Keon Williams might have rushed for 101 yards last week against The Citadel and been honored as the Southern Conference freshman of the week, but the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga running back hasn’t locked down the starting job.
Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said UTC’s running backs began this week “back at square one.” The player who starts Saturday against No. 18 Georgia Southern, he said, will be one who practices well, holds on to the football and takes meetings and classes seriously.
That was Williams last week, which is why the true freshman earned his first career start. He capitalized on the chance with 101 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, but he also was a little loose with the football.
Satterfield said Williams “was fortunate a couple of times” that he didn’t fumble. He did lose the ball near the goal line on his first touchdown, but the officials ruled that he had crossed the plane before fumbling.
“He’s got to continue to understand how to carry the football,” Satterfield said.
As does senior Erroll Wynn, who was benched early in the second half after fumbling.
Williams is the third UTC running back to start a game this season. Sophomore J.J. Jackson started the first two but sat out all or most of the next two with a shoulder injury. Wynn, who also has battled a bad shoulder, started games three and four and leads the team with 350 yards on 52 carries.
Jackson had seven carries for 26 yards against The Citadel, his first rushes since the Jacksonville State game on Sept. 11. Like Williams and Wynn, Jackson said he’s doing everything he can this week to increase his playing time.
“I feel like I’ve just got to come out here and practice. It starts out here,” Jackson said. “If my effort’s good out here, they know I want to play, and that’s all I can do – just be ready when my name is called.”
Home sweet home
It’s homecoming week at UTC, both for alumni and for the football team.
By the time the Mocs take the field Saturday, the team will have gone 28 days between games in Finley Stadium.
The last time they played a home game was on Sept. 18, when they beat Eastern Kentucky 42-24. Of UTC’s final six games, half will be at home: Georgia Southern, Elon (Oct. 30) and Samford (Nov. 13).
“It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve had a home game,” Jackson said. “We were walking down here [to practice] and I was like, ‘Man, I’m just ready for Georgia Southern.’ It will be nice to be back home and to see the home crowd again.”