The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team took part Thursday morning in its first scrimmage of preseason camp at Scrappy Moore Field, getting in 94 plays on the new turf at the Murphy-Haugerud Football Practice Complex.
The defense looked to have the upper hand for most of the day, forcing three-and-outs on nine drives. The No. 1 defense had five of those stops, including three on the first four possessions. First-year head coach Rusty Wright wasn't satisfied with the overall performance.
"I don't know if anybody had an edge," Wright said. "Thank goodness we don't play for three weeks. We have a long way to go in a short time, but I would not consider anybody having an edge.
"We didn't do anything special offensively, and we dropped passes and didn't hit our holes. Defensively, they did some good things, but we put them into some adverse situations late and they didn't respond."
The No. 1 defense kept a zero on the scoreboard until late in the practice when the offense started with a short field on the 25-yard line. Senior running back Tyrell Price capped off a four-play drive with an 11-yard touchdown run.
"We have a lot of new players and new guys coming in just trying to get the feel of how we do things," stated junior defensive back Brandon Dowdell. "Part of coming together as a team, you have to face challenges. In a situation like that, we have to make a stop."
The No. 2 offense scored first in the scrimmage when sophomore running back Jeffrey Wood punched it in from a yard out. That capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive that featured big gains on a 41-yard pass from junior Drayton Arnold to sophomore Jack Keebler.
Arnold scrambled on a busted play and lofted the ball over the defense to the tight end, who got down to the 29-yard line. Three plays later, Arnold passed to freshman Andrew Manning for an 18-yard strike to the 1.
The third group scored on a five-play, 40-yard drive that included freshman quarterback Gio Richardson converting a fourth down with a scramble. He later found junior Reginald Henderson for an eight-yard touchdown pass.
Defensively, senior Aaron Floyd had three pass break-ups and an interception, playing in all three groups. He picked off a Nick Tiano pass with the No. 1 defense. Freshman transfer Jay Person had two sacks, one with the ones and another with the twos. Junior Jordan Jones had two break-ups with the ones, while senior Cameron Turner added two with the twos.
On special teams, the Mocs were 3-for-3 on PATs and junior Victor Ulmo made a 25-yard field goal. Freshman Thomas Burks just missed left on a 52-yard try.
"There are going to be nights we have to go out there and score points, there are going to be nights we have to go out there and stop some folks, and there are going to be nights we have to go out there and win it in the kicking game," Wright said. "That is just how we have to play football. We are not good enough on either side just to go play and dominate somebody.
"There is nothing we are doing that can't be fixed. We have to keep fighting through some things, and the guys have to keep buying in. We are behind: Understand that for 15 spring practices 30 of these guys were not here. We have time to get it done; we just have to keep working at it every day."