Tavon Lawson and the rest of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team is starting to sense it. The UTC coaching staff has ramped up the intensity of practices as the season opener - which is nine days away - draws near.
Coaches have shown an increased sense of urgency at the past few practices, which has immediately bled down to the players as the No. 8 Mocs start preparations for No. 7 Jacksonville State on Sept. 5. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. at Finley Stadium.
"I do like the effort at practice," UTC coach Russ Huesman said after Tuesday's practice. "The guys come and practice hard all of the time, but if we want to be great - truly great - there has to be some attention to detail and a sense of urgency, which is doing the little things right. That's where we've got to take another step.
"We've taken steps the last couple of years, and we've got to continue taking steps."
Every little detail is being worked on. Stopwatches have been brought out to see how quickly quarterbacks are getting rid of the ball. Coaches are harping on minor details such as placement before the snap on punts to ensure those things aren't a problem when games start.
Lawson, a sophomore defensive back, says the change of "coaches cracking down" is "good for us."
"We're not in camp anymore," Lawson said. "We're not working on ourselves, we're actually working on an opponent now. It feels good to shift your mindset going into game week. The camp focus is on beating your offense, but now you're locked into perfecting your craft to stop another person you don't know about.
"Coaches are getting on our backs and pushing you to go harder, pushing us past our limits - which takes us that extra yard, makes us take that right step - and putting us in the right position to go harder."
Lawson was a key contributor last season, earning Southern Conference all-freshman honors after totaling 34 tackles - 2.5 for loss - while playing in all 14 games, with a pair of starts at dimeback. He worked at safety and dimeback during preseason camp but now has settled into dimeback again.
"I feel more comfortable," he said. "I'm picking up more on defense, seeing little things and perfecting my craft. There's a lot of competition in the defensive backfield - a lot of All-Americans and all-conference players, so you have to bring your 'A' game every day, because that guy behind you could be the person that takes your spot the next day.
"You can't let that person go harder than you. You've got to go hard every day."
Mocs show starts tonight
UTC fans will get their opportunity to "Chat with the Mocs" starting tonight. The event, which is held at Jefferson's at 618 Georgia Ave., is a show hosted by "Voice of the Mocs" Jim Reynolds and allows coaches and student-athletes from UTC to interact with fans in attendance.
The weekly show, which starts at 7, will cover football before transititioning to UTC basketball and wrestling in the winter. It will be broadcast on 96.1 FM, which airs all UTC football and basketball games.
Jefferson's will offer food and drink specials during the show.
Lunch with Huesman
The Mocs Club will host its first coaches luncheon of the year Friday at Spring Hill Suites, where Russ Huesman will be the speaker.
Admission is $15. Tickets are available at GoMocs.com and the UTC ticket office or by calling 423-266-MOCS (6627).
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/genehenleytfp.