UConn Athletic Communications – January 10, 2012 – McCombs Freshman All-American

STORRS, Conn. (January 10, 2012) -- University of Connecticut freshman tailback Lyle McCombs (Staten Island, N.Y.) has been named to the Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-American team. McCombs rushed for 1,115 yards this season - the ninth-highest in school single-season history and the second among freshmen at UConn.

McCombs was the 29th-leading rusher in the country and second in the BIG EAST. He was a Second Team All-BIG EAST Conference selection.

McCombs was one of two tailbacks on the team and he was joined by Giovani Bernard of North Carolina. McCombs was the second-leading freshman rusher in the country – just 0.4 yards per game behind Bernard.

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University of Connecticut senior defensive tackle Kendall Reyes (Nashua, N.H.) and senior kicker Dave Teggart (Northborough, Mass.) have both been named to the 2011 ECAC Division I Football Bowl Subdivision All-Star team.

Reyes was a First Team All-BIG EAST Conference pick for the second time in a row this season. He started 41 games during his UConn career and was third on the UConn team with 13.5 tackles for loss while making 46 total tackles in 2011. For his career, he had 32.5 tackles for a loss - tenth in school history.

Teggart (Northborough, Mass.) was also a First Team All-BIG EAST pick. Teggart was a four-year standout and holds the UConn career records for field goals (74), extra points (128) and points (350). Teggart kicked a field goal in 22 of his final 25 collegiate games and had multiple field goals in eight games this year and had 11 career games with three or more field goals.

And, just like that, the Yale job remains open. Don Brown, offered the position, decided late Monday to remain at UConn.

Don Brown will be the new head coach at Yale, according to sources. The deal is not final, but expected to be finalized soon. It was a swift-moving search that drew plenty of interest, with some interesting names popping up along the way. Georgetown coach Kevin Kelly and Harvard assistant Tony Reno were among those to also interview.

And there were plenty of well-known names who wanted the job but weren't granted an interview. Former Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski contacted Yale AD Tom Beckett to pitch himself. Stanford assistant Brian Polian, son of recently fired Indianapolis Colts vice chairman Bill Polian, had TV exec Dick Ebersol make a phone call to Yale AD Tom Beckett on his behalf.

Ultimately, Brown gets a gig that still carries some major clout considering the heavy hitting alumni and the type of bright young minds coming through the program every year. The exact salary for Brown is unknown, and will likely stay under wraps. But it's believed the job pays in the neighborhood of $300,000 annually, a nice raise from what he made this year at UConn.

UConn will now be in search of a new defensive coordinator. Paul Pasqualoni is heavily connected, and certainly already has several names in mind to replace Brown.

There is mutual interest between Yale and UConn defensive coordinator Don Brown for the vacant head coaching position at Yale, according to multiple sources. Last week, Yale athletic director Tom Beckett contacted UConn interim athletic director Paul Pendergast regarding Brown, sources said.

It was unclear as to whether Brown interviewed earlier this week or if he is interviewing in New Haven today.

But Yale is moving quickly in the process, and is expected to name a candidate by next week.

The school forced the resignation of Tom Williams in December after inconsistencies on his resume. One source indicated that Yale, looking to make a safe and clean hire, is interviewing only candidates with previous head coaching experience. Brown was head coach at Northeastern (2000-03) and UMass (2004-08). He was one of Yale's top candidates in 2008 to replace retiring Jack Siedlecki as coach, but eventually pulled his name from the running and the job went to Williams.

EDIT TO ADD: Georgetown coach Kevin Kelly is among those who has already interviewed at Yale, according to a source.

Yes, I'm posting a table tennis video. These are the best shots of 2011, and simply incredible...No. 5 and No. 9 might be the greatest things I've seen...maybe ever. Merry Christmas.

Center Moe Petrus, kicker Dave Teggart and defensive lineman Kendall Reyes were named first-team All-Big East Conference today.

On the second-team, UConn placed tailback Lyle McCombs, tight end Ryan Griffin, offensive lineman Mike Ryan, cornerback Dwayne Gratz, defensive end Trevardo Williams and punter Cole Wagner.

