CARROLLTON, Ga. - Opening night of the 2026 season saw the UWG football team fall to the Chattanooga Mocs by a 24-10 final at University Stadium.
West Georgia (0-1) was outscored 21-3 in the second half as Chattanooga (1-0) used a balanced attack to hand the Wolves their first season-opening loss since 2011.
The Mocs outgained the Wolves 329 to 219, and had a big advantage in the ground game with 149 yards while West Georgia rushed for just 38 yards on 19 carries. Chattanooga had the ball for nearly 40 minutes while UWG had it for just over 23 minutes.
Neither teams got much going early in the game as the fourth quarter featured a pair of punts by each team. To their credit, Chattanooga's first two drives both crossed into UWG territory but the UWG defense used clutch sacks to put them behind the chains and force punts.
After a scoreless first quarter, Chattanooga had the first scoring chance, but a 40-yard field goal attempt from the Mocs' Jude Kelley was no good.
Taking over with 10:50 on the clock in the second quarter, the Wolves marched 78 yards in 3:04 of game time to score the game's first touchdown. It came on the legs of Christian Monfort from one yard out. Hurst was crucial with his legs on multiple occasions on the scoring drive, extending plays out of the pocket and adding 18 rushing yards.
As time expired in the half, Chattanooga got on the board, cutting the UWG lead to 7-3 on Kelley's 39-yard field goal.
The Mocs came out of the locker room and quickly struck on a 72-yard passing touchdown from Battle Alberson to Ashton Schumann, giving the Mocs their first lead of the game.
Chattanooga's lead didn't last long as a little razzle dazzle put the Wolves in the redzone, but the drive stalled and the Wolves were forced to settle for three. Freddy Perez drilled the 43-yard field goal to make it 10-10 with 12:50 left in the third quarter.
Chattanooga's ensuing possession saw the Mocs drive 71 yards in eight plays, eventually scoring as Alberson found Boobie Levell from 20 yards out, putting the Mocs back up, 17-10.
It would stay that score through the end of the third quarter, but with 9:53 left in the fourth Chattanooga made it a two-possession game on a six-yard touchdown rush by Kevin Lalin.
West Georgia had two more possessions over the remainder of the team, and turned it over on downs on both possessions.
In his debut at quarterback, Collin Hurst passed for 124 yards on 19-of-30 passing. His top target was T.J. Lockley who had four catches for 29 yards. Josh Shuchts led in receiving yards with 57 yards on one catch.
The UWG defense had four sacks in the game and was led by Andrew Ruffin with nine tackles. Linebacker Chidu Bekee recorded 1.5 sacks and had seven total tackles.
West Georgia is back in action next Thursday on the road at in-state foe Kennesaw State. Kickoff from Kennesaw is slated for 7 p.m. on September 3.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Christian Monfort's second quarter touchdown was the first career collegiate touchdown for the true freshman from Madison, Georgia.
- Freddy Perez, a Carrollton native, booted through his first career attempt as a Wolf.
- UWG was 2-of-11 on third down conversions while Chattanooga finished the game 10-of-18 on third down conversions.
- The loss snapped a streak of 13 consecutive season-opening wins for the Wolves.
