Mocs football practice report No. 5

Sunday, August 4, 2013

The string of quality practices to start the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team's preseason was bound to come to an end. It did this morning at Scrappy Moore Field, where the Mocs had their fifth preseason practice and first in full pads.

There were missed assignments, turnovers, poor hustle going on and off the field and more - just about everything that would drive Mocs coach Russ Huesman a little nuts. Huesman actually stopped the 28th and final period short after a fumbled handoff, and then ripped into his squad for the lack of effort and mistakes.

Here are some odds and ends from practice:

Top play: Amid the mistakes there were some good moments. Among them was cornerback Chaz Moore getting into the backfield and wrapping up running back Keon Williams. It was a no-tackle situation, but the collision was clearly heard 30 yards away.

Top players: Defensive end Davis Tull (groin) got to run around some and make his presence known. Defensive tackle Josh Freeman also made his share of plays inside. Wideout C.J. Board had a quality catch and run on a route across the middle that would have gone for big yardage. Terrell Robinson did well at wideout and also got in some snaps at quarterback, looking good running the ball.

Quotable: "Don't even ask me about practice. You already heard what I said [to the team]." - Mocs coach Russ Huesman said playfully after practice.

A good sign: Tull looked like he was running better than he has in a few days. Perhaps the most competitive player on the team, Tull isn't someone who handles being sidelined very well.

A not so good sign: The number of players sitting out practice with injuries is growing. And while UTC's starting offense and defense have loads of experienced players, most of the backups are either unproven or untested.

Up next: After two days of 7:45 a.m. practices, the Mocs get back to the 6:30 a.m. grind Monday. They'll go at 6:30 Tuesday and then have their first two-a-day (7:45 a.m./6:30 p.m.) on Wednesday.

For more Mocs coverage, see tomorrow's Times Free Press. You can also follow beat writer John Frierson on Twitter at twitter.com/MocsBeat.