So UConn will have a shot at a bowl game after all. Big test awaiting at Cincinnati, but it's clear the Huskies can compete with anyone in the conference. A few notes from today:

• Pasqualoni said there's "no need to muddy the water at all" with regard to talking about what's at stake this week. Everyone already knows. The focus is where it should be, on the task at hand.
• We've finally gotten to see exactly what Pasqualoni and George DeLeone had in mind with this two quarterback system. It forced opposing defenses to prepare for two completely different offenses, depending on who's under center. And it changes mid-series. They have to prepare for the McCummings run package, and they have to prepare for the McEntee pro sets. It was run efficiently against Rutgers. DeLeone said it's not necessarily that the players are understanding the system better, but the coaches realize what their players do best. "Every week McCummings is getting a bigger part of the game plan, and it's helped us run the ball tremendously and taken a lot of pressure off Johnny," DeLeone said. "I don't think the players have ever been a problem. It's us finally finding, it took us this long, finding what we do best and finding what we can win with at this level. We're starting to get into a groove of what we think we can do. If you listen to post-game reaction from these coaches, and listen to what they're saying during the week, defenses are struggling with it. They have a lot to prepare for, and it's gven us a little bit of an edge. They have a wide scope of plays they have to defend."
• UConn hasn't won consecutive games all season, and its never won at Nippert Stadium. Cincinnati, even without Zach Collaros, showed it still has a dangerous offense led by Isaiah Pead, and a stout defense that's only once allowed more than 24 points to an opponent (a 37-34 win over USF).
• A quick bowl prediction scenario: If UConn beats Cincinnati, it clinches Louisville's spot in the BCS bowl (likely Orange). Since the Champs Sports Bowl would be nuts not to take Notre Dame, West Virginia would likely wind up in Charlotte. Rutgers would then be snatched up for the Yankee Stadium bowl. The Liberty Bowl, by virtue of having no SEC-eligible team, would choose between Pittsburgh and UConn, and would go with Pitt. The Huskies would be left for the Beef O'Brady's Bowl in St. Pete, and it would enjoy a complementary order of potato skins from the title sponsor and a Conference USA opponent.
• Of course, if Syracuse knocks off Pittsburgh, UConn may wind up at the Liberty Bowl over the Orange. And should USF upset West Virginia, I think the Mountaineers still wind up in Charlotte, with UConn at the Liberty Bowl and South Florida staying home in St. Pete. In those scenarios, I'm betting the Huskies are more attractive to the folks in Memphis than Syracuse and USF simply by virtue of a better Big East record.
  

Lyle McCombs spent a good portion of preseason training camp dealing with questions about whether his body could withstand a season’s worth of pounding.

He understood it came with the territory of being a tailback listed as 5-foot-8 and a very generous 172 pounds.

“Soaking wet,” says McCombs, who is probably an inch shorter and seven pounds lighter.

Those queries ended rather quickly. McCombs not only proved he could handle a full workload and bounce up from every big tackle, but remain productive as the carries mounted.

Last week, McCombs became the second freshman and 14th runner to top 1,000 yards in a season. He also leads the Big East in rushing yardage (1,014) and carries (234) heading into the Huskies penultimate regular season game with Rutgers on Saturday at Rentschler Field (noon, ESPN2).

“A thousand yards means everything,” McCombs said Tuesday. “That’s what a running back wants to see, as far as numbers go, is 100-yard games and 1,000-yard seasons. That’s usually the goal, and I’m happy I achieved that, especially as a freshman. But we need more wins.”

Back in training camp, McCombs was expected to share the running duties with senior D.J. Shoemate, a converted fullback with the ideal frame in a UConn version of the thunder and lightning attack.

Injuries ended Shoemate’s season after one game, and McCombs was so far ahead of the Huskies’ other tailbacks that none has received more the two carries in a game since backup Jonathan Jean-Louis had five against Fordham in the season-opener.

McCombs has topped 100 yards in six of 10 games, his most impressive days in wins over South Florida (32 carries, 130 yards) and Syracuse (24-152, one touchdown).

His 10 carries and 33 yards against Louisville last week was a season low, partly because the Huskies were forced to change the game plan when they fell behind by 14 points in the first quarter.

Otherwise, McCombs has endeared himself to the UConn coaching staff with his quickness, toughness and understanding of the offense.

“He does other things, well, He can catch the ball well, he’s very good in protection and knows who to block, what the protections are,” UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni said. “This has been a real god first year for Lyle. He has a chance to improve on this, and we’re going to need him to. He just has to keep going.”

Looking ahead, McCombs knows he needs to add weight and get stronger in the weight room. While he excels at making would-be tacklers miss, he rarely breaks a tackle and is often down on the initial hit.

McCombs would also like to take on more of a leadership role.

“I think I need to be more vocal,” McCombs said. “I’m a young guy and taking sort of an unexpected role. So I’m out here trying to do my job. But I need to do more than that with the role I play in the offense. That’s more of a vocal leadership.”