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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – With a 45-14 win on Saturday afternoon, the Wofford College football team defeated Chattanooga and claimed a share of the 2010 Southern Conference Championship. The Terriers scored two touchdowns in the first quarter and held the nation’s seventh-ranked offense to their lowest point total of the season.
The Terriers, ranked seventh in the nation, are 9-2 on the season and 7-1 in the conference and the Mocs are 6-5 overall and 5-3 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led by Brenton Bersin with 146 receiving yards and one touchdown and Eric Breitenstein with 131 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The Mocs were led by B.J. Coleman with 210 passing yards and Joel Bradford with 21 receiving yards.
“Great game,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “We played really well in all three phases, except for the blocked kick. I thought the key part of the game was how well we played offensively. We had to be productive. We had to try and keep them on the boundary as much as possible. Defensively nobody defended Chattanooga like we defended them. The defense was phenomenal all night. There was a sense of urgency out of our kids that we had to have. We knew that they were a quality football team. Their offense had been unstoppable and to do what we did against them was huge. Our coaches did a great job of preparation and we executed like we were capable of. Tonight we connected the dots and made big plays.”
The Mocs went three-and-out on the first possession on the game. On the first drive of the game for Wofford, Eric Breitenstein went 38-yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead at 12:44 in the first quarter. Chattanooga moved the ball into Wofford territory and had fourth-and three. Keon Williams went up the middle, but the ball was stripped by Blake Wylie at the one-yard line and the ball went out the back of the end-zone for a touchback.
On the next drive, Eric Breitenstein had a 27-yard run, but the Terriers were forced to punt and it was downed inside the ten. The Wofford defense forced another three-and-out and the Mocs punted. Wofford was able to pick up three first downs on the drive that was capped by a two-yard touchdown run by Eric Breitenstein at 2:02 in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead.
Chattanooga gained three first downs, but came up empty as Jeff Veres was wide right on a 28-yard field goal attempt at 14:47 in the second quarter. Wofford was forced three-and-out and punted on the ensuing drive. The Mocs passing game came to life on their next drive with three first down receptions. Erroll Wynn scored for Chattanooga with a four-yard run to make it a 14-7 game at 9:56 in the second quarter.
The Terriers hit quickly when they got the ball back as Mitch Allen found Brenton Bersin deep for a 43-yard touchdown pass with 8:57 on the clock in the second quarter. The Mocs gained one first down, then on third down Keaton Thompson sacked B.J. Coleman for a loss of seven yards and forced a punt with 5:08 left in the half. With the ball back, Wofford drove to the 18-yard line and set up for a field goal. The Terriers faked the field goal, but the pass from Mitch Allen to Jamie Chappell was incomplete as the half ended.
To open the second half, Wofford converted a fourth-and-one and scored with a two-yard touchdown run by Eric Breitenstein at 10:04 in the third quarter to take a 28-7 lead. The Terrier defense forced a three-and-out by the Mocs. With the ball back, Wofford was able to add to the lead with a 31-yard field goal by Christian Reed with 3:59 to go in the third quarter for a 31-7 advantage.
On the next drive for the Mocs, they gained two first downs before being forced to punt. Wofford was forced three-and-out and punted. Chattanooga was driving, but B.J. Coleman was intercepted by Coleman Hornaday, who returned the ball 37-yards into Mocs territory. The Terriers added to the lead with an eleven-yard run by Mitch Allen with 9:59 left in the game for a 38-7 score.
The Mocs got the ball back, but Ameet Pall forced a fumble and recovered it, giving the Terriers the ball back at the 30-yard line. On fourth-and-eight, Brian Kass threw the ball to Brenton Bersin at the goal line, but interference was called on the Mocs for the first down. Bryan Youman bounced over several tacklers on the way to an eight yard touchdown with 6:48 left in the game as Wofford took a 45-7 lead.
Chattanooga gained one first down before punting it back to the Terriers. Wofford went three-and-out and the punt by Landon Bennett was blocked and recovered by Chris Awuah for a touchdown to make it a 45-14 game with 3:35 remaining in the game. Both teams had one more drive in the game before time ran out and the Terriers earned a share of the Southern Conference Championship.
Wofford had 474 total yards, with 295 on the ground. Chattanooga had 322 yards, 231 of which were passing. Wofford had the time of possession advantage by a 40:23 to 19:37 margin. Wofford was 7-of-15 on third downs. Chattanooga was 4-of-12 on third down.
The Terriers will await the NCAA FCS Selection show on Sunday at 10:00 am on ESPNU to learn their playoff fate.
Wofford vs. Chattanooga Post-Game Notes
Brenton Bersin had 146 receiving yards, the fourth-best single game total in school history. It was the first 100-yard receiving game for Bersin and only the fifth for a Terrier since 2001. The last 100-yard receiving game was by Andy Strickland on October 25, 2008 at Elon (101 yards).
Eric Breitenstein scored three rushing touchdowns to give him 20 on the season. The 20 touchdowns are tied for the third most in a single season in school history. He has scored two or more touchdowns in eight games this season.
Breitenstein has 1359 total rushing yards this season, the second-most in a single season in school history. The school record is 1483 yards in 1989 by Shawn Graves.
Wofford won nine games in a season for the third time in the last four years.
The 179 passing yards for the team were the most this season, as were the ten completions.
Five rushing touchdowns were the most this season.
Bryan Youman scored his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The 57-yard punt by Landon Bennett was the longest of his career .
Game captains were Landon Bennett and Clark Bishop.
Attendance was 7,355 at Gibbs Stadium.
