Quarterback Alejandro Bennifield suspended from UTC's first four games

UTC quarterback Alejandro Bennifield looks for an open receiver during UTC's spring football game day at Finley Stadium on Saturday, April 8, 2017, in Chattanooga, Tenn. This year's spring game was an open practice followed by a 40 minute scrimmage.
UTC quarterback Alejandro Bennifield looks for an open receiver during UTC's spring football game day at Finley Stadium on Saturday, April 8, 2017, in Chattanooga, Tenn. This year's spring game was an open practice followed by a 40 minute scrimmage.
photo Quarterback Nick Tiano (7) gets a drink of water. The UTC football team practiced at Finley Stadium on August 10, 2017.

Senior All-Southern Conference quarterback Alejandro Bennifield will miss the first four games of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's 2017 season because of an NCAA academic issue, starting with the 12th-ranked Mocs' opener against sixth-ranked Jacksonville State tonight at 6:30 EDT at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.

Sophomore Nick Tiano will start in his place, with true freshman Cole Copeland serving as the No. 2 and redshirt freshman Dominic Caldwell the No. 3.

"Last night Alejandro's final appeal was denied," senior associate athletic director Jay Blackman told the Times Free Press on Friday. "We went through a series of attempts of getting a waiver, but the final attempt was denied Thursday night."

The coaching staff has known for a while about the possibility of the denial, so Bennifield and Tiano had been splitting first-team repetitions at practice to have both players prepared.

Bennifield, one of the team's five captains, threw for 2,622 yards and 26 touchdowns in 2016 - the TD total tied for the second-most in school history - while rushing for 377 yards and six scores. He is still on track to graduate in December from UTC.

"Dro's been absolutely fantastic and has done everything we've asked him to do," UTC coach Tom Arth told the Times Free Press on Friday afternoon. "He's the most respected player in the program and it's a shame that it's come to this - especially since he has a good GPA and is graduating this winter.

"It's outside of his control, and it's unfortunate the way it went down."

Tiano, a former three-star prospect from Baylor School, started his college career at Mississippi State, throwing one pass and completing it for 5 yards against Auburn.

"For us, it's something we talk about all the time," Arth said. "At some point in the year, you're going to be faced with adversity. It's something that's going to happen - whether in the game or something else - it's going to hit you in the face, and it's how you respond. This is an incredible opportunity for the team to come together and show what Chattanooga football is about.

"I know our guys will rally behind Dro and Nick. He's as good a quarterback as we can hope to have at a FCS school. He has outstanding intangibles and leadership traits, and our team knows our offense is in great hands. Nick is more than capable of getting the job done, and our players are motivated about the challenge of coming together and supporting Nick and Dro."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.

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