The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team is 0-1 following last week’s 40-7 season-opening loss at Nebraska. Coach Russ Huesman said during today’s Mocs media luncheon that “we’ve got to be 1-1” after Saturday’s home opener against Jacksonville State.
In the latest FCS Coaches’ poll, released today, the Mocs fell two spots to No. 25, while JSU dropped a spot to No. 10 following its 24-23 come-from-behind win last Thursday against UT-Martin.
Saturday’s game will be the first regular-season matchup between ranked teams at Finley Stadium ever. It will also be the first game between ranked teams in Chattanooga since 1984, which the 20th-ranked Mocs upset top-ranked Furman at Chamberlain Field.
Huesman’s said Saturday’s game is “a big game because we’re playing a good football team. It’s going to be really, really hard.”
When asked about quarterback B.J. Coleman, Huesman said he “wouldn’t trade B.J. for anybody.” Not even Nebraska’s Taylor Martinez.
Along with raving about the play of the linebackers against the Huskers, Huesman also said Coleman looked like he belonged out there against an elite defense. He then credited the offensive line, which has three new starters, for playing well and competing hard in difficult circumstances.
The Mocs will have a split practice on the section of artificial turf at Scrappy Moore Field today. The defense will practice first, while the offense meets, and later the offense will practice and the defense will have its meetings.
For more Mocs coverage, see tomorrow’s Times Free Press. You can also follow beat writer John Frierson on Twitter at twitter.com/mocsbeatCTFP.