Mocs’ Allison era ends with a defeat

The Rodney Allison era ended Saturday the same way it began six years ago, with a loss to Samford at Finley Stadium.

A long, miserable football season for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga came to an uninspired close with a 10th consecutive loss, 30-7 to the Bulldogs, in front of an announced crowd of 4,068. It was the smallest paid attendance — and the actual crowd numbered no more than 2,000 — of any home game during Allison’s tenure.

The mistakes and inadequacies that have plagued UTC throughout the first 11-loss season in school history and first winless run through the Southern Conference continued till the end. The Mocs (1-11, 0-8) again struggled at quarterback, where Jare Gault and Sloan Allison were a combined 13-for-23 for 117 yards, with three interceptions and a fumble.

“We didn’t play very well. It was the same kind of deal offensively,” Coach Allison said. “We’re inconsistent at quarterback. We’re getting pressured on four-man rushes. It’s the same — it hasn’t changed all year as far as that’s concerned.”

The Mocs’ 14 seniors and their coach, as well as Sloan Allison, the redshirt freshman who is not expected to stay with his father gone, went out with another lopsided loss. Ten of the Mocs’ 11 defeats were by 20 points or more.

“This whole season, it’s been a tough one,” said senior fullback Brent Hayes, who had seven carries for 17 yards in his final game. “You’ve just got to take it like a man and move on.”

For the returning players, moving on will be hard to do until athletic director Rick Hart hires a new coach, which might not happen for a couple of weeks. Until then, junior wide receiver Blue Cooper said, all he and his teammates can do is turn their eyes to 2009, when the Mocs will enter the season undefeated just like everyone else.

“You don’t have a choice. That’s how you have to look at it,” said Cooper, who had one catch for 23 yards. “Unless you’re just a negative person, you’ve got to keep rolling, baby. I’m excited about having one more year, but I hate it for these seniors.”

This year’s senior class went 6-5 as freshmen and were a combined 6-28 the rest of their careers. If there’s anything good that comes from that, senior tight end Joseph Pitman said, it’s that they’re already learned that life isn’t always fair or fun.

“Not everybody can be 11-0, and you’ve got to learn that,” Pitman said. “You come in and you expect certain things and sometimes you don’t get what you expect. And you’ve got to learn to deal with this kind of stuff.”

Samford’s seniors can relate to that. Saturday’s win gave the Bulldogs (6-5, 4-4) their first winning season since 2003 and earned them a fourth-place finish in their first season in the Southern Conference.

“This was a great win for us for all the right reasons,” Samford coach Pat Sullivan said. “With the way they won it and the way they’ve practiced, I couldn’t be happier for our seniors.”

The win was never really in doubt. Samford scored a 65-yard touchdown on its second play from scrimmage and was in control from start to finish, outgaining the Mocs 359 yards to 196.

Coach Allison ended his UTC career with a record of 17-51, the worst winning percentage of any multiyear Mocs coach.