Colin Brewer and Henrique Ribeiro are on the same wavelength.
With Jacob Huesman's graduation from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the football team had to replace not only its quarterback but also the only holder Ribeiro had known in his Mocs kicking career.
Brewer, who replaced Ribeiro as the Baylor School soccer goalkeeper when the latter graduated from the same prep school that Huesman attended, has taken over the UTC holding role, and he and Ribeiro have been working on their connection leading up to the season opener Thursday.
Ribeiro said the fact that Brewer is a kicker himself - he's the Mocs' starting punter - helps the senior kicker, because the redshirt freshman knows how the ball needs to be placed before field goals and extra points.
"Jacob was a great holder. He knew what to do, had great ball control and was fast. I had no doubts he'd get the ball down," Ribeiro said before Monday's practice. "But I feel with Colin now, it's an improvement because I get to work with him more closely every day. We're both specialists, so we've got the same schedule and get to work a lot on that, build more chemistry.
"Because he's a kicker, he knows how I want it, and that helps a lot."
Ribeiro, a preseason All-American and Fred Mitchell Award watch list member for FCS kicker of the year, has made 36 of 48 field-goal tries for UTC, and his 90 consecutive extra points made is a school record and fifth-longest streak in Southern Conference history. It is Brewer's first time being a holder, but his inclusion keeps intact an all-Baylor trio. Another former Red Raider, Emory Norred, is the long snapper.
"We try to make it as gamelike as we can in practice," Brewer said. "I feel comfortable doing it. It came pretty natural. I know what Henrique wants. I think we've got pretty good chemistry."
Depth chart revealed
There weren't many surprises when UTC released its depth chart for the Thursday opener against Shorter University.
Nearly all of the positions have been filled, with only a pair up in the air. The left tackle position battle between sophomore Kennington Cadwell and redshirt freshman Malcolm White has an "OR," with both players still fighting for the starting spot. Regardless, both are expected to play.
Also, junior Malcolm Colvin and sophomore Bailey Lenoir are battling for the tight end spot. Each presents a different skill set: Colvin is more of a blocker, while Lenoir is an effective pass-catcher.
Redshirt freshman Khayyan Edwards is listed as the fourth defensive end behind seniors Keionta Davis and Vantrel McMillan and junior D.J. Prather. Junior Tavon Lawson has been moved back to dime defensive back after practicing in the spring and the first part of preseason camp at linebacker, while walk-on true freshman Jordan Jones has emerged as the fourth cornerback.
Trevor Wright and Richardre Bagley are the team's kickoff returners, while either C.J. Board or Xavier Borishade will handle punt-return duties.
Captains announced
Coach Russ Huesman announced Sunday that senior running back Derrick Craine, senior defensive end Keionta Davis and senior offensive lineman Corey Levin will be the team's captains this season.
Games after 6 rare
For the second straight season, the Mocs are scheduled to play two 7 p.m. games during the 2016 season. A season ago, UTC dropped their season opener 23-20 to Jacksonville State in a night game before winning a 21-0 contest against Presbyterian in a game that started at 7.
Besides Thursday's season opener, the other game at 7 this year is Sept. 17 at Furman.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.