University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Russ Huesman and his staff hit the recruiting trail hard after the 2015 season, attempting to build more depth all over the field but most of all on the defensive line.
What they’ve built will be put to test in the coming weeks.
Already six games into the season, another three games will pass before the Mocs have an off week at the start of November. By then, UTC’s postseason fate may have already been sealed, because only a Southern Conference game against Wofford and the season finale against Alabama will remain.
For the Mocs (6-0, 4-0), who are ranked third in the Football Championship Subdivision coaches’ poll, Saturday’s game at eighth-ranked The Citadel (5-0, 3-0), next week’s home against Virginia Military Institute and an Oct. 29 trip to Western Carolina are crucial.
“I don’t know if anybody at our level has great depth at this time of year,” Huesman said Tuesday. “You just hope you stay healthy, roll people in and keep plugging along. I wish we had a whole bunch of depth, but we don’t. We’ve got enough that we don’t have to play 11 on offense, 11 on defense. We can play other people, but the bottom line is that you need to stay healthy now.”