by B.B. Branton
posted September 29, 2009
The calls and text messages from well wishers starting coming in late Saturday night and continued through Sunday afternoon and beyond.
Those ''distractions'' for a college football go with the territory especially when the territory, now 3-1, has not been 3-1 in a dozen years.
Tennessee at Chattanooga first year head coach Russ Huesman was appreciative of the attention for his football team after the UTC Mocs posted a Homecoming upset Saturday night of No. 17 Wofford, 38-9, at Finely Stadium.
“I received several e-mails, calls and text messages congratulating me and the team on the win,'' said coach Huesman.
Among those texting were former Mocs football coach Buddy Nix and current UTC men's golf coach Mark Guhne.
UTC women's basketball coach Wes Moore stopped by Huesman's office early Sunday afternoon with a few good words.
“You are king of the world,'' said a smiling Moore as he left the office.
Huesman responded by saying, ''We'll I don't know about that. We as coaches will need to bring the players back down to earth real quick as we have work to do.''
The work Huesman was referring to is preparing for the Mocs first Southern Conference road game at Samford on Oct. 10.
“It is nice to have an open date this Saturday so our coaches can get out and recruit some high school kids, our guys can rest just a little and we can get to work on Wednesday.'' Huesman stated.
The Mocs will be off today, lift weights and run on Tuesday and practice Wednesday through Friday at Scrappy Moore Field and off again on Saturday.
“We will also practice next Sunday afternoon and then go through our regular weekly schedule as we prepare for Samford,'' he stated.
Wofford Recap
B.J Coleman threw for 176 yards and four touchdowns as the Mocs improved to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the Southern Conference. J.D. Dothard returned a fumble for a touchdown.
This was the first conference win since a 39-21 triumph against Western Carolina at home in 2007 and the first win against Wofford (25-13) since 2005.
Mocs Are 3-1: The last time UTC was 3-1 was after a 20-17 Homecoming win against Wofford in 1997 in the final game played at Chamberlain Field.
Best Starts Among First Year Coaches:
7-0-0: Harold Wilkes' first team in 1968 opened with seven straight wins and were 9-1 losing only to Ole Miss.
4-0-0: Hall of Fame coach Scrappy Moore started 4-0 in his first season of 1931 before losing to Sewanee, 6-0.
4-0-1: John Spiegel's 1915 team and Bill McAllester's squad in 1922 started 4-0-1 before losing the sixth game.
4-1-0: Hall of Fame coach Frank Thomas in 1925 and Mike Belenti in 1914 both started 4-1.
3-1-0: Bill Oliver's 1980 team and Buddy Nix's 1984 squad both opened 3-1.
3-1: Russ Huesman's 2009 team is 3-1 ... best start since 1997.
Turnover Margin: UTC leads the SoCon with a +4 ... The Mocs have gained eight turnovers and given up four.
“This is why we are 3-1,'' said coach Huesman referring to the positive stat. “We have to be in the plus column in turnovers.''
UTC-Wofford Game Evaluation
Offensive Line
O-Line gave B.J. Coleman good protection, except for back-to-back sacks.
Coach Huesman:
“They did a nice job … did well and gave B.J. a lot of time to find his receivers … we are not great, but getting better.
O-Line Coach Russ Ehrenfeld:
“I thought the guys played hard. We must continue to improve our technique and fundamentals.''
Running Backs:
Bryan Fitzgerald and Chris Awuah combined for 147 yards.
Coach Huesman:
“They did a really good job ... The backs got yards when we needed them … Awuah is good at making folks miss.''
Running Backs Coach Jason McManus:
“I thought the running backs ran really hard and played well … Bryan continues to play physical and runs hard … Chris did an excellent job of making plays in space and is a great change up to Fitz … I am really pleased with both of their performances … Bo Dyer came in the game late and ran really hard (35 yards on 5 carries).
Fitz leads the SoCon in yards per game (109.3).
“The fullbacks need to get better and I am going to open up the FB competition during the open week.''
Quarterback
B.J. Coleman was 23 of 30 for 176 yards and four touchdowns. He is second in the SoCon in passing efficiency (145.9) and 22nd in the nation and third in total offense (214.2 yds.).
Coach Huesman:
B.J.'s completion percentage (76.7%) was great … He took care of the ball and didn't have any interceptions.''
Receivers:
Eight players caught at least one ball, while Chris Pitchford led the way with eight catches for 55 yards and one touchdown. Clint Woods had five receptions for 50 yards and one TD, while Blue Cooper had four catches for 20 yards and two TDs.
Coach Huesman:
“Heck of a game by the receivers … They had good yardage after the catch.''
Defensive Line:
Josh Beard, B.J. Taylor and Nick Craig each had four tackles.
Coach Huesman:
They played much better than in the first three games ... They really chased the ball.''
Defensive Coodinator Adam Fuller:
''Joshua Beard and B.J. Taylor played their best game.''
Linebackers:
Ryan Consiglio led the Mocs with nine tackles, Joe Thornton had five tackles and Doug Faatilgia had four
Coach Huesman:
“Really good job for the second straight week ... Joe did not have a great stats day, but he played really well.''
Coach Fuller:
Joe Thornton was not overwhelmingly productive on the stat sheet, however
he was invaluable in our success Saturday night ... Ryan Consiglio was very productive.''
Defensive Backs
Interceptions by Buster Skrine (3 tackles) and Jordan Tippit (3 tackles) and a fumble return for a touchdown by J.D. Dothard (4 tackles).
Coach Huesman:
“Pretty good, but not great … got to keep getting better … a solid effort.''
Kicking Game
Craig Camay was 5-5 in PATs and 1-1 in FGs.
Mike Hammons had three kicks for 40.7 average, with one touchback and one downed inside the 20.
Coach Huesman:
“Brock Oliver was perfect on all his snaps ... cover teams were good … kicking game was really good.''
Coaches
Coach Huesman:
“They all did a great job … great game plan on both sides of the ball ... coaches had kids ready to play at every position.''
Contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net
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