Even as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team was preparing to step away from the practice field Thursday night, coach Tom Arth wasn't expecting a dip in the level of competition.
The last night before the end of preseason camp, the coaching staff and team went to Pin Strikes for a bowling competition with a prize for the winners "still yet to be determined." There were 20 five-man teams.
"I told the guys a couple of days ago, if we're going to do this, you've got to come in there with the right mentality," Arth said after Wednesday's practice. "We're going to compete, so don't be coming in there joking around - we're playing."
The coaches formed a team to compete against the players, who had a draft Wednesday night. Senior team captain and wide receiver Alphonso Stewart chose junior linebacker Cody Bennett, redshirt freshman outside linebacker Ian Hayes, freshman quarterback Cole Copeland and freshman outside linebacker C.J. Winston. It's a young group, but Stewart said he felt they were going to "come out and compete."
"They all have some type of competitive edge, and I know they're not going to back down," Stewart said.
Today is the culmination of a grueling camp. The Mocs will take Saturday off, practice Sunday afternoon, take Monday off and then jump into full preparation for the season opener Aug. 26 against Jacksonville State in Montgomery, Ala. Arth feels the team got better in a lot of places, most notably in the depth department, during the preseason.
But Thursday night it was all about the lanes.
"We've been talking about this since we got the news," Stewart said. "We've been talking trash and getting ready to compete in something other than football. It's going to be intense.
"We're just happy to go out and do something else besides football with the team together, because I can't get enough of these guys. It's going to be a fun experience."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.