The heavy rain that fell during the day Wednesday forced the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football to practice inside McKenzie Arena — which was just fine with coach Rodney Allison.

The Mocs have lost four straight games and face another tough challenge on Saturday at ninth-ranked Wofford, and Allison said he was glad to have the opportunity to change things up a bit during practice.

“I was kind of hoping this would happen because I wanted to try this,” Allison said.

Wednesday’s practice was actually a walkthrough — similar to what a normal Thursday practice is like — with no real plays or drills conducted and the players in shorts, helmets and sneakers. The defense started out on the floor of the arena while the offense was up on the fourth floor in meetings. About halfway through, the groups switched.

“I thought this week we needed a little mental deal. We had good meetings, and it looked like everybody was locked in pretty good,” Allison said. “I’m anxious to see how this goes and it might be something that we look at for the last four or five weeks (of the season).”

The Mocs might have been challenged mentally, since the floor of McKenzie Arena was basically a large classroom for the team, but physically they got a much-needed break. The players have been going full steam ahead since reporting to preseason camp at the end of July, and the only off week during the 12-game season is still two weeks away.

“Even if we went outside (Wednesday), I was going to go shorts and helmets anyway,” Allison said.

The Mocs could need the rest because the Terriers will have their legs under them. Wofford is playing an 11-game schedule so it has two off weeks during the season, and the Terriers have already had both. They were off on Sept. 13 after playing two games and they were off again last weekend, meaning they have played four games in six weeks.

Fitzgerald off crutches

The smile of Bryan Fitzgerald’s face Wednesday was genuine — a true smile of relief.

The senior running back, who is redshirting this season after undergoing knee surgery in August, was all smiles because he was finally cleared to get rid of the crutches he’d been using since the surgery. Now, the preseason first-team All-Southern Conference pick can really begin the arduous task of rehabbing his right knee in order to be ready for next season.

“It feels wonderful, amazing,” he said. “It feels so good to be back walking again.”