In his weekly media luncheon Wednesday, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Rodney Allison discussed a number of topics, ranging from what he likes about Elon’s style of play to quarterback Jare Gault’s development.
The Mocs (1-6, 0-3) will try for their first Southern Conference win of the season Saturday when they host eighth-ranked Elon (6-1, 4-0), which is alone at the top of the standings.
What follows are some of the highlights, including a bold prediction from a coach whose team has been blown out five games in a row:
On Saturday’s game:
“I think we’re going to win this game, I really do. Don’t count these kids out — don’t count me out — because we’re going to line up and get after these folks on Saturday and we’re going to beat them.”
On Gault’s progress as the starter:
“Where we were ineffective (in last week’s loss to Wofford) was out of the pocket. We probably only completed two balls out of the pocket in that game, and that’s where the development comes from at quarterback. Being able to sit in there — and part of the issues are protection ... it’s all tied together with protection, timing of the quarterback, his steps and getting the ball to the right person.
We were not very good at (that) and we continue to work extremely hard on that, but that part of our game did not show up against Wofford.
On Elon’s defense:
“They don’t give up big plays. They are fairly conservative in nature, from a coverage standpoint. They keep things in front of them really well, something that we try to do but have not done very well. They play very little or no man-to-man coverage from the standpoint of your traditional man coverage where you blitz six or seven guys. It’s more of a zone blitz scheme, but it’s very effective.”
On Elon in general:
“They’ve got a nice way of playing the game that we try to do but just haven’t been as effective with it. They score 22, 23 (or) 24 points and give up 16, 17, 18 (or) 19. They’ve got a nice little way about them playing the game, and it’s been really effective for them.”
See Thursday’s Times Free Press for more coverage.
John Frierson is in his fifth year at the Times Free Press and fifth year covering University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletics. The bulk of his time is spent covering Mocs football, but he also writes about women’s basketball and the big-picture issues and news involving the athletic department. A native of Athens, Ga., John grew up a few hundred yards from the University of Georgia campus. Instead of becoming a Bulldog he attended Ole ...
I must haved missed the latest news on Elon, was their football team killed in a plane crash this past weekend? Only explanation I can come up with for Allison's comments.
Let's see?, #10 Wofford is 4-1, #11 Elon is 6-1, #3 Appilation St is 4-2, #27 Furman is 5-2, #30 Citadal is 3-3, #63 Samford is 3-3, #61, #86 UTC is 1-6.and #87 Western Carolina is 2-5
Did Coach Alison look at the schedule correctly?
If I were going to make such a prediction, it sould have been next week against #87 Western Carolina... not this week against #11 Elon.
Did Coach Alison happen to say what he will do if he doesn't win?
I predict we keep them under 50 points, so long as the Elon coach shows a little class and takes a knee all during the during the 4th quarter... How Insulting was that?
I guess we have moved into the wacko, manic depressive phase of Coach Allison's tenure. When you have a won loss record of 17 and 46 you become delusional and suffer from visions of grandeur. Allison should have been fired by UTC last year when they suffered the embarrasing home opener loss to D-2 neighbor Carson Newman. That loss alone set UTC football recruiting back ten years. I do like the challenge to a Mocs team that has very little to play for as compared to their opponent, Elon, that is vying for a SOCON championship. Look for them to take Allison's bulletin board comment and drive Allison and his coaching staff into the ground with a game plan that starts early and stays late as they roll to victory. Just like JSU,GSU,Furman and Wofford the opposing coach will show Rodney no respect as they pull out to a big lead they will continue to throw the ball deep in the fourth quarter. They do not respect Rodney but they do hope he stays. His teams fight hard early but when faced with adversity they give up and you can cruise to an easy win. I urge all Mocs football fans that care about the program to bring a paper bag to put on your head when Elon pulls out to a big lead and Rodney puts his son in against the second teamers. Also please e-mail AD Rick Hart at Rick-Hart@utc.edu and demand that Rodney be fired. The team, UTC and Chattanooga deserve better.
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