UTC quarterback Jacob Huesman, center, rushes between defenders Sema’je Kendall, left, and Beau Simmons while running an option during the Mocs’ spring football scrimmage Friday at Finley Stadium.The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team got to work on two game situations for the first time this spring – one scripted by coaches, the other completely out of their control.
As the Mocs moved past the midway point of their scheduled 15 spring practices, and one day after their first live scrimmage, they began working on their two-minute offense near the end of Saturday morning’s workout. And with a steady downpour pelting the Scrappy Moore field throughout, every portion of the hour-and-a-half practice began an impromptu wet-ball drill.
“As much as you would like for it to be sunny every day, this has got to happen,” UTC quarterback Jacob Huesman said. “You know, what happens when we go somewhere and it’s raining on game day? We don’t want to have never seen that situation before, so it’s good to have a day like this sometimes.
“The ball slipped a few times and it was tough, but for the most part it’s just getting used to it and trying not to let the rain affect us too much.”
Assistants instructed the quarterbacks to take a bit of steam off their short throws and keep the ball low to avoid deflections of a slippery ball, while runners and pursuing defenders were reminded to use shorter, choppier steps for better traction on the wet field. But head coach Russ Huesman, a perfectionist who’d rather practice one more drill than eat when he’s hungry, wasn’t buying into much of the benefits of dreary conditions.