While the Mocs went 1-11 last season, Robert Harrison won a football championship at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga -- an intramural championship in flag football.

Harrison was in school but ineligible to play for the Mocs, or even be a member of the team, during the 2008-09 academic year after failing to meet the NCAA's 2.0 minimum GPA requirement coming out of Walton High School in Marietta, Ga.

Forced to wait a year before beginning his collegiate career, the 5-foot-9, 165-pound cornerback did the next best thing.

"I actually did the intramurals with the school, the flag football program, and won a championship there," he said. "Just to kind of stay in shape and stay in football."

Defensive coordinator Adam Fuller smiled when told of the championship.

"Maybe he can bring the winning culture to our program," Fuller said.

Harrison, who intercepted a pass during Thursday's practice at Scrappy Moore Field, is one of several freshmen getting reps with the second-team secondary. He said he worked out hard last year and has put on 15 pounds since high school. He also said he made sure to hit the books, something he didn't do enough of in high school.

"(Having to sit out) definitely showed me that I had to stay focused, that I had to do school first," he said. "My grades were what kept me from playing, and I had to stay on that and just keep driving to succeed as a student first so I could get back out on the field."

Fuller said he's seen a few signs of Harrison's year away from the game, but he's also seen the abilities that brought Harrison to UTC in the first place.

"Your natural instincts show up pretty quick, and I think Robert's done a good job," he said. "When you say cover that guy, he looks really good. ... I think Robert's coming along, and he's in a battle with (freshman Kadeem Wise) right now, fighting for playing time."

Defense gets three

On an otherwise positive day, three late turnovers took some of the shine off the practice for the offense. Of course, those turnovers added to the good day for the defense.

"Part of it is the DBs (defensive backs). Man, we've got some kids that can break on the ball, and they get their hands in there," head coach Russ Huesman said.

Three turnovers will be the goal for the defense each game, Fuller said, and he challenged his unit to reach it during the final three periods of practice.

"I really like how our kids took to it," he said. "They were attacking the ball, and hopefully you get to a point where you don't have to make that a goal each day."

Extra points

Running back Bryan Fitzgerald (concussion) did not practice for the second day in a row. He could be cleared to return in time for Sunday's scrimmage at Finley Stadium. Receiver Terrance Davis also missed practice for the second day while dealing with a family emergency. ... Before the sun came up, 14 Mocs were at Scrappy trying for the second time to pass the team's conditioning test, which consists of 16 timed 110-yard sprints. All 14 passed, Huesman said, after not making their position-specified times last Saturday. ... As of Wednesday, 1,783 season tickets had been sold. They were mailed out Thursday.