Spartanburg, SC -- (Sports Network) - It is a measure of a program when you can graduate 17 seniors, lose 13 of 24 starters and still find yourself with a 4-1 record and ranked ninth in the country.

Coming off a 9-4 record, an appearance in the FCS quarterfinals and a share of the Southern Conference championship, many observers thought that Wofford would be too inexperienced to make a serious run at national honors in 2008.

But Terrier coach Mike Ayers wasn't one of those doubters.

"To a certain extent, I'm not surprised," said Ayers, now in his 21st year as head coach. "After spring ball, we felt we had a number of older kids that knew what we were trying to do."

Add to that maybe the best freshman class in school history and the Terriers have been able to climb to unexpected heights.

"We've worked really hard on our guys from the start to pressure them into maturing more quickly," explained Ayers, who has team tied for first place with Appalachian State and Elon in the SoCon with a 2-0 record.

In Wofford's complex, triple-option offensive system, discipline and execution are paramount to success and those attributes were apparent in large supply as the Terriers rolled to a 56-7 Southern Conference victory over Tennessee- Chattanooga on Saturday afternoon before 8,394 fans at Gibbs Stadium.

Quarterback Ben Widmyer, who took over the controls of the wingbone attack from the graduated Josh Collier, got the Terriers rolling early with a 75-yard option run for a touchdown on Wofford's second offensive play.

Widmyer, who finished with eight carries for 158 yards and completed 3-of-5 passes for 110 yards and two scores, then gave the Terriers the lead for good with 8:30 left in the second period on a 35-yard TD jaunt.

After he fired a scoring strike of 28 yards to tight end Fenn Allen, connected with true freshman Eric Breitenstein on a 32-yard wheel route to set up Breitenstein's five-yard TD burst and hit Andy Strickland on a 50-yard touchdown aerial, Widmyer retired to the sidelines just 62 seconds into the second half as the Terriers held a 35-7 lead.

Even with Widmyer and most of the starters watching, the Wofford reserves continued to play with precision on a day when the Terriers piled up 564 yards of total offense.

For a few brief moments in the first half, UTC had some glimmers of hope. But after UTC quarterback Jare Gault tied the game with a scrambling, 11-yard strike to Chris Pitchford in the back of the end zone, things settled back into normalcy.

Gault, a first-year starter as a junior-college transfer, showed his promise, hit 17-of-22 passes for 105 yards, including 11 completions in a row to start the game.

Errol Wynn, who has played much of the season with a broken hand, turned in his best effort of the season with 22 carries for 90 yards rushing.

Wynn's circumstances mirror those of a program that has been snake bitten with injuries and other bad luck in a 1-6 campaign that includes an 0-3 SoCon start.

Wynn, who had rushed for 1,168 yards in his first two years, was expected to share the rushing load with Bryan Fitzgerald this season. But Fitzgerald, the leading returning rusher from 2007 in the SoCon with 797 yards, never even strapped on his pads this season after tearing up a knee in the summer.

Starting center Brian Hefflin never played a down after suffering a back injury, leaving the Mocs with an offensive line almost completely devoid of experience. Starting tackle Chris Harr played Saturday with an MCL injury, while several other players were missing.

"We're playing without all of our bullets," said UTC coach Rodney Allison, who is feeling the heat of a 17-46 record in his fifth season and is in the final year of his contract. "I'm not making excuses. We're missing some things to give us a chance."

But for a program that has experienced little success since its last SoCon championship and only FCS playoff berth in 1984, will blowing up the program truly change things at Chattanooga?

Ayers was quick to offer his support to Allison, a longtime friend.

"I hate it for him," said Ayers. "He's a heck of a football coach. He's behind the eight-ball right now."