UTC defensive lineman Josh Freeman, right, gives a high five to Mocs fan Kaleab Belk at Saturday’s Meet the Mocs event at the First Tennessee Pavilion. Expectations are high heading into theo 2013 season.
UTC quarterback Jacob Huesman signs autographs for fans at Saturday’s Meet the Mocs event at the First Tennessee Pavilion. Expectations are high heading into theo 2013 season.Brian Millican crossed his arms, looked around at the large crowd at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga “Meet the Mocs” fan gathering Saturday and spoke with great confidence.
“I’m extremely optimistic and very excited about this season,” said Millican, a 1991 UTC graduate who has attended several preseason practices. “I’m one of those long-suffering Mocs fans. The last time they were in the playoffs was two years before I started school here.”
UTC’s lone playoff appearance came in 1984, but there’s reason to think 2013 is the year the Mocs return. The playoff field has expanded to 24 teams, Appalachian State and Georgia Southern are ineligible and, most important, UTC should field its best all-around team in several decades.
Nine Mocs were voted either first- or second-team preseason All-Southern Conference by the league’s coaches.
“This might be a breakout year, and I don’t think that’s too bad a word for us because it’s been 29 years since we’ve been to the playoffs,” first-year athletic director David Blackburn said Saturday while surrounded by more than 1,200 fans at the First Tennessee Pavilion. “It’s time we break through that barrier, and it looks like Russ and those guys are about to do that.”