2019 season for the Mocs and co-offensive coordinator Ryan Aplin was the wide receivers coach in 2017 under then-head UTC coach Tom Arth.

In addition, junior Gino Appleberry played his first two seasons of college with the Hilltoppers.

“The NCAA has shown a safe passage for return to play with strict guidelines we will be following,” UTC athletic director Mark Wharton said in a UTC release. “In addition to the football team playing in the fall, our other fall sports are allowed to pursue limited competition as scheduling opportunities arise.”