UTC Football: First Practice To A National Title

Season Opener: Sept. 5 vs. Jacksonville (Ala.) State

  • Tuesday, August 4, 2015
  • B.B. Branton

Monday was the first day of pre-season practice for the UTC football team with 33 days to the season opener with Jacksonville (Ala.) State and 159 days (Jan.9, 2016) to the FCS title game in Frisco, Texas.

The last time UTC played in Texas was half a century ago at North Texas State (Denton) in 1966.

 “The first day of practice is always exciting as it’s the start of a new season,” said seventh year head coach Russ Huesman.

And a special season it could be as the two-time defending Southern Conference champion Mocs are coming off a 10-4 record from 2014 and ranked in the top 10 in the national polls.

“We are not afraid to talk about winning a national championship and if you try to ignore it is not smart,” Huesman stated.

“It’s one of our team goals.”

“We have several starters back and if you have a good quarterback coming back as we do in Jacob Huesman then you have a chance to win it all.”

The Mocs have good depth with 16 starters among the 42 returning lettermen on the 93-man roster.

Senior All-American Huesman leads the offense at quarterback along with third team All-American guard Corey Levin and starting receivers Xavier Borishade and C.J. Board.

“We cannot expect anything less than a national championship,” said Huesman. “We have three-four weeks to prepare for Jacksonville State which is a tough, tough football team.

“Now that we have been in the playoffs we know how to handle things (big games) better.”

On defense, the Mocs have senior Josh Freeman at defensive tackle with Sema’je Kendall and Nakevion Leslie and linebacker.

The entire secondary is back with Cedric Nettles and Lucas Webb at safety and Dee Virgin and Trevor Wright at the corner spots.

Sights and Sounds of Practice No,.1.

“Who Is No. 26”?  “That’s great ball security number 26. Who is 26?,” asked coach Hueman in reference to a Memphis freshman (Memphis Melrose) who was carrying the football “high and tight” during warm-ups.

“Ke’von Hall,” shouted receivers coach Will Healy.

Nice to be noticed in a positive way by the head coach on your first day of college football practice.

Healy on Receivers: “We have the most dept at the receiver position we have ever had and the freshmen including Ke’von hopefully will push the veterans for playing time.

“Tommy Hudson (graduated with a team-high 43 catches and six TD’s in 2014) will be tough to replace as he was a great receiver and so valuable on special teams. We need one or two guys to be able to step up and take his place this season.”

INT’s: Interceptions in practice by Cedric Nettles and Tavon Lawson

Good Hands: Drae Bowles had a nice catch in the flat and made a few defenders miss as he ran another 20 yards … James Stovall from Bradley Central had a couple of good catches and received a hand shake and pat on the back from coach Huesman after the first one … Will Young made a juggling catch and congratulated by coach Healy but also reminded “high and tight” with the ball all the way back to the line of scrimmage … Riley Davis made a good catch in traffic deep and congratulated by fellow receiver Alphonso Stewart.

Slogans for the Season:

Offense – Go Fast, Play Reckless, Score

Defense – Nicknamed the Dogs ... physical, nasty, relentless

Helmets and Shoulder Pads: The Mocs were on the field at 6:30 this morning as a few players had early morning classes … Wednesday the players don the shoulder pads and full gear on Friday.

108th Grid Season: The Mocs open the 108th season Sept. 5 with Jacksonville (Ala.) State at Finley Stadium and a 6 p.m. kickoff.

The Mocs are 512-511-11 (50.1%) overall with 12 conference titles.

Oldest Rival; The oldest rival still on the schedule is Jax State … in the second game of the 1904 season, the Mocs beat Jax State - then known as Alabama Normal – 5-0 in Chattanooga.

UTC leads the series, 26-12

 

contact B.B Branton at william.branton@comcast.net

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