UTC football coach Russ Huesman has a sign which reads, “Do
More”.
At the end of last football season after UTC earned a share
of the Southern Conference title, but did not earn a berth in the NCAA
tournament coach Huesman gave each player one of those signs as a reminder and
motivation.
“After the selection show last November I gave each player a
sign to remind them that we hope this (not selected) will never happen again,”
said coach Huesman prior to the first day of pre-season practice at Scappy
Moore Field adjacent to Manker Patten Tennis Courts.
“I felt we were one of the 24 best teams in the nation last
year, but we didn’t get in,” Huesman stated. “The coaches, the players, everybody
could have done more to make the NCAA field.”
While the Mocs took the practice field for the first of 20
pre-season practices with one hand on the 2013 Southern Conference trophy, they
want both hands on a national championship trophy by Jan.10 2015 in Frisco,
Texas.
Senior All-American defensive end Davis Tull is ready to
make a run at the national title.
“We have one of the best defenses in the nation, our goal is
to win a national championship, but we have to like the process of winning the
conference and getting a bid,” said Tull.
“We have waited a long time to climb to the top and this is
an exciting time to be a Moc.”
Schedule: After three non-conference games the Mocs start the journey
of winning out right the SoCon title when Samford comes to Finley Stadium Sept.
27. VMI is the Mocs Homecoming foe (Oct.
4), whle Mercer (Oct. 25) and Wofford (Nov. 8) are also SoCon opponents who
play the Mocs at Finley. The Blue and Gold are at The Citadel, Western Carolina
and Furman in SoCon Away games.
“There has been a lot of pre-season hype around our team,
but none of that means much,” said junior quarterback Jacob Huesman. “We have
to keep our heads about us, go to work every day and not worry about the
expectations.”
“Everyday” started Wednesday with the goal of holding the
NCAA trophy in January.
First test comes four weeks from tonight (Aug. 28) as the Mocs open on
the road against Central Michigan.
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net