The Citadel at Chattanooga, to be played at Finley Stadium/Davenport Field in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with kickoff at 6:00 pm ET on September 16, 2023.
The game will be televised via Nexstar and streamed on ESPN+. Pete Yanity will handle play-by-play, while Jay Sonnhalter supplies the analysis.
According to the SoCon’s website:
Nexstar affiliates with the opportunity to air games are: ECBD (Charleston), WMYT (Charlotte), WWCW (Lynchburg/Roanoke) and WYCW (Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville). Although not a Nexstar station, WMUB (Macon), Mercer University Broadcasting, will also air select contests.
That doesn’t necessarily mean all of those stations will be televising Saturday’s matchup.
The contest can be heard on radio via The Citadel Sports Network. WQNT-1450 AM [audio link], originating in Charleston, will be the flagship station. Other stations carrying the game include WQXL in Columbia (100.7 FM/1470 AM) and WDXY in Sumter (105.9 FM/1240 AM).
Brian Giffin will call the action alongside analyst Lee Glaze.
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Links of interest:
– Maurice Drayton’s Monday press conference
– Things to avoid, per the coach: Self-Inflicted Negatives
– Box score for Campbell-The Citadel
– Box score for Kennesaw State-Chattanooga (won by UTC, 27-20)
– Box score for Chattanooga-North Alabama (a 41-27 loss for the Mocs)
– Season statistics for Chattanooga (two games)
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Roster review:
– Of the 110 players on The Citadel’s online roster as of September 14, 58 are from South Carolina. Other states represented: Florida (14 players), Georgia (11), North Carolina (11), Virginia (5), Alabama (2), Ohio (2), New York (2), Texas (2), and one each from Maryland, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
– Chattanooga has 103 players on its online roster. Of those, 35 are from Georgia, and 34 are from Tennessee. Other states represented on the Mocs’ squad: Alabama (14 players), Pennsylvania (4), Ohio (3), South Carolina (3), Florida (2), and one each from Arizona, California, Illinois, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Virginia.
Freshman offensive tackle Lukas Majer is from Cologne, Germany. He played high school football in Rabun Gap, Georgia.
– The Mocs have three players who hail from the Palmetto State, as noted. Star running back Ailym Ford went to West Florence High School. Redshirt freshman defensive lineman Ky Tayo (a transfer from Georgia Southern) graduated from Spring Valley High School in Columbia, while punter Clayton Crile (a grad transfer from Catawba) went to Byrnes High School in Duncan.
There are no Mocs who wore the famed maroon and orange of Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School, unquestionably a key reason why Chattanooga has been unable to capture the SoCon title in recent years. The absence of such players, with their innate gridiron knowledge and superior clutch performance, has been an obvious detriment to Chattanooga’s program.
– Chattanooga has one player who transferred in directly from junior college and 37 players who arrived via other four-year institutions, including “power five” schools Alabama, Auburn, Cincinnati, Florida, Georgia Tech, Houston, Indiana (two players), Louisville, Purdue, Tennessee, UCLA, Virginia Tech, and Washington State.
In its game versus Kennesaw State, five of those P5 transfers started, including quarterback Chase Artopoeus (a grad transfer from UCLA) and three of the Mocs’ offensive linemen.
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Through two games, UTC’s offensive play-calling has been almost perfectly balanced between the run and the pass (73 rushes, 74 pass attempts). However, almost two-thirds (66.2%) of Chattanooga’s total offense has come via the air.
The Mocs are averaging 6.03 yards per play, including 7.93 yards per pass attempt and 4.11 yards per rush. Chattanooga has not yet allowed a sack.
Opponents are averaging 6.96 yards per play versus the Mocs’ defense — 8.14 yards per pass attempt and 6.02 via the rush (all numbers sack-adjusted). North Alabama and Kennesaw State gained 56.2% of their total yards by passing.
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Rusty Wright’s press conference (linked above) included a question about the future of college football. His answer — which began with a long sigh — was realistic and sensible. It starts around the 12-minute mark of the video.
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Odds and ends:
– The weather forecast for Saturday in Chattanooga, per the National Weather Service, includes a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms. It will be partly sunny, with a high near 81°. There is a 40% chance of showers on Saturday night.
– If I get a line on the game before noon on Saturday, I’ll post it here. However, FCS odds and lines have been very hard to come by so far this year.
