Tom Arth's message never changed.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach continued to preach the same message throughout the 2017 season, his first with the program. He repeatedly talked about the Mocs' need to respond through adversity and how they needed to figure out ways to do so.
Eventually, that message got through when the Mocs - 1-7 at the time - went on the road and defeated then eighth-ranked Samford 23-21. Counting that game, the Mocs have won five of their last six, with the only loss coming in double overtime at eighth-ranked Wofford a week after the victory at Samford.
UTC hosts the Bulldogs this Saturday at 7 p.m. at Finley Stadium.
"I think we can look back at that game, and being able to win that type of game on the road the way we won it against an opponent like Samford was really big for us," Arth said. "We started seeing the progress a couple weeks before that game in the way we were practicing, and that game was a result of the work leading up to win, but to go get a win like that and seeing we can be successful in a tough situation was really big."
The Mocs jumped up 20-7 against the Bulldogs, who rallied with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to take a one-point lead. UTC responded with a nine-play, 56-yard drive, led by current senior Alex Trotter, who had 35 yards rushing - including a 17-yard burst right up the middle on fourth-and-1 into Samford territory - before Victor Ulmo nailed the game-winning field goal with 19 seconds remaining.
UTC then finished the win by forcing a seventh Samford turnover, a fumble by quarterback Devlin Hodges that was recovered by Kareem Orr.
It was the sort of validation the Mocs needed. They had entered the season with talent yet a lack of experience at a number of positions. The slow start led to a lot of frustration around the program, but the team started to play better first against Mercer, then a week later against The Citadel when the Mocs were throwing into the end zone with a chance to win at the end.
The win over Samford was the final jolt the team needed.
"I don't think anybody expected us to win that game, but the team we had last year was a really good team, no debating that," offensive lineman Cole Strange said. "We only started well the second half of the season, but that win validated what the truth was. I don't think it was a lucky win; we played well against them because we finally got our stuff together."
Strange said Arth was continually encouraging the players, especially those last few weeks once the tide had turned some on the team's performances. It then became about building momentum going into the 2018 season, which has a 3-0 start heading into this week's game against those Bulldogs.
"We just focused on getting better every week," linebacker Hawk Schrider said. "People started buying in, and once we did, things started to roll. Samford springboarded us into the the offseason: It's such an important part in preparation. We saw what we could do. With the right preparation and buying into the coaching staff, we are able to accomplish a lot of different things.
"The win helped, but a lot has been our preparation in the offseason and our preparation throughout the week."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.