UTC ranked fifth, sixth in the SoCon preseason polls

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team received preseason rankings of fifth and sixth in the Southern Conference polls that were released Wednesday morning.

In addition, the Mocs had six players selected to all-conference first or second teams. Defensive lineman Isaiah Mack and return specialist Brandon Dowdell were first-team choices, while new running back Tyrell Price, offensive lineman Malcolm White, receiver Bingo Morton and defensive back Kareem Orr were second-team picks.

The Mocs finished 3-8 last season, when they went 3-5 against SoCon opponents to finish seventh in the nine-team league. In this year’s preseason polls, the coaches picked UTC fifth with 34 points, with the media selecting the Mocs sixth with 88 points.

Samford was the overwhelming favorite in both polls. The Bulldogs, who won eight games last season, earned seven of the nine first-place votes from the coaches and 20 of the 23 firstplace tallies from the media. Furman was picked second by the media and third by the coaches, with Wofford picked second by the coaches and third by the media. The media selected Mercer and Western Carolina ahead of UTC, while the coaches picked Western Carolina fourth and Mercer sixth.

The Citadel, East Tennessee State and Virginia Military Institute

occupied the bottom three spots in both polls.

Samford swept SoCon preseason player of the year honors, with quarterback Devlin Hodges — a two-time offensive player of the year — and 2017 defensive player of the year Ahmad Gooden tabbed to be the best on each side of the ball.

Mack had 54 tackles (seven for loss) as a junior last season, earning second-team all-league honors. Dowdell, who will also compete for the starting free safety slot, averaged 23 yards on 11 kick returns and was sixth in the Football Championship Subdivision in punt returns, averaging 12.6 on 13.

Morton was the team’s leader in catches with 39 and had four touchdowns. Orr, once a Football Bowl Subdivision Freshman All-American at Arizona State, had 36 tackles (4.5 for loss), four passes defended, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. White has started all 24 games of his UTC career at left tackle.

Price has yet to carry for the Mocs, but he was a junior-college All-American at East Mississippi Community College, leading the nation in touchdowns with 24. He also finished with 989 yards.

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.