UTC’s Tiano getting a feel for his receivers
During the summer, Nick Tiano did his due diligence.
Although slotted as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s backup quarterback, Tiano got together with senior quarterback Alejandro Bennifield and the Mocs receivers as often as possible, running routes and working as much as they could to prepare for the upcoming season.
Then when news broke of Bennifield’s four-game suspension for an NCAA academic violation, Tiano was thrust into the role of starter in two tough games to start the season. With how little he had played at Mississippi State before transferring to UTC after the 2016 season, the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Baylor School graduate was essentially a freshman on the field, despite being in his third year of college.
In his first two games, Tiano has completed 51 percent of his 75 passes for 392 yards, with a touchdown and four interceptions.
The defenses he has faced — Jacksonville
State and LSU
— are highly regarded, and that combined with the Mocs breaking in a new scheme with a lot of new players has led to struggles on offense.
But as the quarterback starts to improve and believe, the team has as well. Tiano effortlessly flicked a long pass 50 yards in the air — off his back foot — to Joseph Parker in the fourth quarter of the LSU game. The 67-yard completion set up a 16-yard touchdown run by Darrell Bridges, which was the first touchdown the Tigers’ defense had allowed in 34 possessions.
“I think Nick’s doing a great job,” UTC offensive coordinator Justin Rascati said. “He brings it. He’s a professional in the way he approaches meetings, walk-through, practice, film study. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do, and he’s getting better. It’s a confidence thing: From week one to week two, his confidence did grow, and I think he trusts the players around him and realized he doesn’t have to do everything — just be the leader of the offense, distribute the ball, make the right checks at the line of scrimmage and everything else will handle itself.
“He’s getting better. I think his best is still ahead of him, but we’re real excited about what he’s going to be able to do for our offense, moving forward with him this week. He’s getting better.”
Tiano’s third opportunity will come at 6 p.m. Saturday against UT-Martin at Finley Stadium. He’s started to develop a rapport with the receivers, with eight players having caught passes so far and not even all of his targets available.
Senior James Stovall — a preseason All-Southern Conference first-team selection — has been slowed early by an injury, while versatile running back Richardre Bagley, who had five catches for 55 yards against Jacksonville State, missed the LSU game.
Parker has 12 catches for 160 yards to lead the team.
“Nick is getting a comfort level with everybody, which is important because you want to have it that way,” coach Tom Arth said.
“We want to have every wideout with multiple catches, the tight ends with multiple catches, the backs getting catches out of the backfield, but we want him to be able to spread the ball around and make sure nobody can focus in on one person.”
Saturday’s challenge will feature the Mocs’ offense against a Skyhawks defense that allowed 489 yards through the air last week against Ole Miss. The process has been slow, but the Mocs have shown flashes of what their offense could be going forward.
Saturday is a chance to take the next step.
“It’s been tough,” Tiano said, “especially when all of us are trying to get a feel for the new offense. That was only the second game we’ve played in this system with each other. A lot of guys haven’t played a lot of snaps, so it’s kind of all of us feeling it out. I think we’re showing some really good things and we’ll keep getting better every week.
“We definitely have some things to improve on, but we’ve got a good thing going. Week by week we’ll continue to improve, and I think we can be really, really good.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.
“... we want him to be able to spread the ball around and make sure nobody can focus in on one person.”
– COACH TOM ARTH