UTC Mocs' offense loses 'struggle'

photo UTC's former offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield didn't have many good things to say Monday about last Saturday's 14-12 loss at Appalachian State.

"We've got a bunch of freshmen that are getting older every day, so that's good," he said after thinking a moment.

The Mocs (2-2, 0-1 Southern Conference) struggled to score against the Mountaineers, struggled to protect quarterback B.J. Coleman and struggled to run the ball.

"It's a struggle," Satterfield said.

UTC finished with 302 yards of offense -- 18 more than ASU, which didn't score an offensive point -- and 270 of the Mocs' yards came in the passing game. Coleman paid the price for his 42 pass attempts, compared to 23 carries by the running backs.

"He got hit 13 times ... and about three of them were life-threatening, where he just got destroyed," Satterfield said. "Four of them were purely just kids busting assignments and not even touching the [rushing] linebacker."

With a young UTC offensive line and little running game to worry about, Appalachian State's defense was on the attack for most of the game. The same thing could happen Saturday when UTC hosts The Citadel (1-2, 0-2).

"[The Mountaineers] had so many guys up there and they dared us to win outside, and we didn't win enough," UTC head coach Russ Huesman said.

The Mocs will work on pass protection when they return to practice today. Their problems haven't been the result of poor strategy or numbers, Huesman said.

"We had enough [guys back] to block -- we just didn't execute," he said.

Satterfield did have some nice things to say about true freshman running back Marquis Green, who made his first start Saturday with veterans Chris Awuah and J.J. Jackson slowed by injuries.

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Green led UTC with a modest 36 yards on 15 carries and had three catches for 29 yards.

"I thought he handled himself really nicely and made a great play on third down when we threw that little swing to him [for 16 yards]," Satterfield said.

Mocs drop in polls

UTC dropped two spots to No. 15 in this week's Sports Network Top 25 poll and three spots to No. 17 in the FCS coaches' poll.

Appalachian State remained No. 3 in both polls. Georgia Southern retained its position at No. 1 in each, while Wofford, which hosts Appalachian State this week, moved up one to No. 8 in the Sports Network poll and is No. 6 in the coaches' list.

Extra points

Fullback Taharin Tyson suffered two broken ribs against Appalachian State and could miss a couple of days of practice this week, Huesman said. Wideout Jeff Veres (thumb, ankle) also could sit out, but both are expected to play Saturday. ... The Citadel has been penalized just eight times all season.

Contact John Frierson at jfrierson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6268. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mocsbeatCTFP.

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