Tyler Roberson has carved out a role on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team doing anything he can to help the Mocs win. He’s spent time on the kickoff-coverage and kickoff-return teams while potentially being two snaps away from starting at quarterback.
Roberson has been active as a versatile member of the team, doing as he calls it, “whatever makes the team better.” The 6-foot-4, 210-pounder from Marietta, Ga., knows about versatility, playing both quarterback and safety at Augusta Christian in a four-year career in which he threw for more than 5,700 yards and for 49 touchdowns. He ran for 1,018 yards and 14 scores in his senior season alone.
He said Thursday that when he was in high school he would call a running play early in the game, just to get hit and get his blood flowing. At UTC he’s primarily worn the red “no-contact” jerseys associated with quarterbacks, but he shed that last week in the scrimmage, finishing with 30 yards on a game-high nine carries.
“Being in college and always having a red jersey on you, you miss a little bit of the contact every now and then, so it’s good to bring back the actual nature of the sport,” he said.
He was back in the white jersey in Wednesday’s practice at Scrappy Moore Field, and he earned high praise from UTC coach Russ Huesman with his ability to run the offense.