Football Falls to Chattanooga in First Round NCAA FCS Championship Game

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Chattanooga, Tenn. – Back in August, if someone told Fordham football fans that the Rams, despite losing 18 starters from 2014, would finish the regular season 9-2 and advance to their third straight NCAA FCS Championship, they would have taken it. Well that's exactly what happened and today's loss to Chattanooga did nothing to diminish the job done by the 2015 Rams, who opened the season with a win over Army and closed it out as one of seven teams to earn a bid to the NCAA FCS Championships in each of the past three years.
 
It's said that football is a game of inches but today's game was more like a game of feet and ankles. Feet in the form of a long completion from Kevin Anderson to Austin Longi that seemed destined for a score and would have pulled the Rams within seven, 14-7, in the first quarter. But Longi stumbled on the Chattanooga 30 and, three plays later, an Anderson  interception was returned for score. Ankle as in the left ankle of Fordham running back Chase Edmonds, an ankle he injured two weeks ago at Georgetown and which wasn't quite healed enough to allow the sophomore to play, forcing him to the sidelines after the first two Fordham offensive possessions.
 
The Rams gained two first downs on the first possession of game, including converting a fourth and one from their own 34, but the drive ended at the Chattanooga 45.
 
The Mocs took over on their own three after a Joe Pavlik punt was downed there by the Rams. But Chattanooga went to work, covering the 97 yards in nine plays to take a 7-0 lead on a 38-yard run with 6:33 left in the first.
 

After a Fordham three-and-out, the Mocs moved 75 yards on nine plays, adding seven points on a 43-yard scoring pass from Jacob Huesman to C.J. Board with 2:35 on the clock.
 
Fordham appeared to be moving on its next series as Anderson connected with Longi for a 45-yard gain to the Mocs' 30. But three plays later, Anderson was rushed and his pass was picked off by Lucas Webb and returned 71 yards for a 21-0 Chattanooga lead with 33 seconds remaining in the first.
 
Early in the second, Fordham drove to the Chattanooga 27 but Jarred Brevard couldn't find any running room on fourth and one and the ball went back to the Mocs who moved to the Fordham six where Henrique Riberiro connected on a 23-yard field goal to put Chattanooga up 24-0, midway through the second.
 
Chattanooga made it a 31-0 game just before the half on a 13-yard scoring strike from Huesman to James Stovell with ten seconds remaining.
 
The Mocs got the ball first in the second half and covered 65 yards on eight plays, capped by a 14-yard Derrick Craine touchdown run, to take a 38-0 lead 2:04 into the third quarter.
 
The Rams responded with their first scoring drive of the day, started by a 24-yard Jihaad Pretlow kickoff return. Brevard gained 32 yards on two carries on the drive while Anderson completed all four of his pass attempts, including a six-yard touchdown pass to Phazahn Odom with 10:21 on the clock to make it a 38-7 game. It was Odom's seventh touchdown catch of the season, breaking the school mark for most touchdown receptions by a tight end.
 
But the Fordham defense couldn't contain the Mocs, who took a 41-7 lead with a three-yard scoring pass from Huesman to Richardre Bagley with 6:34 left in the quarter.
 
The Fordham offense made quick work on the ensuing possession, using a 35-yard Pretlow return to start at the Fordham 40. After a screen pass to Jordan Allen gained six yards, Anderson found Ben Johnson with a 65-yard scoring strike to make it a 41-14 game 45 seconds later.
 
The Mocs blocked a Pavlik punt from the end zone early in the fourth quarter that turned into a safety and were threatening on the ensuing possession when Manny Adeyeye forced and recovered a fumble on the Fordham 23.
 

After Brevard gained five yards on first down, Anderson connected with Odom for a 39-yard gain and then Johnson for 24 more yards to put the ball on the Chattanooga nine. Three plays later, Tony Patrignelli made a nice catch on a two-yard touchdown pass to make it a 43-20 game.
 
Chattanooga closed out the scoring with a 38-yard touchdown pass with 2:02 left.
 
Anderson completed 26 of 40 passes for 329 yards and three touchdowns with Odom catching six passes for 85 yards and Corey Caddle and Allen each hauling in five and Brevard rushing for 70 yards on ten carries.
 
Defensively, JQ Bowers recorded a career-high 15 tackles, eleven solo, and he broke up a pass while Caleb Ham added a career-best 12 stops, nine solo, and Stephen Hodge finished with ten, including one for loss.
 
Notes
Fordham is now 3-5 all-time in NCAA FCS Championship games.
 
Edmonds gained five yards before being forced to the sidelines with the injury and closed out his sophomore year with 3,487 career rushing yards in just 26 career contests, placing him second on the Fordham all-time rushing list, while his 43 career rushing touchdowns are also second best.

Anderson's 329 passing yards, his sixth 300-yard game of the year, brings his season total to 3,183, the fourth best single season total in school history, while his three touchdown passes give him 32 on the year, the second most in a single season at Rose Hill.
 
Odom broke the record for touchdown receptions by a Fordham tight end set by Stephen Skelton in 2009 and matched by Dan Light in 2013.
 
Bowers' previous career-high for tackles was 12, set in last year' NCAA FCS Championship game at New Hampshire.
 
Ham's previous career-high for tackles was nine, set earlier this year versus Villanova.
 
The Rams entered the game seventh in the NCAA FCS in turnovers gained with 28 and forced one fumble today.
 
The game was just the second ever played by the Rams in the Volunteer State (Fordham lost to Tennessee in Knoxville in 1942).