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Chattanooga ends football season after five games due to COVID-19 opt-outs
(Photo: MGN)

Chattanooga ends football season after five games due to COVID-19 opt-outs

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (BVM) — Despite a strong start to the spring season, the Chattanooga Mocs football team will end the season with a sputter as head coach Rusty Wright announced on March 29 the team would opt out of the rest of the regular season. The Mocs, who will finish the year with a 3-2 record, were scheduled to play three more Southern Conference games: at Western Carolina on April 3 before hosting Samford on April 10 and in-state Eastern Tennessee State on April 17.

“I appreciate all of the hard work our guys put into this entire season,” Wright said in a university press release.  “I know the timing is unfortunate, but like all programs across the country, we have been dealing with various COVID related issues throughout this whole process.  We are disappointed that we are not able to continue, but our student-athletes have done everything we have asked of them and I can’t thank them enough for their efforts over the past year.”

According to the university press release, the decision to cancel the remainder of the season was “made with the health and safety of the entire program as the main focus and due to COVID-19 opt-outs that made it impossible to field the required number of student-athletes in key position groups to meet Southern Conference regulations.”

Ironically, the Mocs were one of the few teams at the FCS-level to get their season started earlier this past year when they played a game against FBS-member Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky. on Sept. 24. Though the Mocs would lose a close game in that matchup, 13-10, the team would start off strong in SoCon play beginning on Feb. 27 when the team upset No. 11 Wofford 24-13 at home.

The win sparked a Mocs three-game conference winning streak which saw the team beat The Citadel 25-24 in an overtime thriller and beat Furman 20-18. The team would then lose a close game to Mercer on March 27 which will now be recognized as the team’s final game of the year. 

During the campaign, the Mocs climbed as high as No. 9 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll and as high as No. 10 in the FCS Coaches’ Poll. The Mocs were also tied with ETSU for second in the SoCon with a 3-1 conference record behind undefeated VMI with a 5-0 record.

The SoCon also made a statement defending the team’s decision.

“The Southern Conference supports Chattanooga in its decision to discontinue its 2020-21 football season as it is left unable to field a sufficient number of players at several position groups to meet the conference’s COVID-19 guidelines,” the statement read. “The Mocs’ remaining scheduled games will be recorded as no-contests.”

Fans were understandably upset with the decision following the team’s announcement on Twitter with many questioning the team’s passion to play. Though a surprising move, the decision to end the season midway through is not new in the FCS this year. Both Illinois State and Cal Poly have also canceled their seasons in recent weeks due to COVID-19 protocols.

For Chattanooga players, coaches and fans, the decision to forego the remainder of the season cannot be an easy pill to swallow. However, the team will look to return to compete in the Southern Conference once again when the programs return to the field this fall.