UTC coaches still feel good about scrimmage

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

photo UTC running back Richarde Bagley breaks around defensive back Oscar Pardo during the Mocs' first fall football scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga.

Having spent the better part of their "off day" Sunday watching video from the previous afternoon's scrimmage, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coaches used Monday's two practices to clean up the mistakes they saw.

Head coach Russ Huesman and both coordinators said they were just as pleased with the team's effort after poring over the video Sunday as they had been coming off the Finley Stadium turf Saturday.

"I didn't see anything on film that changed my mood," Huesman said. "Not bad. I thought it was decent execution on both sides of the ball. Still too many mental mistakes. When you install and you make a mistake, we understand that, but we were making mistakes on base plays and we can't afford to make the same mistakes again.

"But I thought they played hard. We didn't tackle awful and we had some big plays offensively. It's just hard in a scrimmage because somebody's not going to feel good. Whether it's offense or defense, whenever one side makes a play, the other side doesn't feel good. You just have to make sure they're improving."

By holding a scrimmage in mid-afternoon Saturday, the staff also was able to see how players would fight through the heat and fatigue of the 90-plus-play workout.

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The first-team offense looked sharp as quarterback Jacob Huesman completed 9 of 16 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for 39 yards, while four of sophomore receiver Xavier Borishade's five catches went for first downs, including a TD.

Defensively, sophomore end and spring game MVP Keionta Davis made 3.5 tackles for loss, and safety Tae Davis had an interception in the end zone. Tae Davis and cornerback Trevor Wright look to be working their way into the rotation in the secondary as true freshmen.

"I thought our guys competed hard and battled," defensive coordinator Adam Braithwaite said. "We had a good, warm day, and we haven't had a lot of those in camp, so that was a good test, too.

"In terms of execution, there's a lot of things we need to clean up, just things like where a guy lines up, where his eyes are, and that's what we went back to work on at practice."

UTC Night at AT&T

The Mocs Club hosts its annual UTC Night at the Lookouts on Thursday at AT&T Field. All Mocs fans and supporters are invited to join UTC coaches and staff as the Chattanooga Lookouts host the Jacksonville Suns at 7:15 p.m.

The evening includes a picnic hosted by the Mocs Club beginning at 6 p.m. in the pavilion on the first-base side of the stadium. The cost is $20 per person and includes one game ticket, hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, baked beans, cole slaw, Mayfield ice cream sandwiches and drinks. Soft drinks and water will be complimentary throughout the game, and $1 draft beer is available until first pitch.

Fans wanting to attend the picnic need to preorder their tickets. Contact Mocs Club assistant director Joe Levine (joseph-levine@utc.edu or 425-5866) for more information.

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.