The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s 2025 football season kicks off on Aug. 30 at Memphis, and beat writer Gene Henley is taking a daily positional look at UTC’s roster.
A day after highlighting the quarterback position we look at running backs:
Who’s gone: Reggie Davis (transferred to Alcorn State; 889 yards, five touchdowns in 2024); Lance Jackson (graduated; 79 yards); Tee Perry (redshirted)
Who’s back: Justus Durant (senior, 5-9, 179; 272 yards, five touchdowns in seven games in 2024); Journey Wyche (sophomore, 5-10, 203; 180 yards, touchdown); Solomon Locke (junior, 5-10, 197; 82 yards); Malachi Jeffries (sophomore, 5-11, 207)
Who’s in: Ryan Ingram (senior. 5-10, 231; transfer from Wofford where he had 675 yards and six touchdowns in 2024); TJ Worthy (freshman, 5-10, 194)
The breakdown: After starting the Rusty Wright era off as a successful rushing team that could beat you with the pass, the UTC ground attack has bogged down in the past couple of seasons. Incapable of finding consistent success there, the Mocs failed to reach 100 yards in six of the team’s 12 games in 2024 and in 2023 averaged less than four yards per carry for the first time in a full season since previous coach Tom Arth’s two seasons as head coach in 2017-18.
Trying to shift from the bigger running backs employed by the Mocs from 2019-23 (Tyrell Price, Ailym Ford, Gino Appleberry) to a different scheme didn’t yield the best results last season, with Davis finishing second in the Southern Conference in rushing yards but eighth in yards per carry for qualified rushers at 4.1 yards per attempt. He got a lot of opportunities but wasn’t always able to find holes, and the wear-and-tear finally got to him in the final game, where he went out with an injury in the first half.
The coaching staff pivoted after Davis left for Alcorn State and scooped up Ingram, who was fourth in the SoCon in rushing last season. Ingram finished his Wofford career as one of six players to rush for at least 2,000 yards and now joins a room that already featured a talented Wyche (who was huge in the later stages of the Mocs’ road win at East Tennessee State) and Durant, the top returning weapon for the Mocs with five touchdowns, which matched Davis in five fewer games. The three bring different things to the table, with Ingram’s 231-pound frame capable of wearing down defenses, Durant’s elusive ability to make plays out of the backfield and Wyche being a little bit of both.
With the bevy of options in the backfield, it’s possible — if not likely — that UTC has an opportunity to regain that backfield success the team experienced from 2019-22.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.