McKenzie, TN – The Patriots traveled south to faceoff against the fifth-rankled Bethel University Wildcats on Saturday afternoon. The Pats took an early lead and held it into the half, but fell behind in the third quarter, eventually dropping the MSC opener 28-17. UC moves to 3-2 on the season, and 0-1 in conference play.
 
JB Carlisle led the offensive charge for UC on the day. The running back tallied 60 yards rushing and 39 receiving yards as well. Trace Thompson threw for 131 yards off 17-27 passing with a touchdown and Drew Gregg completed eight passes for 57 yards and a TD as well. Adam Foulk had a career high eight receptions with 60 yards and a touchdown while Maddux McKinney added three catches and a touchdown as well.
 
Defensively, Adam Caudle and Major Newman tied for the team lead with seven tackles. Jamin Graham added five tackles, including two tackles for loss and a sack.
 
The Wildcats received the opening kickoff but were stopped by the Patriots defense on fourth down to give the offense a chance to strike first with good field position. UC marched down the field behind multiple strong runs by Carlisle along with a nice pass to Adam Foulk to keep the drive alive on fourth down. The Pats got moved into the redzone and called on Matossian who hit a 22-yard FG to put the Pats on the board first. The drive chewed 9:05 off the clock, giving Cumberlands a 3-0 lead after one quarter of play.
 
 
The Patriots defense made another stop to open the second quarter. Walker Dunn swatted a Bethel pass attempt on third down to force a punt, which BU pinned inside the one-yardline. After a Cumberlands punt the Wildcats utilized a short field to score the first TD of the game with just over seven minutes to play in the half.
 
The following drive, Thompson connected with Cutis Leflore Jr, who hurdled a defender for a 21-yard gain. The Pats punted four plays later but took advantage of a muffed punt by the Wildcat returner giving UC the ball with a fresh set of downs on the BU 25. A six-yard completion to Ben Taylor followed by a six-yard Carlisle rush gave UC another first-down. Thompson found Carlisle, this time through the air for 11 more yards, for first and goal from the one. A failed QB sneak and a false start pushed UC back to third and goal on the five. Thompson got the snap the next play and scrambled out of the pocket where he connected with Foulk in the endzone to regain the lead with less than a minute to go in the half.
 
 
Bethel then received the kickoff and used their two-minute drill to mobe the ball down the field into field goal range with a chance to add three more points right before the half. However the Patriots special teams came up huge as time expried, with Damon Byrnes-Mitchell blocking the attempt to hold UC's three-point lead into the half. 
 

The Wildcats responded in the third quarter, holding the Patriots in the opening drive and scoring ten plays later to make it 14-10. UC got the ball on the 25 after a touchback and picked up a first down after completions to Carlisle and Taylor along with a 10-yard Carlisle rush. The Patriots were forced to punt four plays later as Matossian pinned the Wildcats inside their own twenty. BU built off their momentum, scoring again in five plays to take a 21-10 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The fourth quarter saw Bethel continue to roll, intercepting a Patriot pass in the opening possession. Jeremy Hamilton responded and gave the Pats a spark of energy after intercepting a Wildcat pass in the redzone, marking his second straight game with an interception. Two passes to Foulk paired with a 10-yard completion to Maddux McKinney gave UC a first down. The following play halted the UC run, as Thompson's pass was intercepted once again. Bethel took advantage of the takeaway, scoring their fourth touchdown with just over two minutes remaining in the contest.
 
Drew Gregg entered the game at quarterback for the final possession of the game. The graduate transfer completed his first five passes, finding Foulk three times and Trent Davis twice. An illegal hands to the face penalty moved UC into the redzone where Gregg rushed for five yards and picked up seven more after completing a pass to Jahmal Hutsell. One play later, Gregg connected with McKinney in the endzone for a score with just ten seconds on the clock. The final buzzer sounded after the following kickoff, with #5 Bethel taking the game 28-17.
 
 
Cumberlands will look to bounce back in another top-25 matchup next Saturday as they faceoff against Lindsey Wilson College in the Burg. Kickoff is set for 2:30 PM ET.
 
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