While it was hardly a surprise to the members of the team, there were a few raised eyebrows when sophomore Tim Boyle trotted out with the starting offense on the first drive of the game instead of senior Chandler Whitmer, UConn's starting quarterback for the last eight games.

 

"We hadn't seen him do if he could start in a game, we hadn't seen it yet," Diaco said of his decision to start Boyle. "Nothing against Chandler but we wanted to see what Timmy would give us. He is going to get better and better and he needs to get better and better. The only way to get better and better is to play."

 

The final numbers were not pretty as Boyle finished 13 of 21 yards for 70 yards and had minus 25 yards rushing despite being sacked only twice. Whitmer was 1 of 5 with an interception and finished with 11 passing yards. At a team the Huskies managed 129 yards of total offense, matching the lowest output since the Huskies began playing at the Football Bowl Subdivision level in 2002.

 

"We had a good game plan I thought we were going to be able to execute," Boyle said. "Turnovers and execution were the culprit, I think once we start executing and handing onto the ball, we can do some good things."

 

Since Cochran's retirement Boyle has been limited to just one series while Whitmer received the bulk of the work. With an extra week to prepare the decision was made to insert Boyle as the starting quarterback as well as giving true freshman Ryan Crozier his first career start at left offensive guard.

 

"Once I saw my role increase in practice I thought I was going to play more and I was going to get the majority of the snaps, not necessarily the start," Boyle said. "Chandler and I have been rotating on and off and see what does from there but nothing predetermined. It is always good to get more snaps. I know this sounds bad but the more mistakes you can make, the game of football is about making mistakes and not trying to make them twice, trying to learn from them. I think the more snaps I get the more mistakes I am going to make. It is weird to say but down the road it is probably going to help me a little more.

 

"He (Whitmer) is right on my side, he has been positive. Like you guys say today, he is still battling through all the adversity he has had to go through. It is very tough and I respect him for it but he has been right there by my side the whole time."

 

Boyle made it clear that he is focusing on the remainder of this season and not about being the Huskies' quarterback of the future.

 

"It is more settling into the game," Boyle said. "You can ask any quarterback, it is tough in the beginning of the game to try to get into a rhythm especially when you are going 3 and out and have turnovers like that. More towards the end of the game I had more confidence in myself, I started seeing things a little easier. I am nowhere (near) where I need to be, where I want to be and that is going come down to film study and working hard in practice. I think the hardest thing for me is to just see the defense and make the right decision. I have a long way to go but I think it has increased my confidence level."

 

Diaco said that Crozier beat out Cruz for the starting left guard spot and another intriguing aspect in terms of playing time is that Arkeel Newsome, who had at least three carries in every game when he was healthy, did not get a carry.

 

"Things are starting to mount on these guys, they have finals, school every day, they are in football," Newsome said. "We are not having a great season and and and and it is just building on them. Arkeel, his class and company, they are doing a fantastic job but it is hard, you are young, you are homesick, some are working through it better than others. Arkeel is going to be a great player."