Football Surrenders Late Score in Tight Road Loss at EKU

Saturday, September 12

Richmond, Ky.

6 PM

Chattanooga

1-2 , 0-0

Eastern Kentucky

1-2 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Chattanooga	0	3	14	0	17
Eastern Ky.	6	10	0	6	22

Notes Quotes

Football at Eastern Kentucky Cropped Photos

Photo by: Tommy Quarles

9/12/2026 10:30:00 PM | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

The Chattanooga Mocs football team saw the Colonels jump ahead with less than four minutes remaining during Saturday’s tough defeat.

Box Score | Notes | Quotes | Photos

RICHMOND, Ky. (September 12, 2026) --- After surrendering a late go-ahead touchdown drive, the Chattanooga Mocs football team dropped a 22-17 non-conference road contest at Eastern Kentucky inside Roy Kidd Stadium in Richmond, Ky., on Saturday evening.

Chattanooga falls to 1-2 this season while EKU improves to 1-2 after securing its first victory. Chattanooga led 17-16 late in the fourth quarter before EKU mounted a lengthy touchdown drive to jump ahead 22-17 with just under four minutes remaining.

Quick Records & Series
Chattanooga: 1-2
Eastern Kentucky: 1-2
Series: 7th all-time meeting between the two programs… series now stands 3-3-1 after tonight's result.

Game Breakdown

On its first offensive possession, EKU QB Tyler Travers found WR Braylon Newcomb on a 16-yard TD strike to cap off an 80-yard scoring drive to give the hosts an early 6-0 lead (two-point try unsuccessful) in the first.
Kicker Jude Kelley cut UTC's deficit in half, 6-3, on a 31-yard field goal with 10:42 left before half. The field goal marked Kelley's 34^th of his career, moving him into a tie with Victor Ulmo for 5^th all-time in program history.
EKU ended the first half with 10 unanswered points, highlighted by a 96-yard touchdown run from Brady Hensley, ultimately taking a 16-3 lead into the break.
After EKU received the second half kick, DB D.J. Adams came away with his second interception of the night on the fourth play of the drive, immediately flipping the game's momentum in favor of the Mocs.
Chattanooga took advantage of the turnover just six plays later, cashing in on a Kevin Lalin 27-yard touchdown run to pull within a score, 16-10, with 9:53 on the board in the third.
Following a missed EKU field goal, QB Battle Alberson connected with WR Ashton Schumann on a 59-yard catch and run down to the EKU five before Alberson found the end zone on the next play, putting UTC ahead 17-16 (3Q 2:41). The game would immediately enter a 50-minute lightning delay after the score.
EKU put together a late nine-play, 79-yard touchdown drive that consumed nearly five minutes of game time to jump back ahead 22-17 (two-point try unsuccessful) with 3:48 left, ultimately shutting the door down the stretch.

Inside the Stats

EKU out-gained UTC 394-254 in total offense… posted a +155-yard advantage (274-119) on the ground… Colonels averaged 6.0 yards-per-play (UTC: 4.4) in total with a 6.4 yards-per-rush average (UTC: 3.8).
RB Kevin Lalin rushed 17 times for 98 yards and a touchdown… averaged 5.8 yards-per-carry… added four receptions for nine yards… surpassed 2,500 career rushing yards and 3,000 career all-purpose yards.
WR Ashton Schumann caught five passes for 98 yards… long reception of the night went for 59 yards… surpassed 150 career receptions and 2,000 career receiving yards.
DB D.J. Adams picked off two passes tonight… totaled 10 return yards… both picks accounted for the team's two turnovers tonight.

Game Notes

First career interceptions for senior D.J. Adams... first Moc with multiple picks in a single game since CB Kameron Brown (2) against Mercer on Oct. 22, 2022... Adams now has four passes defended in three games this season.
K Jude Kelley's second quarter field goal is the 34th of his UTC career…now tied for fifth in the record book with Victor Ulmo '20… Kelley has 210 points which is five shy of third among kickers in school history behind Rodney Allen '92.
RB Kevin Lalin had 98 yards on 17 carries with one score... now has 2,548 yards for his collegiate career including stops at Limestone (1,433) and Catawba (825)… his 27-yard TD run in the third quarter put him over 3,000 career all-purpose yards… now stands at 3,038.

Postgame Quotes
Rusty Wright, Head Coach
"I mean, we don't have a whole lot of room to make mistakes but that's the thing, we just got to coach them up better and get them to understand it a little more ... I knew it would be hard [tonight]. This bunch [EKU] was a whole lot better than 0-2, right? I mean, I tried to tell everybody that, and I knew it would be hard coming up here to play and do that."

Zion Rutledge, Sr.-LB
"We'll fight, we're a group of guys that'll fight. I think you can accomplish anything, so that's what I learned about this team. We just got to figure some things out."

Up Next | Buy Tickets
Chattanooga returns home next weekend to open Southern Conference play against Wofford (2-1, 1-0 SoCon). Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. (ET) inside Finley Stadium with UNUM providing a 'White Out' hat giveaway for fans. Tickets can be purchased at the link above while all other game coverage links can be found on the football schedule page.

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