After a sluggish start to this morning's practice, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team got better as the workout progressed.
Coach Russ Huesman said players and coaches were dragging early on in the Mocs' sixth preseason practice, at Scrappy Moore Field.
"It started off pretty slow, without a ton of energy," he said. "It was the same thing with the coaches, not a ton of energy. They've got to pick it up along with the players - all of us."
Huesman had seen enough about halfway through practice and let everyone know that practice time is too valuable to waste on lazy or half-hearted efforts.
"I reminded them of it right in the middle of practice and we will remind them again," he said.
Practice improved after that and UTC did some scrimmaging near the end - today was the first day that the defense was allowed to make tackles. Both the offense and defense made some quality plays, with neither side getting the upper hand.
The Mocs will hold their first true scrimmage at Finley Stadium on Friday. The practice at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday and will go twice (7:45 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.) on Thursday.
For more Mocs coverage, see tomorrow's Times Free Press. You can also follow beat writer John Frierson on Twitter at twitter.com/mocsbeatCTFP.