Taylor Dodds has eight more weeks to get ready. Eight more weeks to develop his body and his mind for the task before him.
That task: the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga redshirt freshman must replace three-year starter Chris Harr at left tackle. Dodds will make his collegiate debut when the Mocs open their season at Nebraska on Sept. 3.
“Nebraska keeps running through my head,” Dodds said following spring practice. “That this might be my first college start, in Lincoln, Neb., I never thought I’d play against a team like that. It will be a fun experience.”
The left tackle job, which protects quarterback B.J. Coleman’s blind side, has been Dodds’ since the end of the 2010 season, when the two-time All-Southern Conference selection Harr’s career came to a close.
Dodds was able to study the game during his redshirt season, but he wasn’t able to develop physically like the other redshirts because of shoulder surgery.