– Massey Ratings: Chattanooga is ranked 46th in FCS, moving up 3 spots from last week. The Citadel is 94th (a 28-place drop).
Massey projects Chattanooga to win the game by a predicted score of 35-14. The Bulldogs are given a 9% chance of winning.
– SP+ FCS rankings: The Citadel is 109th out of 128 teams, falling 39 spots, the largest drop of the week in the entire subdivision. The Bulldogs are ranked 108th in offensive SP+, and 82nd in defensive SP+.
Chattanooga is 31st in SP+ among FCS squads, 37th on offense and 30th on D.
A selected list of SP+ FCS rankings entering Week 3:
- North Dakota State (1st)
- South Dakota State (2nd)
- Montana State (3rd)
- William and Mary (8th)
- Furman (12th)
- Samford (25th)
- Campbell (26th)
- Mercer (30th)
- Western Carolina (43rd)
- Kennesaw State (50th)
- East Tennessee State (51st)
- Eastern Kentucky (52nd)
- Austin Peay (54th)
- Davidson (66th)
- Wofford (79th)
- Charleston Southern (85th)
- VMI (90th)
- Bucknell (108th)
- South Carolina State (121st)
- Morehead State (125th)
- Presbyterian (128th and last)
– In other FCS preseason polls/rankings, The Citadel ranks 107th in the Congrove Computer Rankings (a drop of 28 spots), 98th in the Laz Index (a decline of 20 places), and 100th in the DCI (down 14 spots).
– Games involving SoCon teams this week [projected score per SP+ in brackets]:
- Saturday at 2:00 pm ET: VMI at North Carolina State [NCSU 43, VMI 0]
- Saturday at 5:00 pm ET: Furman at Kennesaw State [Furman 33.6, Kenn. St. 21.7]
- Saturday at 6:00 pm ET: Western Carolina at Eastern Kentucky [EKU 30.3, WCU 30.0]
- Saturday at 6:00 pm ET: The Citadel at Chattanooga [UTC 36.5, The Citadel 11.8]
- Saturday at 6:00 pm ET: Presbyterian at Wofford [Wofford 37.2, PC 12.0]
- Saturday at 7:00 pm ET: East Tennessee State at Austin Peay [APSU 28.9, ETSU 28.6]
- Saturday at 7:30 pm ET: Samford at Auburn [Auburn 42, Samford 9]
Mercer is off this week. So is South Carolina State, The Citadel’s opponent next week.
– Among Chattanooga’s notable alumni: actor Dennis “Mr. Belding” Haskins, retired general Burwell Bell, and chemist Irvine Grote.
– The Citadel has an all-time record of 5-4 for games played on September 16. The Bulldogs are 2-3 away from home.
The Citadel is 4-0 in SoCon play on September 16, including the most recent game played by the Bulldogs on that date, a 31-25 win at East Tennessee State in 2017. The other victory for The Citadel on September 16 was a 56-0 triumph over the Parris Island Marines in 1950.
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You will notice I haven’t really said anything about the game at Johnson Hagood Stadium last Saturday. That is because the action on the field spoke for itself.
I wasn’t completely surprised by the fact the Bulldogs struggled, but I did not fully anticipate how vast the gulf in talent was between the two teams.
There will probably be more games like that this season, even assuming improvement. After all, opposing teams will also have a chance to get better. That said, I would like to think The Citadel isn’t going to lose by seven touchdowns every week, particularly in conference play.
On the surface, this week could be similar to the first two games of the season. The opponent appears to have considerably more talent, and The Citadel is still trying to work out new offensive and defensive systems under a first-year coaching staff.
There are things the Bulldogs can control, however. They can tackle better (a noticeable failing against Campbell). They can avoid committing dumb penalties, such as the unsportsmanlike conduct foul that torpedoed the drive following The Citadel’s touchdown. They can be more careful with the football, and not put it on the ground during the QB/RB exchange.
That is primarily what I am looking for this week (although a win would also be very nice).
Filed under: Football, The Citadel | Tagged: Chattanooga, Maurice Drayton, Rusty Wright, The Citadel |
The Sports Arsenal 
Thanks for a well thought out report , as always. Taking away the required sit out year before playing changed the landscape for schools like Campbell talent wise. Throw in N I L money , and our Bulldogs get hammered by a team who was non competitive with us 5 years ago.
Jim Maxon 65