Rusty Wright got his answer.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach was understandably concerned with how his team would react in practice this week after a second consecutive loss knocked it out of straightforward – and realistic – contention for the Southern Conference title.
With three games remaining on the schedule for the Mocs (4-5, 3-2) beginning with Saturday’s 3 p.m. EST kickoff at Samford (4-5, 3-3), Wright tested his team early at Scrappy Moore Field and found out what he needed to know.
“We’ve had good practices,” he said. “We changed some things up and let them go against each other more so we can keep up with the speed of what we’ll see Saturday. It’s important at this time of the year with us being beaten and banged up. We started going hard again, and I was impressed with how they came out and attacked it.”
The Mocs have a small class of seniors. Seven of them will start at Samford – quarterback Nick Tiano, lineman Malcolm White and tight end Chris James on offense and linemen Khayyan Edwards and Telvin Jones and linebacker Marshall Cooper on defense as well as punter Colin Brewer – with four listed as top reserves.