The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team brought back the majority of its front seven from last year’s defense that ranked No. 1 in the Southern Conference. With little experience returning in the secondary, though, growing pains were expected for the Mocs on that side of the ball early this season.
Four games into the schedule, the statistics show that’s been the case — although the scoreboard and win-loss record show the Mocs have succeeded defensively and overall despite the gap in experience.
UTC is 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the SoCon as it enters a stretch of seven league games to finish the regular season, starting Saturday at East Tennessee State University (2-2, 0-2), where kickoff has been moved up 4 1/2 hours to 3 p.m. in Johnson City due to the expectation of inclement weather from Hurricane Ian. The Mocs are also ranked 10th nationally by Football Championship Subdivision coaches and 12th in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, with their lone loss to a Football Bowl Subdivision program.
Opponents have struggled to run the ball, averaging just 100.3 rushing yards per game and 2.9 per carry, and UTC’s average of 16.3 points allowed per game is the SoCon’s second-best rate behind ETSU’s 14.3.
But a secondary that returned only one starter, senior CaMiron Smith, has had its fair share of struggles. The Mocs have allowed 225.3 passing yards per game and have given up seven touchdowns, with Wofford, Eastern Illinois, North Alabama and Illinois completing 12 passes of 20 yards or more. In the most recent game, the 31-0 loss at Illinois on Sept. 22, the Big Ten program completed five such passes, with a sixth waved off due to penalty.
Have the secondary issues been frustrating to some? Sure. But is it a concern? Not yet, as both head coach Rusty Wright and defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said earlier this week that this was to expected.
“We have to do some things schematically to help them a little bit, but I don’t have an issue with those guys,” Wright said. “I think that’s about where we thought we would be, with people having a hard time running the football. We’re seeing some things differently protection-wise than we’ve seen in the past because of what we’ve got up front, and we’ve got to help those guys out up front, bring some more people up and do that. But I’m happy with those guys, they’re playing hard and they never quit playing Thursday. They went out there and played like they were supposed to play.
“The back end has got to be better with some eyes and some things and stuff like that, but I think we’re moving in the right direction. It’s just a matter of guys being comfortable and playing and doing those things the right way.”
There have been bright spots for the defensive backs. Sophomore Reuben Lowery is second in the SoCon in tackles for loss with 5.5 (behind UTC edge rusher Jay Person’s six) and had a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown in the opening win over Wofford, while safety Josh Battle and cornerback Kam Brown have one pick apiece.
Ward noted the only way for the group to truly improve is by game repetitions. Scout team offenses can give looks in practice, but the simulation of in-game action and the required adjustments will never be the same as the real thing.
“We’ve just got to keep playing,” Smith said. “I think that we’ve got a good group of guys, disciplined guys. At the same time, we knew going into the season that we’d lost a lot of experience, and we’re still learning and trying to jel with each other.”
Ty Boeck, the senior linebacker and team captain in the middle of it all, sees an upside to the struggles for a defense with such a disparity in experience from the first two levels to the back end.
“The biggest thing is it really kind of jels us together as a defense, having those guys make those mistakes,” Boeck said. “The more mistakes you make, the more you can learn. You’re going to make mistakes every day, because if you continue doing that, the less mistakes you make going forward. It’s going to help those guys be able to be more confident in their play and be more confident when they’re communicating, and all that stuff is huge going forward.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.