The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s 2025 football season is a little more than six weeks away, with the new-look Mocs set to kick off on Aug. 30 against Memphis at Simmons Bank Stadium.
UTC went 7-5 overall and 5-3 in Southern Conference play in 2024, falling just shy of advancing to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs in consecutive seasons. Consistency has been the standard under head coach Rusty Wright, but that will be tested this season with 48 players on the 2024 roster no longer with the program due to either graduation, transfer or just stepping away from the sport altogether.
Here are six returning players (listed alphabetically) who will be key to the program’s success this season.
Justus Durant: When Durant arrived as a transfer from Division II Shorter in the spring of 2024, there was an excitement about his potential due to his explosiveness with the ball in his hands. But the 5-foot-9, 179-pound running back could not stay healthy, which limited some of that. Still, in seven games Durant had 272 rushing yards and scored five times, both of which lead all returning UTC players, and if he can stay off the injury report he’ll provide a different element in a room that features Wofford transfer Ryan Ingram and talented sophomore Journey Wyche.
Marquise Freeman: In a sign of the times, Freeman — who started his career at Washington State — is one of eight players entering his fourth season in the program. The 6-3, 216-pounder has had some solid moments in his time, the best being a 47-yard interception he returned for a touchdown against Furman last season, and will play a key role in a unit that lost three guys to the Football Bowl Subdivision after last season.