In Saturday night’s season opener, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team unleashed a new-look offense. Only it wasn’t the style that had been unseen; it was the personnel.
Nine new offensive starters hit the field for UTC, and the results were far above average as UTC put together a pretty balanced performance in a 31-0 victory over Wofford at Finley Stadium.
The Mocs rushed for 190 yards and passed for 171, which might not seem all that impressive until taking into consideration that they averaged 7.2 yards per play, which is UTC’s second-best showing since Rusty Wright took over as head coach ahead of the 2019 season. The only game in which the Mocs were better in that regard during the Wright era came in his debut season, a a 60-36 win over Western Carolina in which UTC averaged 8.2 yards per play.
Even more impressive, as well as encouraging to the Mocs and their fans, is the personnel they did it with. Seven of the 11 offensive starters Saturday were either freshmen and sophomores, including four of the five linemen and all three starting receivers.
“When we recruit people, we think they can play, and those guys have some talent,” Wright said Saturday night. “It was a bunch of guys’ first game in two years, and hopefully they just continue to keep growing and keep getting better. There’s a lot of things we can do better on both sides, but when you score 31 points — 24 on offense and get a pick-six — that’s a pretty good night, I don’t care where you’re at.
“If you can score 24 points, we should have a pretty good chance of winning football games.”
While the bulk of the offensive production actually came from the upperclassmen — junior running back Ailym Ford finished with 202 yards of total offense and two scores, while quarterback Preston Hutchinson, an Eastern Michigan graduate transfer, passed for 171 yards and a score — the Mocs unveiled a trio of underclassmen starting receivers, and they contributed. Sophomore Jamoi Mayes and redshirt freshmen Sam Phillips and Javin Whatley combined for 80 yards on six catches.
Redshirt freshman Bryce Goodner started on the offensive line, as did sophomore Dave Monnot, Malone VanGorder and Reid Williams. Redshirt freshman Javon Burke had his first career catch — a 17-yard touchdown in the second quarter that made it 24-0 — and tight end Camden Overton and left tackle Will Collier, both true freshmen, also played. In all, eight sophomores were on the field during key moments.
The defense is also counting on some younger players — sophomore Reuben Lowery had the 45-yard interception return that made it 17-0 in the second quarter — but that group entered the season with more veterans.
The offense has less collective experience and perhaps more to prove as a result, but Saturday showed the group’s promise. It will likely be a bumpy road in spots — Wright mentioned during the offseason that it may take a while for it all to mesh together — but if the younger players continue to figure out what they’re capable of and Wright and his staff continue to figure out the proper mix of personnel, there is a lot of potential.
UTC, ranked 12th in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and 13th in the Football Championship Subdivision coaches poll, is now 1-0 overall and in the Southern Conference. The Mocs exit league play for the next three games, starting with Saturday’s 7 p.m. Eastern matchup at Ohio Valley Conference program Eastern Illinois (0-1), and by the time they visit SoCon rival East Tennessee State on Oct. 1, they’ll know even more about the offense.
If Saturday is any indication, the Mocs might just be getting started on that side of the ball.
“I think we could be dangerous for sure, and I think we saw glimpses tonight,” Hutchinson said. “As we watch film and learn from our mistakes, I think we could be dangerous. The run game is something we’ve established for years, and I believe we can do that as well as in the pass game.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.