WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & SportsMocs Notes: Drop in polls follows loss to The Citadel

Mocs drop in polls after Citadel loss
CHATTANOOGA (WRCB) -- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is still ranked.

Barely.

The Mocs, who have now been ranked for a school record six straight weeks to start the year, tumbled to No. 23 in the latest FCS Coaches' Poll released Monday. They're also No. 24 in the TSN poll.

UTC's ranking was in doubt after a disappointing 28-27 home loss to The Citadel in which the Mocs blew a 27-point second-half lead. At 2-3, Chattanooga is the only team with a losing record in each poll.

The loss to the Bulldogs, coupled with the previous week's setback at Appalachian State, now has the Mocs on the playoff bubble. UTC likely has to win five of its final six games just to have a shot at the postseason, and that stretch starts this Saturday with a trip to top-ranked Georgia Southern.

"This is definitely the time where we find out what we're made of," said linebacker Ryan Consiglio. "This is the fork in the road, and we can go in one of two directions.

"Going back to work and going down to Statesboro on Friday, if there was ever a game we needed to win, I'd say that is it."

Freshman Moore a bright spot in disappointing loss
CHATTANOOGA (WRCB) -- It was a bittersweet debut for Chattanooga wide receiver Ron Moore, Jr. last weekend.

The true freshman caught a pair of passes, including a 60-yard touchdown, in his first collegiate game. However, his buzz was soured when the Mocs blew a 27-point second-half lead and lost to The Citadel.

"It was great that I made a couple plays, but if you don't win it doesn't mean anything," Moore said after the game.

Coach Russ Huesman decided to take the redshirt off the 6-foot, 165-pound speedster earlier in the week. Moore responded with a touchdown catch the first time he touched the ball.

"Coach came to me this week and asked if I was ready to roll, so I said I'd do anything to help the team," Moore said. "They put me in the game, and when I got in the huddle (Mocs' QB) B.J. (Coleman) just told me to run.

"That's what I did. I lined up and I ran, and B.J. had the ball waiting for me in the end zone."

Moore's other catch was a 52-yard hookup with Coleman that set up a Nick Pollard field goal, pushing his two-catch total to 112 yards.