Unlike so many position groups on the team, it would be hard to point out the primary guy to stop among the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s receivers.
But as both Wofford and Eastern Illinois have learned, that’s been more a problem for them than the Mocs.
All young. All talented. All hungry. All unselfish at a position where it’s sometimes hard to not be a little bit selfish.
With mostly freshmen and sophomores in the group, the receivers’ potential is tremendous — if they don’t send position coach Ricky Spradling to the crazy house first.
“I think this group loves football, and that’s so hard to find nowadays with all the social media attention and all the NIL deals — guys that truly love the game,” Spradling said recently. “I think if you love the game that you want to get better at it every day, and that’s what I will say about this group is they come to work every day and are happy to be out here.
“Yes, they dance around. Sometimes you’ve got to hold them accountable and chill them out, but they love being out here, and I think that’s the biggest change from previous years is that they enjoy being out here. It’s easy to coach when you’ve got guys like that.”
Those are all good things, but winning games comes down to producing on the field — and they’ve done that so far.
The starters are sophomore Jamoi Mayes and freshmen Sam Phillips and Javin Whatley. Off the bench come senior Tyron Arnett — the lone upperclassman in the group — sophomore Tyler Smith and freshman Javon Burke.
Phillips was UTC’s leading receiver in the 31-0 home win over Wofford in the season and Southern Conference opener with 50 yards on three catches, but in Saturday night’s 38-20 win at Eastern Illinois, he was targeted twice without a reception. Others picked up the slack, with Mayes gaining 61 yards on a team-high six catches and Whatley’s four catches netting a game-high 79 receiving yards, including 51 on a screen that resulted in his first career touchdown.
Burke, who scored against Wofford, had a 28-yard reception against the Panthers, while Smith had a 46-yard catch-and-run that led to another score.
UTC quarterback Preston Hutchinson, a graduate transfer from Eastern Michigan, threw for 278 yards and a score as the Mocs improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2018 and just the third time this century (2005 being the other). Afterward, he said “it was a big question mark for everyone outside of the program” regarding who would step up at receiver this year.
“But after spring ball and (preseason) camp, I knew what we had, and we have a lot of talent at receiver,” Hutchinson added, “so it wasn’t that big of a surprise to me to see the success.”
Through two games, six of his 28 completions have gone for at least 20 yards, and four have gained 30 or more. Spradling said as the receivers continue to mature with in-game situations, they will become even more explosive.
There are still plenty of opportunities to learn.
The Mocs, ranked 10th by Football Championship Subdivision coaches and 11th in the Stats Perform Top 25, face the ASUN’s North Alabama (1-1) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Finley Stadium. It’s homecoming for UTC, which will then have a short week of preparation for a Thursday night game at Big Ten member Illinois on Sept. 22 before returning to SoCon play at East Tennessee State on Oct. 1.
“The guys that we took out of high school are more of the higher ceiling guys. A lot of them had just never played the position,” Spradling said. “It’s our job to catch them up to it and get them right, but that whole freshman, sophomore group is going to be really good.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.