Limited on line

Injuries taking toll on UTC defensive front

For a while during the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team's practice Wednesday morning, it looked like Chris Donald was going to be the last defensive lineman standing.

The Mocs came into the preseason thin at that position, and the situation is approaching critical as players have gone down and missed all or part of recent practices.

"It's pretty ridiculous right now," Mocs coach Russ Huesman said. "It's pretty ridiculous we got this many guys out. I've never seen it like this."

Defensive tackle Nick Craig began camp with plantar fasciitis, a foot injury "painful enough that I had to pull myself the first practice," he said. He hasn't practiced since, but did do some individual work Wednesday and hopes to do even more during today's two-a-day.

While Donald kept on going at defensive end, and continues to have a very strong preseason, the rest of the line quartet seemed to change with every play. Tackle Nick Davison (illness) has been out the past two days, tackle La'Nard Carr (ankle) has been in and out and ends Josh Williams (groin) and Jaron Norfleet (head) sat out most of Wednesday's practice.

"You just got to go with the guys you've got healthy and coach the ones that are out there," defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey said. "It's frustrating, but it's part of the game."

Filling in for the injured players have been a mix of freshmen and walkons. End Keyon Reed and tackle Devin Scates, both freshmen, have been getting extra reps because of the situation. Huesman said Reed and Scates are two of the freshmen that could play this season.

Sloppy early

The UTC offense seldom got off to a fast start last season, and the trend has continued through eight practices this preseason.

Early in Wednesday's practice, the offense had a 10-minute stretch in which there were six fumbles and an interception - and center Justin Galyon was pulled out of the line for a while after getting in a scuffle.

Of the fumbles, offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said, it was like the running backs "had money on practice - either that or they wanted me to die."

The offense has typically been at its best at the end of practices, but that doesn't make up for the slow starts, Satterfield said.

"We come back freaking firing on all cylinders and I'm proud of them for that," he said, "but there's going to be games, like against App State, where if we give them 21 points, we ain't coming back.

"We got to work on starting fast and executing under duress."

Extra points

Running back Bryan Fitzgerald participated in individual drills and ran the ball a few times before having to leave the field due to an apparent heat-related illness. He sat in the back of the air-conditioned ambulance for about 30 minutes and did not return. ... The Mocs will practice twice today before scrimmaging for the first time Friday at Finley Stadium.

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