Editorial
Front Page - Friday, August 13, 2010
Chattanooga Mocs gearing up for a new season of gridiron action
David Laprad
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Mocs football team has a number of players returning on offense for the 2010 season, including starting quarterback B.J. Coleman, a local boy who attended McCallie School. Head coach Russ Huesman says he expects Coleman to have a great fall.
- David Laprad
The colors of autumn in Chattanooga are unmistakable: there are the red, orange and yellow leaves that coat the mountains surrounding the city, the traces of gray smoke coming from the chimneys on the north and south sides of town, and the explosion of old gold and navy blue from the inner recesses of Finley Stadium.
Accompanied by a thrilling eruption of drums, brass and cheerleader kicks, the colors spread across the gridiron, ushering in a new season of Southern Conference football action.
No matter what the calendar says, or the thermometer reads, fall in Chattanooga arrives when the Mocs take to the field for their first home game of the season.
This year, autumn arrives at precisely 6 p.m. on September 4, when the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s football team hosts the Appalachia State Mountaineers, the number one team in the conference in 2009. If Mocs head coach Russ Huesman is right, the game will be one to remember.
“Appalachia State is the
cream of the crop in the conference right now. The Mountain-eers have won three national championships, and they have a good team coming back this year, so facing them will be a huge task,” Huesman says.
Huesman is confident his team is up to the challenge. Although the Mocs finished 4-4 in the conference and 6-5 overall in 2009, they have a number of strengths on which to drawn, including a solid offense and a defense that lacks experience but is quick and athletic.
“All of our running backs are returning, and our entire offensive line is back. Plus, we have a great quarterback in B.J. Coleman. We lost a key receiver, but we have a capable receiving core, and our tight end is back, too,” Huesman says.
Fans who, in 2009, thought they saw everything Coleman, a local boy who attended McCallie School, has to offer might do a double take when he faces off against Appalachia State. “He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the league. I was pleased with his progress last season. He got better, and it showed toward the end,” Huesman says.
“Coleman is always trying to improve, and he brings other players along with him. He also studies and knows the game, so I expect him to have a great year.”
Huesman is replacing a lot of his starting defense this year, but says the newcomers are all capable players. “The previous staff recruited really good football players, which will help us as we start building up our defense,” he says.
The coach also says good things about Buster Skrine, one of the returning defensive players he believes has the potential to play in the National Football League. “Buster is one of the better defensive players in this league. He’s also unbelievable as far as practice and commitment to the team are concerned.”
As positive as Huesman feels about his players, he says he needs one more thing to be in place for the Mocs to beat the Mountaineers: home field advantage. “We feed off the crowd. We were 4-1 at home last year, and there’s no question the energy of the crowd helped us play well. But I’d like to get things to the level of Appalachia State. They sell out every game, and their fans are nuts. We need people there supporting us and being loud.”
The experience of attending a Mocs game doesn’t begin with the opening kick-off, Huesman says, but hours earlier, when parents, children and students converge on Finley to throw tailgate parties.
“Football is different from any other sport. You’ve got the game, but you’ve also got the three-hour tailgate party beforehand,” he says.
Although the idea of a college football tailgate party might scare off parents with children, Huesman says the athletic department at UTC works hard to make attending a Mocs football game a great experience for everyone in a family. “When you come to a UTC football game, you’re not fighting 106,000 people for a parking space. It’s easy to get here, it’s easy to park, and it’s easy to get in the stadium and find your seat,” he says.
Fans who miss the Mocs’ season opener will still have four more chances to catch the team at home, as they’ll be hosting Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 18, Georgia Southern on Oct. 16, Elon on Oct. 30, and Samford on Nov. 13. Visit www.gomocs.com for ticket information.
While Huesman won’t say how many of those games he expects the Mocs to win, he does say his team will be competing and playing hard every week.
“I want to have a great product [of which] the city of Chattanooga, our alumni and our students are proud. Norm-ally, when you do those things, the wins and losses take care of themselves.”
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