To compete with third-ranked Appalachian State on Sept. 4 and improve on last season’s 6-5 record, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team must be able to run the ball.
That’s something the Mocs couldn’t do in 2009.
“Whether we run the ball more, I don’t know, but we’ve got to run the ball better, for sure,” coach Russ Huesman said. “We’ve got to have the ability to run on third-and-1 and not throw it out to Blue Cooper. We have to have the ability to do that.”
In seven of 11 games last season, UTC was held to fewer than 80 yards on the ground. One of those (48 yards) was against eventual bowl subdivision national champion Alabama, but the Mocs rushed for 74 yards against Division II Glenville State.
A lot of short-yardage plays that would have been runs last season were instead short passes from quarterback B.J. Coleman to Cooper, who had 84 receptions in his final season.