The message from Rusty Wright to his University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team after Thursday night's intrasquad scrimmage at Finley Stadium was short and to the point: With two weeks until the opener against Eastern Illinois, the Mocs aren't ready for prime time.
"We've got a long way to go," the first-year head coach said after a two-hour session that featured mostly situational football. "I was a bad football coach today. It's not on them, it's on me. They were not ready to come over here and do anything today.
"There was no juice, no life. It took us a while to get going and we just did stupid things, things we haven't been doing in practice. We can't kick it, can't throw it, can't catch it, can't run it and can't tackle half of the time. I don't know if it's (because it's) 15, 16 days into camp or it was too long a day I don't know. We've got to find a way to straighten it out before we can even think about winning a football game."
The No. 1 offense struggled to move against the No. 1 defense most of the night. Sophomore lineman Devonnsha Maxwell had a couple of early tackles for loss, and defensive backs Cameron Turner and CaMiron Smith broke up passes in the first set of plays.
Smith later intercepted a Nick Tiano pass, as did junior Jordan Jones when the ball went off a receiver's hands. The play was one of several in which UTC receivers either didn't win 1-on-1 battles or dropped good throws.
The first-string offense scored on two of three possessions starting at the opposing 25-yard line, on a 41-yard field goal by Victor Ulmo and Tiano's 8-yard pass to leading returning receiver Bryce Nunnelly. A junior who was selected to the preseason All-Southern Conference team, Nunnelly believes Thursday's showing wasn't indicative of what the offense is capable of doing.
"We came out a little flat and, obviously, we didn't play very well," the Walker Valley graduate said. "I don't think our mindset is where we need to be. We've seen things click a few times over the last week. I felt that way yesterday - and we put three days of good offense together - but today we seemed to take a step back. It's frustrating, but I feel we will get where we need to be."
The second-string offense, directed by quarterback Drayton Arnold, had a little more success, though only in spurts. The biggest early play even had a negative when, after Arnold hit transfer receiver Tyrin Summers on a deep pass, Summers went down holding his leg. He did not return after apparently reinjuring a hamstring.
Another transfer, running back Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks, had a pair of nice carries on one scoring drive, capping it with a 5-yard touchdown, and transfer receiver Kanore McKinnon just missed a touchdown when he was ruled out of bounds after a leaping catch.
Otherwise, the defenses dominated the day, showcasing coordinator Lorenzo Ward's aggressive style with a myriad of blitz packages. Sophomore Ty Boeck from Soddy-Daisy had three of the defense's 10 tackles for loss.
"Defensively, we came out with some turnovers and attacked the offense," junior safety Brandon Dowdell said. "We started with several three-and-outs and a couple of turnovers.
"These coaches have us preparing very hard. We are getting better every day, and we're putting in the work. It's a fun journey right now, and we're going to get where we need to go."
The Mocs host Eastern Illinois for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Aug. 29. That will be followed by trips to Jacksonville State - which is ranked No. 6 in the STATS FCS preseason poll - on Sept. 7 and Tennessee on Sept. 14 before a home game against second-ranked James Madison on Sept. 21 and a SoCon opener against Western Carolina on Sept. 28 for homecoming.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.