Ansonia's Arkeel Newsome (22) and Ron Johnson out of Naples, Fla. (3)
expected to see more time at tailback beginning with Tulane game

While a bye week allowed the UConn football team to try to clean up the issues which have resulted in committing turnovers at the most inopportune time as well as allowing the nicked up players time to heal, it gave me a little time to do some research.

There will be more about what I was able to look up for my advance running in Saturday's paper, with Bob Diaco's declaration that true freshmen Arkeel Newsome and Ron Johnson are expected to see more action at tailback moving forward seemed to provide the perfect opportunity to reveal that he is one of 10 freshmen at the Football Bowl Subdivision level to have a game with at least 200 all-purpose yards. The change was noted in the depth chart as well. Max DeLorenzo has been the unquestioned No. 1 guy at tailback on the depth chart but this week DeLorenzo, Johnson, Newsome and redshirt freshman Josh Marriner are all named as co-starters.

Newsome accomplished the feat in the Huskies' most recent game as he ran seven times for 30 yards, caught two passes for 77 yards including a scintillating 74-yard touchdown and added 104 yards on six kickoff returns to become to first true freshman at UConn with 200 all-purpose yards since Terry Caulley accomplished the feat against Kent State on Nov. 9, 2002. What's interesting about my research is that four of 10 play for American Athletic Conference teams including Tulane's Sherman Badie, who will test the UConn defense on Saturday night.

Here is the list

Marlon Mack  USF vs. Western Carolina  275 rush 5 rec      280

Shaun Wilson Duke vs. Kansas 245 rush, 7 receiving           252

Samaje Perine Oklahoma vs. West Virginia 242 rush            242

Terry Swanson Toledo vs. W. Michigan 172 rush 54 rec  226

KD Cannon Baylor vs. Northwestern St 223 receiving          223

Sherman Badie Tulane vs. Tulsa  215 rush 6 receiving         221

Arkeel Newsome UConn vs, Temple 30 run 77 rec 104 KO 213

Trevon Brown East Carolina vs. N. Carolina 117rec 93 KO 210

Jarvion Franklin Western Michigan vs. Idaho 210 rush ing 210

Mike Dudek Illinois vs. Purdue 200 receiving 200

As you can imagine, I made the increased role of Newsome and Johnson the focus of the story running in tomorrow's paper.

BENGALS WORKING OUT SMALLWOOD
According to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, the Cincinnati Bengals brought in former UConn linebacker Yawin Smallwood for a workout.

Smallwood was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the seventh round of this year's NFL Draft after coming out a year early. He was cut late in the training camp by the Falcons