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Mocs display depth in defeating Bulldogs Mocs rise to occasion, beat Samford 31-21 Huesman, Mocs claim road win at Samford
Frustrated with his team's performances in the first two games, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach Russ Huesman chose the best approach he could think of heading into the Mocs' Southern Conference opener at Samford.
He quit being frustrated.
Practices became looser, players started motivating one another and there was a positive mindset flowing around Scrappy Moore Field last week. It started at the top with Huesman, but it trickled down to the rest of the coaching staff and players.
He said it hasn't been an immediate transition, but he's done a "lot better" at being positive.
"I apologized to the team," Huesman said. "I told them I'd done a really poor job of coaching this football team. I'd been extremely negative; even when I complimented somebody, I said they could have done better. It seemed everything that came out of my mouth was negative, so when I went to bed Monday night, I thought, 'I'm a negative human being. I've got to change."
The most positive results came Saturday, with the Mocs' 31-21 victory over the Bulldogs in a game some expected the 10th-ranked Mocs would lose. But UTC was relaxed, and with the opportunity to just play, the Mocs put together their best, most complete performance this season.
The offense had more than 400 yards for the second consecutive game. The defense - much-maligned (including by Huesman) last week - forced two turnovers, had six sacks and harassed Samford quarterback Michael Eubank all game long.
The Bulldogs, who enteered averaging 51.5 points and 644 yards per game, were limited to less than half of their averages. They had negative-2 yards in the second quarter, when the Mocs outscored the Bulldogs 17-0 and took control of the game.
It was a completely different feeling for the Mocs, who weren't used to the "new and improved" Huesman.
"He said he was going to try this new positive turnaround," linebacker Nakevion Leslie said. "It was shocking for us, because he was smiling and laughing a lot with us, so it was a pretty good change and it felt a lot better around. Seeing the head coach smile and not really yelling all the time, it changes a little bit because he cares and he's relaxed, and he's not really stressed out about the game."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/genehenleytfp.