Gino Appleberry and Telly Plummer spent a lot of time together as freshmen in an Atlanta-area high school before taking different paths.
Appleberry still has videos on his phone of the two cutting up. But both he and Plummer, even then, had the same serious goal in mind: go to college for free.
Each wound up beginning his collegiate career at a Football Bowl Subdivision program in Kentucky — Appleberry as a running back at Western Kentucky, Plummer as a defensive back at Louisville — before their different paths ultimately brought them back together as transfers at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Appleberry, who signed with the Mocs in December 2019, has seen the growth of Plummer, who signed a year later.
So has everyone else at UTC.
That growth has given the 6-foot-1, 195-pounder another opportunity as a defensive starter for the Mocs. He started at cornerback against Wofford and North Alabama in 2022 and tallied six tackles against Illinois before losing the rest of the season due to a knee injury. He came to UTC as a safety, but now he's attempting to fill a need at a position where the Mocs have struggled at times this season to find an answer opposite All-America senior Kam Brown.
Plummer still loves to have fun, but the Mocs say he knows when it's time to go to work.
"Telly is a guy that doesn't complain, he tries to do things right on and off the field," senior edge rusher Ben Brewton said. "Him being so humble and accepting to change has helped us out a lot.
"You can tell he's locked in. He has that switch that he can flip; when it's time to lock in, he locks in."
Said head coach Rusty Wright: "He is a smart football player, he acts a little goofy sometimes, but he is a smart football player. When he settles into a spot, he usually does pretty good at it. We had to change him along the way when he got here because of need, injury, whatever it might have been — that's why he got moved around.
"If he continues on this track, he'll finish up having a good career."
A good finish to his final season in Chattanooga is exactly what Plummer is looking for.
With their lone open date finally coming next week before closing their current schedule at Alabama on Nov. 18, the Mocs are 7-2 overall and 6-1 in the Southern Conference with one date remaining against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent in the regular season. UTC is also in the top 15 of both Football Championship Subdivision polls this week, ranked 14th by media and tied for 13th by the coaches' votes.
If the Mocs are able to defeat second-ranked Furman (7-1, 5-0), which visits Finley Stadium for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday, it will equal two things Plummer and the rest of UTC's senior class has fought for: a conference championship — at least a share of it — and the SoCon's automatic bid for the 24-team bracket in the FCS playoffs, which start Nov. 25.
"I'm just trying to be a guy on this team," Plummer said. "Being a vet on this team, get up, self-motivate myself. I've been here, I know the defense and stuff like that coming from safety, so I know what the safety has to do, so it's kind of made my position a little easier. Plus I played cornerback in high school, so it's not really like a big transition.
"I just come out here and compete. (Receivers) Sam (Phillips) and Jamoi (Mayes), there's no better competition than those guys to go against every day, so it makes game day easier."
Plummer also remembers how close the Mocs were in last season's meeting with Furman in Greenville, South Carolina, where the host Paladins won 24-20.
"We use that as fuel, but it's not really about them," he said. "We know what we've got to do on defense: Line up, get our eyes right like Coach Wright always says. We've got to go out and play at the end of the day. We're not going to make the game bigger than what it is, just another Saturday.
"We've just got to go out there and play."
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / UTC defensive back Telly Plummer practices at Scrappy Moore Field in August 2022. Plummer said he's "trying to be a guy on this team" and play his part well as the Mocs chase a share of the SoCon title and a spot in the FCS playoffs with their 2023 regular season winding down.Another defensive honor
UTC's 24-23 victory last Saturday at Virginia Military Institute extended the team's winning streak to three games and kept its big goals intact, and it also made another statement for a defense that ranks second in the SoCon in both yards allowed per game (346.6, behind Mercer's 339.3) and points allowed per game (21.0, behind Furman's 19.9).
Meanwhile, Kobe Joseph's team-leading 13 tackles (one for loss) with an interception that set up a touchdown at VMI also made a statement as he was named the SoCon's defensive player of the week. He is the fourth UTC player selected for that honor this year, joining defensive back Jordan Walker, linebacker Alex Mitchell and edge rusher Jay Person.
In addition, Whatley has been honored as the league's offensive player of the week this season, and two UTC kickers have been special teams player of the week, with Jude Kelley selected in September and Clayton Crile in October.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.