University of Tennessee at Chattanooga running back Derrick Craine is among the top-10 ball carriers in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) according to an article from Athlon Sports earlier this week.
Craine, a senior from McDonough, Ga., is No. 9 on Athlon's preseason list of running backs. He is coming off a school-record 1,251 yards in 2015. A first team All-Southern Conference pick, he was 13thin the FCS in rushing yards with 13 touchdowns a year ago.
Craine joins seniors Corey Levin (OL) and Keionta Davis (DL) and junior Lucas Webb (DB) who also have earned preseason accolades.
Levin and Davis are consensus first team preseason All-Americans, while Webb has picked up a second team honor.
The Mocs are coming off their third straight SoCon title and are ranked as high as No. 7 heading into 2016, according to some unofficial polls.
UTC has a total of 47 lettermen returning from the 2015 campaign. It is the most returning lettermen from one season to the next in Russ Huesman's tenure. There are 25 on the offensive side of the ball and 19 on defense with three specialists. There are 16 starters back, including eight on offense, six on defense and two on special teams.
Chattanooga opens the 2016 season on Thursday, Sept. 1, against Shorter. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. (E.D.T.) at Finley Stadium and tickets are on sale now on GoMocs.com or by calling the UTC Ticket Office at (423) 266-MOCS (6627).