The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s 2024 football season kicks off on Aug. 31 at Tennessee, and the Times Free Press is taking a positional look at UTC’s roster.
With quarterbacks previously covered, next up are the running backs.
Who’s gone: Ailym Ford (graduated; 119 carries, 485 yards, four touchdowns, seven games in 2023); Gino Appleberry (graduated; 180 carries, 753 yards, eight touchdowns, 12 games).
Who’s back: Reggie Davis (R-Jr., 6-0, 200; 65 carries, 322 yards, two touchdowns, seven games in 2023); Lance Jackson (Sr., 5-9, 197; 11 carries, 22 yards, one touchdown, nine games); Malachi Jeffries (R-Fr., 5-11, 207; redshirted); Solomon Locke (R-So., 5-10, 195; two games).
Who’s in: Justus Durant (Jr., 5-9, 172; transferred from NCAA Division II member Shorter University, where he was an All-Gulf South Conference first-team selection in 2023); Eagan Lehman (Fr., 5-10, 175); Journey Wyche (Fr., 5-10, 180).
For a number of reasons, there is going to be a paradigm shift in the Mocs’ rushing attack, which must account for the loss of 5,495 yards and 51 scores, the combined total for Ford and Appleberry last year.
First and foremost, the program is having to replace its most productive running back of all time in Ford, whose 3,928 yards and 36 touchdowns are the most accumulated at the position in Mocs history. Had he not torn an ACL midway through last season (an injury he attempted to play through for a couple of weeks), he likely would have passed former All-American quarterback Jacob Huesman for the program’s career records in both yards and touchdowns rushing; Ford finished 123 yards and seven touchdowns shy of tying those marks.
Now he’s gone, along with Appleberry, who was the team’s most consistent, most productive running back last year and had a career highlight with 104 yards against Alabama, including a 40-yard run for the Mocs’ lone touchdown in their regular-season finale.
It’s a new era in the UTC backfield, and it’s going to look vastly different with a new style of back now being featured.
Davis, though, was as talented as any running back UTC had last year. From the moment he arrived on campus, it has looked different in practice when he has the ball, and that started to translate into games as he started to log more playing time after the injury to Ford. Davis was the leading rusher in the first-round playoff win at Austin Peay, and he’ll likely be the primary back going into the season, with Durant playing a complementary role.
Durant, the Shorter transfer, has a similar violent running style blended with a lot of speed, which turned some heads during spring practices. Jackson has been a valuable backup in his UTC career with 47 carries — including 19 against Mercer in a March 2021 game when he gained 135 yards and scored twice — and will provide a change of pace in the backfield along with Jeffries, a bigger back who redshirted last year.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.