The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's first scrimmage of the 2017 football preseason could be summed up in one play, late in the session.
Presented with first-and-goal after a long catch by redshirt freshman Zack Pfeifer, the offense was stopped by the UTC defense on first and second downs. Then on third down, Chris Broadwater was hit while going in for a score, and redshirt freshman safety Jerrell Lawson recovered the ensuing fumble and returned it more than 40 yards.
It was part of a relatively dominating day by the defense at Finley Stadium on Saturday. According to a modified scoring system, the defense won the day 94-69.
Points were awarded defensively for three-and-outs, third-down stops in the red zone and takeaways. The offense scored for success on first and second downs, explosive plays and touchdowns.
"We wanted to give a value to every single play," coach Tom Arth said. "It was a pretty intricate scoring system."
The defense led 15-0 by the time the actual scrimmage started, by virtue of stops in a best-of-nine segment of third-and-intermediate yardage and winning the best-of-three series of two-minute situational drives, stopping the offense.
During the scrimmage, C.J. Fritz had an interception to go with Lawson's fumble recovery. The defensive line was intimidating, as it has been all preseason, with Derek Mahaffey, freshman Devonnsha Maxwell and D.J. Prather getting sacks while Isaiah Mack also had a tackle for loss.
The offense scored on a long catch-and-run by junior Bingo Morton and a long completion from Alejandro Bennifield to Joseph Hughes on the last play of the scrimmage.
"We should be proud of what we did but also have an understanding that it's still not good enough," defensive coordinator Tom Kaufman said. "Our tackling isn't where it needs to be, and we still have to build depth, but it was still a great effort. There were a lot of really good things and we're moving in the right direction, but I don't want anybody walking off the field thinking that was a great day, 'cause it's not.
"We can be a lot better."
So certainly can the offense, which suffered from missed assignments and "too many mistakes," according to Arth. There were some good plays, like a nice catch-and-run by redshirt freshman tight end Jack Keebler and a long quarterback scramble by true freshman Cole Copeland, but there weren't enough to offset the defense's day.
"We have guys that can make plays, but we definitely have a ways to go," offensive coordinator Justin Rascati said. "We didn't execute and you can get exposed when you go up against a good opponent like our defense. When you don't execute and you do your own thing, you're not going to have success in this offense. When you do, you're going to have a chance to succeed."
Injury report
The Mocs had a number of guys held out of Saturday's scrimmage: senior wide receiver James Stovall, junior Wil Young and true freshman Jordan Ferguson, senior center Alex Hooper, sophomore linebacker Ian Hayes, senior linebacker/defensive back Tavon Lawson and junior defensive back Markell Boston. Arth said most could have gone Saturday "if they had to."
"But there's no sense rushing them back and putting them at risk," he added. "We've been fortunate so far at camp that we've had some minor bumps and bruises, but nothing significant at this point.
"Hopefully we'll continue to practice well with each other and keep people off the ground, so we can limit those opportunities for injuries."
Two true freshmen, kicker Jacob Bailey and offensive lineman Demyan Ross, haven't yet practiced with the team because of injuries.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.