JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — Rusty Wright has made it clear that the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team’s current freshman class is going to play this season, his sixth as head coach of the Mocs.
And while UTC is coming off back-to-back victories to improve to 2-3, some part — a small part — of the Mocs’ struggles early in the season came from playing first-year guys.
Were they ready?
“They have to be in this day and age,” Wright said after the Mocs’ 45-30 home win over Portland State on Sept. 28, noting that there are only 14 seniors on UTC’s 2024 roster. “This is the smallest senior class I’ve had since I’ve been here, and that’s just the way this world’s going to work from here on out. That’s what we’re looking at, so freshmen, sophomores are going to play a lot.
“Those days of having 27, 28, 29 seniors is over. It’s just how it is.”