Noah Ramsey had questions and concerns about how quickly he would be able to fit in with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team after transferring this past summer.
The answer wound up being pretty quickly.
The Mocs’ starting center – a former Southeast Whitfield High School standout – has made a smooth transition to UTC after two seasons at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, a Football Bowl Subdivision program. The 6-foot-2, 295-pound Ramsey is leading an offensive line that, although it has struggled the past two weeks, has shown glimpses of being a well-jelled unit this year.
Ramsey replaced the graduated Josh Cardiello, a three-year starter for UTC who transferred from Georgia.
“He’s done a good job of coming in and learning the offense,” offensive coordinator Justin Rascati said. “He’s a good player, a great kid, a great teammate, and we enjoy having him here. I think his best football is ahead of him, and he’s getting better every week.
“I’m excited about where he’s headed.”
Junior quarterback Nick Tiano didn’t get much time to build a bond with Ramsey this summer due to being in different weightlifting groups and having conflicting class schedules. The former Baylor School quarterback doesn’t even get much time to hang with him outside of practice because Ramsey has study hall on Wednesday nights, which is when the offensive linemen and quarterback go out to eat together.
But Ramsey has been the No. 1 center since the first day of preseason camp and Tiano the No. 1 quarterback, so they’ve had practices and games to build that comfort with each other, with not a botched snap between them through six games.
“The level of competition here is very similar if not better than what I was used to at my old school,” Ramsey said. “The transition part of it was getting used to going against odd fronts; we didn’t go against many last year. I had to learn the plays, know the calls, but the most challenging thing was going against this level of competition.”
In consecutive weeks, the have gone against the top three defenses in the Southern Conference this season in terms of yards allowed (Samford, East Tennessee State and Wofford), as well as the top three rushing defenses. The offensive line has struggled, with UTC totaling just 156 rushing yards and Tiano being sacked six times during that span.
A UTC offense that averaged 6.9 yards per play in its first four games this season has been limited to 3.9 in its past two.
The Mocs (4-2, 2-2) visit Western Carolina (3-2, 1-2) on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff with both teams coming off back-to-back losses in SoCon play.
Ramsey said UTC offensive linemen have a “pretty good grasp of what they need to do this week” to be successful against the Catamounts, who are second in the league in sacks and fourth in rushing defense but last in the league in passing yards allowed.
“We’ve got a chip on our shoulder because of the last two games,” Ramsey said. “The offensive line wants to go out and prove what we can do.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.