Blue team quarterback Alejandro Bennifield looks for an open receiver during the UTC spring football game at Finley Stadium on Saturday, April 23, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn.In an era when many college quarterbacks transfer from school to school in search of immediate playing time, Alejandro Bennifield remained patient.
He stayed at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and for three seasons learned behind All-American Jacob Huesman, who took a mechanical pencil with a lot of lead and a massive eraser to the UTC record books, entrenching his name at or near the top of every mark for rushing, passing, scoring and total offense.
Now, with UTC holding a No. 6 national ranking in NCAA Division I’s Football Championship Subdivision and the backing of the team and the coaching staff, it’s Bennifield’s time. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound redshirt junior will lead the offense when the Mocs host Division II member Shorter University at 7 tonight at Finley Stadium in the season opener for both teams.
Bennifield said he’s had no problem being patient, especially because it gave him time to do something else he enjoys.
Learn.
“I can’t say I ever became frustrated, because I know when it’s my time, the Lord will put me there,” Bennifield said. “I feel like I’ve been ready since I came my freshman year, just ready to step in at any moment, just waiting for my time.
“I’ve been working hard since then.”
He wasted no time placing himself among the leaders of the team after the end of last season, Huesman’s senior year. Bennifield assumed control, became more vocal and worked to lead the Mocs in tangible ways.
A sign of said leadership came after this preseason’s second scrimmage. The team was running sprints, with UTC coach Russ Huesman calling out the numbers of players who were done.
It came down to just a few players left: Bennifield, running back Derrick Craine and receiver C.J. Board. Huesman then called Bennifield’s number, meaning he was free to go, yet the quarterback chose to stay on the field and finish running until Craine and Board were done.
“I like to see that,” Huesman noted afterward.
The new quarterback – who calls his mother, Jennifer Bennifield, his biggest inspiration – has had to be patient before. As a two-star prospect at Lovejoy High School, the same Atlanta-area school UTC senior basketball player Justin Tuoyo attended, Bennifield passed for 4,376 yards and 50 touchdowns his final two years, including a junior season in which he led his team to the Class AAAA title game.
Yet scholarship offers didn’t come, and at that point he became “kind of frustrated.” That changed when the first offer came.
It was from UTC.
“As a quarterback, it’s hard to get offers if you’re not getting the big-time SEC offers,” he said. “They aren’t just pouring in left and right, but I stayed patient, just kept working hard like I am now and doing what I had to do to be great.
“Now my time has come.”
Mocs linebacker T.J. Jenkins, Bennifield’s roommate throughout their time at UTC, said the two have talked extensively about waiting for their moment. Jenkins backs up third-team preseason All-American Nakevion Leslie at middle linebacker, who’s a senior, so he knows about patience just as much as Bennifield.
“We’ve always talked about being ‘the guys’ on the field,” Jenkins said. “We’ve always tried to be positive, because we liked the people we were behind, so we tried to learn from them. Dro always said good things about Jacob, how he learned from him. If Jacob ever had a bad game, he always took up for him and tried to be positive about the situation and tried to learn from it.”
Bennifield doesn’t speak loudly, but he has a quiet confidence about him. And when he speaks, it’s to the point – very detailed, very specific, very precise. That’s similar to his throws, which will start to pierce the air this evening.
He’s not Jacob Huesman, but that’s OK. He’s similar in that he has the full confidence and respect of the team, yet different in how he goes about business.
Huesman was more of a runner, with 788 career rushes and 1,104 passes, but when he scrambled out of the pocket to run, Bennifield is more likely to still have his eyes downfield, looking to throw.
“Dro has a lot of confidence in himself,” Coach Huesman said. “He’s a confident kid with a lot of ability. His demeanor has been fantastic, his poise.
“Now we’re going to open up at 7 on Thursday night, a real game. It’s his job, he’s the first guy to take snaps, so he’s got to get through that, but as far as talent and ability-wise, he’s got everything you’re looking for to run this offense. Nothing really rattles him. He looks like he’s under control in the pocket.”
Described as a “cool customer,” Bennifield is relaxed off the field as well. The team has rallied around him and his talent, and with eight starters returning on offense and playmakers all around him, he said he’s ready to play.
Before he races out onto Davenport Field tonight, he’ll kneel down, say a prayer, then attempt to lead his teammates to their first season-opening win since 2009.
“I’m excited for him,” Jenkins said. “I can’t wait to see him get out there and do his thing, because I know he’s a winner. That’s something I can see in him.
“He’s been waiting his time, and he can’t wait for this moment, so I’m happy for him.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.