Dave Monnot III doesn’t call going up against a Tennessee Volunteers defensive front led by edge rusher James Pearce Jr. — a presumptive top-10 pick in the 2025 NFL draft — a challenge.
Instead, Monnot looks at it as an opportunity.
Playing offensive lineman for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga already means meeting a high standard, with recent years showing why that’s the case. Since 2016, four former Mocs offensive linemen have received NFL opportunities, led by 2022 first-round pick Cole Strange of the New England Patriots, while a fifth (Lucas Lavin) played in the CFL.
So, yes, there’s a certain responsibility that comes with the position at UTC, and the expectations to perform well are present even when the Football Championship Subdivision’s Mocs are taking on a program from the Football Bowl Subdivision, the higher tier within NCAA Division I.
Last year’s offensive line held its own against Southeastern Conference power Alabama in UTC’s regular-season finale, with Texas the only other team to hold the Crimson Tide without a sack. After a slow start to the game in Tuscaloosa, the Mocs finally started to have some success moving the ball, highlighted by a 40-yard touchdown run by Gino Appleberry and a 59-yard completion from Luke Schomburg to Javin Whatley.