Mocs Ready For Challenge of Hosting 2nd Ranked James Madison

Chattanooga-(WDEF-TV) After losing 45-0 to Tennessee over the weekend, it doesn’t get any easier for the Mocs this Saturday as they entertain James Madison, the second ranked team in FCS football. The Dukes play like the big boys.
They gave West Virginia all they could handle in their season opener before falling 20-13.

Mocs coach Rusty Wright isn’t going to sugar-coat what happened to U-T-C in Knoxville.
Said Wright:”That wasn’t a humbling to me Saturday. That was just a good old fashion butt whuppin’.”
Said defensive back Rashun Freeman:”We know that first off we have to start off better. We have to be the aggressor from the jump.”
UTC did not allow a sack against Tennessee.
As a matter of fact, Mocs quarterback Nick Tiano hasn’t been sacked yet this season.
Said running back Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks:”I think a lot of times linemen’s hard work goes unnoticed. So things like that to be noticed, that’s a step in the right direction. It shows the hard work that those guys have put in.”
Chattanooga will face a hard-working offensive line when James Madison rolls into Finley Stadium.
Said Wright:”That’s a hard thing to do sometimes is to move a guy against his will. They don’t have a whole lot of issues with that or they haven’t in the first two or three games.”
Wright knows what it will take to knock off the second ranked Dukes.
He was on the Mocs team in ’93 that upset top-ranked Marshall as Terrell Owens
caught four TD passes.
Said Wright:”He was asleep over there in Boling (Hall). We had to go wake him up before the game, so it was just one of those crazy nights. I told these guys. I asked them to raise their hand if they had beaten a number one team in the country you know. I raised my hand, and coach (Lorenzo) Ward raised his hand. It’s like it can be done. It has been done here before.”
Since the Mocs have already played Jacksonville State and Tennessee, they
should be ready for the nation’s second ranked team.
Said Freeman:”I love competition. I love playing the best opponents. If it was up to me, I would play the best team from one, two, three, or four, every week.”

The Mocs and Dukes kick at 4pm on Saturday.