This is all you need to know about the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s spring football game Saturday afternoon at Finley Stadium:
Dayton resident Larry Owlings, grandfather of UTC starting center Jacob Revis, said afterward, “I thought the defense looked good.”
When a relative of the offensive team says the defense carried the day, well, you begin to understand how the Blues and Whites fought to a 7-7 tie.
Not that Mocs coach Russ Huesman was completely upset about the score or the two interceptions that starting quarterback Alejandro Bennifield threw early on before tossing a 42-yard touchdown pass to Kota Nix. Defense is Huesman’s thing. He’d far rather win a real game 7-0 than 37-30. Defense is reliable. Constant. Unaltered by bad weather or bad luck.
As the eighth-year UTC coach noted afterward, in the Finley end zone nearest First Tennessee Pavilion filled with autograph seekers and “good work” greeters: “I wasn’t thrilled with the interceptions, but it wasn’t fair. We had the Blues (Bennifield’s offense) throw the ball every snap. We didn’t do anything to keep the defense honest. And we actually have a pretty good defense. We’ve got six or seven of the best defensive players in the league.”