Despite the excitement surrounding the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s offensive proficiency early in the season, opposing defenses have yet to be sold on the team’s potential for balance on that side of the ball.
Even with quarterback Preston Hutchinson’s hot start helping the Mocs average 200 passing yards per game during a 3-1 start, UTC’s opponents have still made it a priority to stop junior running back Ailym Ford, one of the nation’s top players at that position.
That has led to some struggles in the rushing game, because a young and improving offensive line is being tasked with creating holes against aggressive defenses geared to corral Ford. He’s still had success, rushing for 423 yards and adding 109 receiving with six total touchdowns, but it hasn’t been consistent as those stats are buoyed by an 86-yard run against Wofford in the season opener and a pair of 30-plus-yard runs against Illinois last week.
The team average of 162 rushing yards per game is largely built on Ford’s 78 carries, although Gino Appleberry has 32 carries for 143 yards as part of an offense that may be called on to essentially go win a game this season for the Mocs, who currently aren’t as strong defensively as they have been in recent years.
As they return to Southern Conference play with Saturday’s 3 p.m. visit to East Tennessee State (2-2, 0-2), the Mocs are 1-0 in the conference, ranked 10th nationally by Football Championship Subdivision coaches and 12th in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25. They’ve done nothing to discourage their preseason label as SoCon title favorites, but to reach their postseason goals, the passing game will have to remain a threat and the offensive line will have to continue to improve.
“Everybody looks at film of us and says, ‘Wow, number zero (Ford) is different,” offensive coordinator Joe Pizzo said. “Our offense goes through him and still does. Even though we’ve thrown it more, it still goes through him, and if they don’t stop him, they know they don’t have any chance, so it puts pressure on our young wideouts and Preston, but it is what it is and we’ve got to execute.”
Hutchinson was named Southern Conference offensive player of the week twice in the first three games, when he passed for 752 yards and five scores while rushing for 80 yards and four scores. And then Illinois brought a lot of pressure and forced him into quick decisions, and those young receivers weren’t able to make plays in a 31-0 loss.
He was 6-of-18 passing for just 49 yards, with the completions to three players: senior Tyron Arnett (32 yards on three catches), junior tight end Jay Gibson (10 yards on two catches) and freshman Javin Whatley (7 yards on one catch). Hutchinson also doubled his interception total from the first three games when the Fighting Illini picked him off twice, once on a tipped pass and another when his arm was hit while trying to throw the ball away.
The offensive line, which is still evolving in terms of personnel and returned only two starters from last season, should improve. One of those starters, right tackle and preseason All-SoCon selection Colin Truett, missed most of preseason camp with a lower body injury, and that slowed the cohesiveness of the group. But as different challenges arise, the expectation from UTC coaches is the line will grow, which will provide Ford and other backs room to run and Hutchinson time to find the receivers.
“The way we look at it is the best is yet to come,” Truett said. “You’ve seen bits and pieces of it throughout games and stuff, and from an offensive line standpoint, it’s just one person making a mistake here, one person making a mistake there. I’m just excited to see us pull it together and play as one. It’s going to be really cool to see.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.