The 12th-ranked University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team gets its season started Saturday with a home game against Wofford, kicking off at 6 p.m. at Finley Stadium. With expectations high, the Times Free Press will break down the offensive talent heading into the season.
QUARTERBACK
UTC head coach Rusty Wright mentioned in a Monday radio appearance that the public would not know who the starting quarterback was until the first offensive snap Saturday, but that both Cole Copeland and Preston Hutchinson — the two senior candidates — already know. As recently as Tuesday, both were taking reps with the first-team offense, and each has done enough to make themselves a viable option at the position. Copeland has a career 8-7 record as a starter at UTC — 6-3 last year — with a pair of wins over top-25 competition in his career, while Hutchinson’s most successful season came in 2020 while at Eastern Michigan, when he had over 1,800 yards of total offense and 20 combined touchdowns.
RUNNING BACK
At this moment, the most known weapon offensively is Ailym Ford, who has over 2,000 yards and 20 career touchdowns on the ground during his career, with 1,000-yard campaigns each full season (2019 and 2021). Behind him are some questions because Tyrell Price’s production (2,271 combined rushing and receiving yards, 24 touchdowns) may not be able to be replaced by just one player. Gino Appleberry has shown production while in Chattanooga, while Lance Jackson had over 100 yards and two touchdowns in his one and only game (2021 spring against Mercer). The team also just got back Reggie Davis, a 2021 signee who hadn’t been with the team through fall camp. He showed some promise in limited action during his redshirt season, breaking off a 30-yard run against Wofford on Nov. 6.