During the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s football practices this preseason, free safety Chris Lewis-Harris has been in three places. None of them is where he’d like to be.
Lewis-Harris still is working his way back from foot surgery this summer to correct a stress fracture. He said the earliest he will be cleared to practice is Aug. 25, so until then his time at practice consists of doing some kind of conditioning or rehab work, sitting with an ice bag on his foot or on the field intently watching practice.
The junior, a two-year starter at cornerback before moving to safety in the spring, said he’s doing everything he can mentally to prepare for the Sept. 4 opener against Appalachian State.
“I’ve been getting mental reps in as much as I can and watching film and practice as much as possible,” he said following Monday’s practice. “Once I get out there in pads it shouldn’t be that hard (to get up to speed).”
While Lewis-Harris is doing the mental reps, redshirt freshman D.J. Key is getting the actual reps at free safety. Key said it has been a challenging preseason working with the starters, one that has accelerated the learning process.
“I’m learning a lot more and getting a better idea of the defense and what the coaches want me to do,” he said.
Mocs coach Russ Huesman, who also coaches the safeties, his old position, said Key’s preseason has been a mix of “good plays and bad plays,” as for most freshmen.
“He’s going to be a good player; he’s tough, he plays hard – I think he’s going to be real good,” Huesman said. “But until he gets more consistent … I don’t want to say you have to be perfect in the secondary, but you have to be close to perfect.”
Offense dominates
The offense dominated the scrimmage sections of practice Monday, hitting on all cylinders.
“They took it to us early and then they stepped on us, and that’s good,” Huesman said.
Near the end, after Huesman and defensive coordinator Adam Fuller blew their tops, the defense picked it up and did well in a goal-line situation.
Wide receiver Marlon Anthony, the 6-foot-5 (at least) redshirt freshman, had a very good practice for the second day in a row. Anthony had struggled a bit in the first week or so of camp but made numerous good catches the past two days.
“At the beginning of camp I was a little rusty, dropping balls,” Anthony said. “It’s definitely getting to that point where I need to go out there and make some plays, be a playmaker out there. And not just me, all the receivers.”
Extra points
UTC was among the teams receiving votes in the Sports Network’s preseason Top 25, released Monday. UTC had 17 points, which equated to No. 53. Appalachian State is No. 3, Elon is No. 7 and Wofford, Furman, Samford and Georgia Southern all received more votes. … The Mocs will have their final two-a-day of the preseason today, with practices at 7:45 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.