Behind a well-disciplined and patient attack, the Chattanooga Mocs football team earned a 27-8 road victory over The Citadel during Southern Conference action on Saturday afternoon inside Hagood Stadium in Charleston, S.C.

Following the win, Chattanooga improves to 3-2 overall and opens SoCon action a perfect 2-0 after consecutive victories. The Citadel falls to 1-3 overall and 0-2 inside league play after the defeat.

Quick Records & Series
Chattanooga: 3-2, 2-0 SoCon
The Citadel: 1-3, 0-2 SoCon
Series: 60th all-time meeting… UTC leads 37-21-2… series began exactly 100 years ago on 10/9/1926 (UTC 6, @CIT 3).

Game Breakdown

• Chattanooga's Davon Kiser gave the guests an early 6-0 lead (missed PAT) following an electrifying 56-yard punt return for a touchdown at the 4:32 mark of the opening frame.
• Chattanooga took the slight 6-0 lead into the halftime break after the two teams combined for 283 punt yards (eight total punts) and just 228 yards of total offense over the game's first 30 minutes.
• As The Citadel moved into UTC territory in the third, Chattanooga's defense came up with a huge fourth-down stop at their own 36 to regain possession with just over five minutes left in the third.
• Chattanooga would go three-and-out after the stop, however, two plays after punting the ball back, Ryan Bell recovered his own forced fumble at the Citadel 12. Kevin Lalin marched all 12 yards on the next play from scrimmage to extend the lead to 13-0 with 3:01 in the third.
• It was all Chattanooga in the final frame as Lalin and Battle Alberson scored rushing touchdowns from 26 and 25 yards, respectively, to extend the lead to 27-0 in the game's final minutes. The Citadel broke the shutout with just a few seconds remaining, leading to the 27-8 final.

Inside the Stats

• Chattanooga totaled 315 yards of total offense on 50 plays (6.30 yards-per-play)… held The Citadel to just 233 total yards on 65 plays (3.58 yards-per-play)… 69 of the Bulldogs yards came on the game's final drive.
• Chattanooga finished with 241 rushing yards on 38 attempts (6.3 yards-per-rush)… held the option-style Citadel team to just 172 yards on 45 rushes (3.8 yards-per-rush)... Lalin went for 81 yards and two TDs on 14 touches... RB Journey Wyche gained 94 yards on 11 attempts.
• Chattanooga came away with the lone turnover of the game (Ryan Bell FF/FR)… immediately turned it into points (Lalin TD run)… only penalized three times during the win.

Game Notables

• 10.0 tackles for loss by the defense…19.0 over the last two weeks. Last time with double-digit TFLs 10.0 on Nov. 16, 2024 against Samford.
• In a battle of heavy rush offenses, the Mocs were a +69, thundering for 241 yards on 38 carries (6.3 ypc)…The Citadel had 172 but at just 3.8 yards per carry (45). That's 71 yards below the Bulldogs average of 243.3 which was sixth in the country.
• WR/RS Devin Kiser returned a punt 56 yards for the game's first score in the first quarter…it's his first career punt return for a score and second overall in the return games for his collegiate career…that's the third by a Moc in the last two seasons…prior to game week three last year, the last had been Tommy Hudson (66 yards) against Samford on Sept. 27, 2014.

Postgame Quotes
HC Rusty Wright's opening thoughts: "When you come on the road, with a running game and defensive effort like that, that goes a long way. I couldn't be prouder of this group. Trips like these keep our kids together. I'm extremely proud of how hard this group works, the kids, the staff, administration, everyone. Couldn't be prouder of this group."

WR Davon Kiser on his punt return TD: "It was really just trusting my teammates, they did all the hard work. All I did was catch it, they have the hard part of blocking down field. That's mostly on them. My mindset, when I'm back there, I want to be a threat."

Up Next | Buy Tickets
Chattanooga stays on the road next weekend for a rivalry matchup against ETSU on Saturday (Oct. 3) in Johnson City. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. (ET) inside Greene Stadium. Fans can watch the game live on ESPN+, follow live stats at GoMocs.com, or listen on WFLI 96.1 FM/100.3 FM/1070 AM.