Cole Ormsby and his fellow sophomores have combined for 71 tackles,
10.5 tackles for loss and four sacks in the first three games of the season

If there is one trend that I have been noticing in UConn's first three games of the season is how much an impact the Huskies are getting from their sophomore class.

I expected tailbacks Ron Johnson and Arkeel Newsome, tight ends Tommy Myers and Alec Bloom and quarterback Bryant Shirreffs to be productive on the offensive side of the ball. But I'm not sure that I was anticipating that of the 13 Huskies to have tackles for loss this season, six of them would be sophomores.

Luke Carrezola and Folorunso Fatukasi lead the way with 4 and 3 TFLs respectively. Cam Stapleton had two stops behind the line, both coming in last week's spirited defensive effort against Missouri. Junior Joseph (UConn's leading tackler), Jamar Summers and Cole Ormsby each had 1/2 of a tackle for a loss.

"It is great to know that we have everybody in our class (is contributing) and we are going to keep building," Stapleton said. "We remember when we came in as freshmen, we weren't playing to now  we are on the field and making plays, it just feels great to know that the people in your class are going to be there in your senior year. Going to class, eating together and we build that brotherhood, she has been so strong and it has definitely kept it together."


My curiosity got the better of me so I did some checking. I simply did not have enough time to go through every FBS team but did look at the teams ranked in the top 25 in total defense and here are the results.

TACKLES BY SOPHOMORE CLASS
(Percentage excludes offensive players and kickers/punters)
North Carolina State     69/123 56.1
Ohio State                     98/209 46.9
Washington                   90/195 46.2
Vanderbilt                     91/199 45.7
Northwestern                79/194 40.7
UConn                          71/177 40.1

TACKLES FOR LOSS BY SOPHOMORE CLASS
(Percentage excludes offensive players and kickers/punters)
 North Carolina State     9.5/17 55.9
Ohio State                     10/20   50.0
Northwestern                 9.5/18 52.8
UConn                         10.5/22 47.7

TOTAL TACKLES FOR LOSS BY SOPHOMORE CLASS
Missouri                      10.5
UConn                         10.5
Boston College            10.0
Ohio State                    10.0

TOTAL SACKS BY SOPHOMORE CLASS
Ohio State                    6.5
UConn                          4.0
Vanderbilt                     4.0