Mocs glance
* No. 6 UTC (3-1, 1-0 SoCon) vs. Furman (3-2, 1-0) * Finley Stadium * Saturday, 1 p.m. * ESPN3 and 96.1 FM
At some point, Tae Davis and Montrell Pardue will have opportunities to make plays at the back end of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga defense.
Until that moment comes, they wait. And learn.
The two safeties are second in the depth chart behind junior Cedric Nettles and sophomore Lucas Webb, but both have shown in practice that they are more than capable replacements should the need arise.
Pardue started the season opener against Jacksonville State as Nettles served a one-game suspension. The redshirt freshman from Clarksville, Tenn., was in on seven tackles, and his strip-fumble and 55-yard return for a score gave the Mocs a 20-16 lead before they fell 23-20.
“That shows you that your time could come at any moment,” UTC defensive coordinator Adam Braithwaite said. “You’ve got to be prepared to go out and try to win a football game. Montrell played well in that game, and I was pleased in his performance. That showed me what the future holds for him.
“We have to find the best 11 (players). We try to put pieces together and we’re not always right about that, but we can only do what we think is best.”
Braithwaite said the staff has been looking for different ways to get both safety backups repetitions in practice, to make sure they remain “focused and sharp.” Meanwhile, both understand their place in the pecking order and remain ready in the event that their time does come.
“It’s a hard process because you’re eager to get out there,” Pardue said. “Coach B (Braithwaite) is going to put the best player out there to put us in the best position to win. I wouldn’t trust myself out there more than Ced; I’d rather he be out there making less mental errors.”
That’s where he feels he still has a way to go to catch Webb and Nettles.
“We play at the same tempo, but they think faster,” Pardue said. “I want to get to the point where I think just as fast and can push them to earn a starting spot. That comes with time and preparation, being around Coach B, watching film and getting the extra hours in.”
Davis, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 205 pounds, said he’s just going to be “ready when that time comes.”
“I just try to take everything in and learn from it,” he said. “I just want to keep doing what Coach (Russ) Huesman and all the other coaches say – go out and give it my all. I don’t know when my time will come, and for the time being I’m just going to bust my butt, because it not just makes us better, it makes the entire team better.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.