Mocs' ends form formidable duo

Josh Beard was pretty much a non-factor on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga defense a year ago. Josh Williams, meanwhile, was still in high school.

This fall, the Mocs' defensive ends, one a 24-year-old senior and the other an 18-year-old true freshman, have formed the most prolific sack duo in the nation. Beard's total of 9 1/2 sacks heading into Saturday's game against Western Carolina leads the nation, and Williams' 5 sacks are tied for 22nd most.

"They've been really good, they've been fun to coach and any time you game plan it helps you because you don't have to do a lot of things to get pressure on the quarterback," Mocs coach Russ Huesman said.

The Mocs (4-3, 2-3 Southern Conference) are second in the SoCon, and 11th in the nation, in sacks with 21 and will face a Western Carolina (1-6, 1-4) squad that averages 27 pass attempts per game and has allowed 15 sacks.

"They can't double-team me and they can't double-team Beard at the same time," Williams said.

Huesman knows a thing or two about having a dynamic defensive end duo. Last season at Richmond, he had two stars in Lawrence Sidbury and Sherman Logan. Sidbury, drafted in the fourth round by the Atlanta Falcons, had 11 1/2 sacks last season and Logan added 6.

Could Beard and Williams be just as good?

"They way they're playing, they could be," Huesman said.

During his weekly news conference Wednesday, Huesman spoke at length about how well Beard was playing this season.

"He's had six great weeks of practice, he's running to the football and he should be an all-conference player if he keeps this up," Huesman said. "He's playing better than anybody in this league and the coaches out there are all saying it."

Beard, who played in eight games in 2008 and had just one sack, was in the room and heard every word.

"I got emotional after I heard that," he said. "That was real big coming from the head coach. ... By Coach Huesman letting me know how much he appreciated me, that makes me want to go out there and play even harder for him."

Beard is the oldest player on UTC's roster. He spent two years working after earning all-state honors at Lincoln County High School in Lincolnton, Ga., one of the top Class A programs in the state. He said he brother Jerry, who was a All-SoCon running back at Appalachian State in 2002, convinced him to go to Georgia Military College and continue his career.

"I just wish we had (Beard) for another year or two," Huesman said.

Huesman said he wants his defense built around good defensive ends who can get after the quarterback, and that's an area the Mocs are addressing as they recruit for next season.

Another player like Williams would suit him just fine.

"He could be just a fantastic player before it's all said and done here," he said of Williams. "We need more like him."

Extra point

Huesman said UTC is appealing to the NCAA to get a sixth year of eligibility for senior running back Bryan Fitzgerald, who missed the 2008 season with a knee injury and played in four games this season before needing season-ending foot surgery.