Coming off a record-breaking season, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga quarterbackJacob Huesman finish fourth in the Jerry Rice Award voting for National Freshman of the Year. Huesman tied or set nearly every UTC freshman offensive record while leading the Mocs to a 6-5 overall mark.
Huesman became the first quarterback at UTC to lead the team in rushing, totaling 904 yards on 195 attempts. That is the most yards by any Moc since former Philadelphia Eagle Eldra Buckley had 1,204 in 2006. He also tied a UTC freshman record with seven rushing touchdowns.
Finishing third in the league in total offense, Huesman’s 2,616 yards set a UTC freshman record and is fifth on the Mocs’ overall single-season list. He also led all SoCon freshmen in rushing and total yards.
Just as prolific in the passing game, Huesman set UTC freshmen records for completions (167), attempts (256) and yards (1,712). His 13 passing TDs tied the Mocs’ rookie mark set by Kenyon Earl in 1991. He completed 65% (167-256) of his passes and his five interceptions were the lowest among the top-5 QBs in the SoCon.
Huesman garnered plenty of attention across the league during the season. He set a Chattanooga record with four SoCon Freshman of the Week Honors, the most in one season in the league since Appalachian State’s Armanti Edwards had five in 2006. He was also named to the SoCon All-Freshman team following the year.
UTC junior linebackerWes Dothard (Carrollton, Ga.) was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award for National Defensive Player of the Year. He finished 19th in the voting after leading the Mocs with 94 tackles.
Chattanooga finished 6-5 overall and tied for fourth in the SoCon with a 5-3 league mark. UTC posted a winning record for the third time in the last four years. The Mocs have not had a run like that since 1984-87.