Chandler Whitmer wanted nothing more than being the starting quarterback at a BCS school when he was coming out of high school.

He thought it would be at Illinois but when that wasn't going to be the case me took a detour to Butler Community College before landing at UConn.  On Thursday the sophomore is slated to be the Huskies starting quarterback when UConn hosts UMass in the 2012 season opener.

“You have to have a lot of confidence in yourself,” Whitmer said. “That is what I did. I just came in and took things one day at a time and learned the playbook. That is all I could do and if the hard work paid off then I am excited about it. I have seen a lot of things. I still have a lot to learn. This is my first year (playing) at a major Division I college football and there are a lot of things I haven't seen yet. I am just going to take it, roll with the punches and see what happens.”