The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team has improved on special teams during the 2025 season, and the credit is due to a level of accountability that goes from top to bottom.
As the Mocs (2-4, 1-1 Southern Conference) return from an open date that fell at the midpoint of the regular season, their play in that phase of football could be pivotal in Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. game against East Tennessee State University (3-4, 1-1) at Finley Stadium, the latest edition of the “Rail Rivalry” that UTC leads 27-19-1 overall. Although UTC has won seven of the eight series meetings (including five in a row dating to 2019) since the Buccaneers revived their football program, six games in that stretch have been decided by a possession.
The Mocs rank second in the SoCon in kickoff return defense and punt return defense, which could prove key against ETSU. The Bucs feature former McCallie standout Xavier Gaillardetz, who is one of the nation’s best punt returners with a 15.5-yard average, and the redshirt junior’s 80-yard touchdown provided the first points of the game in ETSU’s 45-10 home win over Virginia Military Institute last weekend.
UTC redshirt sophomore Heath Jehu has averaged 42.9 yards this season on his 27 punts, with 10 of those resultin in fair catches and six ending up inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. UTC opponents have averaged just 6.1 yards per punt return.
“I try not to worry too much about average as much as just putting the ball in the air,” Jehu said. “If I’m hitting a 40-yard fair catch, it’s much better than a 60-yarder and they return it to the house or they return it 30 yards.”