2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 11: Chattanooga
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Alabama and Chattanooga have met 14 times, with the Crimson Tide winning every single matchup. UA has shut the Mocs out in seven of those contests and has an average overall win margin of 34.2 points.
Chattanooga finished last season with a subpar 5-7 record, including a 4-4 clip in the Southern Conference. It was the worst record of head coach Rusty Wright's seven-year tenure, as the Mocs were .500 or better every other season.
But Wright's team will look a bit different in 2026, as the Mocs have 39 newcomers on the roster. This includes 17 high school recruits.
"The biggest thing was it let us continue to keep growing some rooms," Wright said of the freshman class in June. "We're able to attack the o-line and d-line rooms, which is always important for us. We got some more length in the building. We added in the secondary guys, which was important, and another wide receiver, which was huge. I think they're all guys that have tremendous upsides for them. We were able to flip some guys that were committed to some places and get some good players in here."
Of the 22 transfers, three are redshirt freshmen, four are sophomores, nine are juniors and six are seniors.
"We were able to bring in some guys to compete in a bunch of different areas," Wright said about his transfer class in June. "It may change the dynamics of how we do some things. I think the biggest thing is we were able to bring guys in that played a lot. That was a big deal for us this go around. Everybody in this group had played football somewhere. Hopefully we're a little faster and a little better."
Chattanooga's matchup with Alabama will be the Mocs' final game of the regular season. Here's a look at the team coming to Tuscaloosa on Nov. 21.
Offense
Chattanooga was 45th in the FCS in scoring offense last season with 28.2 points per game. It had the 39th-most touchdowns (46) and the third-fewest field goals, with just six cruising through the uprights.
The Mocs were 84th in passing offense and 26th in rushing. That said, Chattanooga's yardage averages last season for these categories are nearly identical, with 190.3 passing yards per game and 184.3 rushing yards. The Mocs heavily utilized the ground game, as they logged 300 pass attempts and 480 rushing attempts.
Chattanooga had four players with 60-plus carries last season, two of whom had roughly 140 apiece for a pure 1-2 punch. However, only running back Journey Wyche, who was fourth among that group with 334 yards and four touchdowns, is the only returner for 2026. That said, his 5.4 yards per carry were the best of the quartet.
Like Alabama, the Mocs have an ongoing quarterback battle. There are three candidates, but perhaps New Mexico State transfer Parker Awad is the top choice, as he's the only one who brings FBS experience.
Should Chattanooga get the ball in the air a bit more this season, Central Oklahoma transfer wide receiver Ashton Schumann is the one to watch. The past two seasons, he registered a combined 141 catches for 1,809 yards and 12 scores. He averaged 5.9 receptions and 75.4 yards per contest.
Defense
Chattanooga was 100th in the FCS in scoring defense last season, as it allowed 33 points per game. Opponents scored 50 touchdowns, which ranked 93rd. The teams the Mocs faced often found the end zone, as Chattanooga allowed just eight field goals.
The Mocs' 403.1 total yards allowed per game ranked 91st – 237.0 passing yards (85th) and 166.1 rushing yards (73rd). Chattanooga's 1.16 sacks per game were the 12th-fewest and opponents converted on 44.8 percent of third-down attempts, which was No. 103. Chattanooga hauled in nine interceptions and recovered five fumbles.
The Mocs have three of their six tackles for loss leaders back on this year's team in Orlando Daniels, C.J. Smith and Zion Rutledge. Additionally, Chattanooga has a promising linebacker transfer named Bryce Washington, who recorded 51 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery last year at Ohio Dominican.
Defensive back TJ Fields is another transfer to watch, as in two seasons (19 games) at Sewanee, he put together 70 tackles, two interceptions, 10 pass breakups, one forced fumble, a fumble recovery and he blocked two kicks.
Schedule
This will be Chattanooga's final game of the regular season, and yet Alabama will be its first (and only) opponent in a Power-Four conference. A little over half of the teams on the Mocs' schedule finished last season with a .500 record or better.
This will be the third of three non-conference games that Alabama will play, with East Carolina (Sept. 5) and Florida State (Sept. 19) being the others. 2026 is the first season of the SEC's newly implemented 9-game conference schedule. After the Tide faces the Mocs, it'll host Auburn for the regular-season finale.
