University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Russ Huesman said during the preseason that Samford was a top-20 caliber team.
The Bulldogs will get a chance to prove him right this week.
The 10th-ranked Mocs will travel to Birmingham for an important Southern Conference matchup Saturday with the Bulldogs, whose offense has averaged 51.5 points and 644 yards per game in victories over Central Arkansas and Florida A&M the past two weeks.
Samford is ranked 26th in the FCS coaches’ poll that was released Monday and 29th in the STATS FCS poll. The Mocs remained No. 10 in the STATS list and No. 12 in the coaches’ poll.
“They’re really good,” Huesman said Monday about the Bulldogs. “They’ve got some playmakers and a quarterback that is an excellent player. Defensively they’re well-coached. They’ve had really good players for years now, and they’re going to compete for a championship.
“They’ll be in the thick of things for a conference championship when it’s done. They’re very, very talented.”
Huesman was hard in his critique of his team after Saturday’s 44-34 win over NCAA Division II member Mars Hill, although the offense totaled 518 yards and was clutch when it needed to be, converting 13 of 19 third downs into firsts. For the first time in 15 seasons, the Mocs had a game with over 250 yards both passing and rushing.
Problems abound, however, for the defensive unit, which is last in the SoCon and 86th nationally in rushing defense, allowing 232.5 yards per game. Only 10 teams allow more than the 6.2 yards per carry the Mocs have given up.
The Mocs are 68th in total defense, giving up 419.5 yards a game.
Huesman said that every defensive position is up for grabs. His hope is that the “open competition” will promote more intensity in practice leading up to the game Saturday.
“We need to button up and play better – to have 11 guys playing together,” Huesman said. “We still have confidence in ourselves. We have good players that are talented, and as coaches we’ve got to put them in the best situations to compete and just let them play. In practice we need more guys competing with each other.
“When you get in game mode, the backups settle in; they go through that backup mentality. We need guys pushing guys to where there’s competition. Hopefully the intensity of practice will pick up because the defense knows it didn’t play well. They have pride and know if they practice better, they’ll play better and compete better – especially defensively. They’re embarrassed about Saturday, and hopefully they’ll come out and have a great week of practice.”
Injury report
Huesman said that, aside from some knicks and bruises, the Mocs are in good shape leading into the Samford game. Wide receiver Alphonso Stewart will be about “50-50” this week after a lingering hamstring injury that was reaggravated on a 25-yard catch against the Lions. He finished with two catches for 29 yards and a score.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.