Huesman answers questions as spring ends
Brad Bacon
Issue date: 4/15/10 Section: Sports
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The Mocs completed spring practice Saturday with the annual Blue and Gold game.
Second-year head coach Russ Huesman looked to answer questions from the Chattanooga community, and in front of almost 2,500 people the answers came in loud and clear.
"We are pretty thin right now as far as numbers," Huesman said. "We saw some things out of some players we were hoping would be good, and they did turn out to be good."
Pretty good is the understatement of the century.
One of the biggest questions answered by Saturday's performance was the toll graduating seniors and injuries has taken on the wide receiving corps.
The Mocs' spring answer to that was the performance of Chattanooga sophomore Joel Bradford.
In the Blue and Gold Game Bradford caught seven balls for a total of 144 yards.
The gem of the day was the 65-yard toss from Chattanooga sophomore quarterback B.J. Coleman to Bradford who caught the ball perfectly in stride and motored to the end zone.
Even with the Mocs' aerial attack firing on all cylinders, it is still only one half of the offense.
The running game was another key area for improvement according to a pre-spring interview with Huesman.
The Mocs only mustered 936 yards and nine touchdowns as a team on the ground last year.
"We did get better running the football," Huesman said. "Are we where we want to be? No, I don't think we are close enough, but we did improve. We need to continue to improve."
In order for the running backs to improve, they will need help from the guys up front.
The Mocs return all five of their offensive linemen from last year's team that allowed nine sacks last season.
That total was good enough for fourth in the NCAA.
According to Huesman, the line has the potential to be one of the better groups he has coached.