Outlook
Alabama is 152-17 at home over the past 20 years, which ranks No. 1 in the country. All but one of head coach Kalen DeBoer's eight losses at UA were on the road or in neutral territory. This century, the Tide has lost 26 games at Bryant-Denny Stadium, and three of them were to non-power four teams: Southern Miss (2000), Northern Illinois (2003) and Lousiana Monroe (2007).
After finishing under .500 last season, Chattanooga pulling off a win in Tuscaloosa in November would be among the biggest upsets in the history of sports. Alabama should come out victorious very easily, and fans will likely see the backups early on and some of the walk-ons throughout the fourth quarter. That said, the game should be out of reach long before that.
The Game
Date:Nov. 21
Time:1 p.m. CT
TV:SECN+
Location:Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Series history:Alabama leads 14-0, with the first matchup occurring on Oct. 31, 1908. 12 of the games were in Tuscaloosa, with the others in Birmingham (195) and Chattanooga's former home stadium, Chamberlain Field (1931).
Last meeting:Alabama won 66-10 at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Nov. 18, 2023. Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe completed 13 of 16 pass attempts for 197 yards and three touchdowns, one of which went to wide receiver Jermaine Burton, who had 105 yards on three receptions. The run game was perhaps the main story, as UA outran Chattanooga, 315-126. Jam Miller, Jase McClellan, Roydell Williams and Justice Haynes each had between 5-7 attempts (18 total) for a combined 233 yards and three touchdowns. However, quarterback Ty Simpson beat each of their individual totals on just one attempt, which went 78 yards.
The Team
Coach:Rusty Wright, eighth season, 42-34 record
Offensive coordinator:Joe Pizzo
Defensive coordinator:Mike Yeager
2025 record:5-7 (4-4 Southern)
2025 FCS rankings:Total offense (45th), Total defense (91st)
Players to Watch
RB Journey Wyche, WR Ashton Schumann, DL Orlando Daniels, DB TJ Fields
Top Newcomer
Ashton Schumann
Biggest Question
Can Chattanooga open up the passing game after an all-out rushing attack in 2025?
The School
Location:Chattanooga, Tennessee
Founded:1886
Enrollment:12,060
Nickname:Mocs
Colors: Navy and Old Gold
Mascot:Scrappy
The Program
Last time beat Alabama: Never
Last time won Southern Conference:2015
National championships:None
Playoff Appearances:None
Conference championships:13 (SIAA: 1927-29; Dixie: 1931, 1940-41; Southern: 1977-79, 1984, 2013-15)
Bowl record:0-0 – Chattanooga has never appeared in a traditional bowl game, however, the Mocs have reached the FCS Playoffs five times: 1984 (first round), 2014 (quarterfinals), 2015 (second round), 2016 (second round), 2023 (second round)
Last season missed bowl: N/A
Heisman trophies: None
2026 NFL Draft:
None – Chattanooga hasn't had a player selected in the NFL Draft since 2022
Last Four Recruiting Class Rankings
No. 176 (2026), No. 165 (2025), No. 177 (2024), No. 209 (2023)
The Schedule
Aug. 27: at West Georgia
Sept. 5: vs. Tennessee Tech
Sept. 12: at Eastern Kentucky
Sept. 19: vs. Wofford
Sept. 26: at The Citadel
Oct. 3: at East Tennessee State
Oct. 10: vs. Samford
Oct. 24: at Western Carolina
Oct. 31: vs. Virginia Military Institute
Nov. 7: vs. Mercer
Nov. 14: at Furman
Nov. 21: at Alabama
This is the 11th story inBamaCentral'ssummer preview series of all 12 regular-season opponents for Alabama football in 2025. Ensuing stories will be published throughout June and early July.
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 1: East Carolina
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 2: Kentucky
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 3: Florida State
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 4: South Carolina
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 5: Mississippi State
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 6: Georgia
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 7: Tennessee
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 8: Texas A&M
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 9: LSU
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 10: Vanderbilt
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/alabama as 2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 11: Chattanooga.
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