Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Sio Moore lead the list of former
UConn players expected to be taken in the NFL draft.

All the workouts and interviews are in the books, the countless hours of film study are also complete and now it is finally time for the NFL draft.

For a handful of former UConn players it is a couple of days they won't soon forget.

It's a foregone conclusion that cornerbacks Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh-Wilson, linebacker Sio Moore and defensive end Trevardo Williams will heat their names called but the question is which day and by what team.

Donald Brown is the only UConn player to be taken in the first round when the Indianapolis Colts selected him with the 27th overall pick in the 2009. Will he have some company after all 32 first-round picks are announced tonight?

Wreh-Wilson figures to have the best shot of going in the first round although most of the pre-draft databases have him slated as a second rounder. There have been mock drafts with Wreh-Wilson going late in the first round so that means a long night of watching and wondering for the two-time UConn captain as the first round is held tonight. Tomorrow figures to be a special day in UConn football history with as many as four Huskies going by the end of the third round. The NFL draft marathon ends on Saturday with rounds 4-7.

The NFL Network's Mike Mayock, considered by many to be the best NFL draft analyst in the business, has Moore as his top-rated UConn prospect at No. 64 in his final pre-draft Big Board which is two spots ahead of Wreh-Wilson and eight ahead of Gratz.

This draft is intriguing on a variety of levels for the UConn prospects. Of course you have the story line surrounding whether Wreh-Wilson or perhaps even Moore could sneak into the end of the first round and then will four Huskies be gone by the end of day two or will one of them have to wait. Finally, you have players like tight end Ryan Griffin and linebacker Jory Johnson would have a chance to hear their names called late in the draft or at least will get signed as free agents. They could have company as receivers Michael Smith and Nick Williams, tight end John Delahunt and offensive guard Adam Masters are in some draft prospect databases.

Barring a stunning development, there will be a player from Connecticut taken in the first round tonight - kind of. Bjoern Werner out of Florida State is one of the top defensive ends available in the draft and his football career began at Salisbury. As for the former Connecticut public school stars, I would guess that Georgia defensive tackle John Jenkins, who played at Maloney High in Meriden, will be the first one taken. Jenkins' situation is similar to that of Wreh-Wilson as he figures to go either late in the first round or in the second round. Other Connecticut natives to keep an eye on are Florida tight end Jordan Reed out of New London and Rutgers receiver Mark Harrison from Stratford who are projected to go between rounds 3-5.

The 2012 season was not the best of times for UConn's offensive line.

UConn was 100th nationally in sacks allowed and 117th in rushing offense a combination that resulted in a disappointing 5-7 final record despite ranking ninth in total defense.

Six offensive linemen who started games last season are back so obviously optimism is high among the returnees as they look to reestablish the line as a dominant unit.


"I think we are going to go up," said senior guard Steve Greene. "I know I am not going to stand for it and all the other guys are with me, we are not going to be the weak point of this team. We are going to be the driving force behind this team that helps us win the game.

It was awful. There is no other word that says it. When you can’t run the ball it makes you so one dimensional and teams can virtually just tee off on you and it makes everything else a lot harder. When you can run the ball you can control the game and that is what we need to be back to. That is what we’ve been preaching and what we’ve been working. We are going to run the football and be successful at it."

Running the ball has been a trademark of recent UConn squads which made what happened last season tough to swallow for players and fans alike.

"It was a collaboration of everything, it wasn’t everybody all the time it was one person having a breakdown," Greene said. "On offense you need 11 guys functioning together or it is not going to work. Right now I feel like we are on that page, we are working real well and you are going to see some results.

"The standard has been set. We know what needs to get done. Really there is nothing left to do but to do it. I know it is a corny saying but that is what it comes down to."

The only returning starter gone is right guard Adam Masters who missed the last three games of the season with an ankle injury. 

"We lose Masters who is a special dude, he is tough to replace but he (got injured) early," Greene said. "Gus (Cruz) came out and got a lot of time so you can say we return the five guys we finished the season with which is going to be huge for us."

A bonus is the return of starting left tackle Jimmy Bennett for a sixth season of eligibility.


"Jimmy is one of my best friends, a great kid and the sky is the limit for him," Greene said. "It is good to see him finally play a full year of football last year and it is going to be good to see what he can do in his second year back. I am excited, we are all excited. We have been working well in the spring without Jimmy and when we gets inserted back into the lineup, I feel like it can only go up."

Bennett has shoulder surgery in December forcing him to miss the entire spring camp. In his place Xavier Hemingway and Dalton Gifford have had an opportunity to take first-team reps at left tackle.

"Jimmy is my right arm, I guess my left arm since he plays on my left side," Greene said. "Me and Jimmy have such a good chemistry out there, we don’t even have to make calls to know what each other is doing. It is huge for them to step in and get this time. I honestly felt they have been doing a great job. Honestly I was a little skeptical coming into the spring having X (Hemingway) on my left, a guy who hasn’t had much experience but he has done a great job. He got hurt, he is down right now and Gifford has stepped up and he has done a great job too."

Not only will Bennett be out of the lineup and Hemingway is iffy as well, but Alex Mateas (who started the first four games at center during the 2012 season) at has been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules. At the last open practice Tyler Bullock was at center with Cruz and Greene at guard,  Kevin Friend and Gifford at tackle on the first team. The second team featured Kyle Bockeloh at center, Zach Rugg and Tyler Samra at guard with Paul Nwokeji and Richard Levy at tackle.

Parking lots will open at Rentschler Field tomorrow beginning at 9 a.m. with gates set to open at 10:30 a.m. for the spring game which will start at noon. In the wake of the events in Boston security could be tighter than normal. UConn put out a reminder that  that personal bags are not allowed to be brought into events at Rentschler other than bags containing personal medical supplies.

                                                                     (Associated Press photo)
Blidi Wreh-Wilson (left) and Sio Moore are both projected to be second-round
 selections in the NFL Draft Bible database which was released on Thursday.

The NFL Draft Bible site released one of the largest databases of draft prospects with 10 members of the 2012 UConn team among those prospects listed.

The list of more than 1,500 players is done by position. Sio Moore, who was the No. 6 outside linebacker Blidi Wreh-Wilson (No. 8 CB) and Trevardo Williams (No. 9 OLB) were the only UConn products to crack the top 10 at their position. A total of 10 Huskies are on the list (actually the number is 11 but Jesse Joseph is listed as the No. 69 defensive end and he is still a member of the Huskies).

Here's the list:
Rank Player Position  Projected round
6 Sio Moore OLB                   2
8 Blidi Wreh-Wilson CB          2
9 Trevardo Williams OLB      2/3
14 Dwayne Gratz CB            2/3
27 Ryan Griffin TE                 FA
45 Jory Johnson OLB           FA
68 John Delahunt  TE            FA
78 Michael Smith WR           FA
83 Adam Masters OG           FA
112 Nick Williams WR          FA

Also listed is former UConn safety Jerome Junior is the No. 50 listed strong safety, the University of New Haven has three players listed as Ryan Osiecki is the 68th quarterback, Kameel Lashley is the 70th rated tight end and Jason Thompson is 159th at the wide receiver position. New Haven native Jeremy Moore out of Georgetown is the 95th rated cornerback sack, Meriden's John Jenkins out of Georgia is No. 5 defensive tackle while Rutgers receiver Mark Harrison out of Stratford is 20th at his position.

                                                                                   (Associated Press photo)
Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Sio Moore and Trevardo Williams lead the list of UConn
products for the 2013 NFL draft. Nearly every NFL team is expected to send
representatives to today's pro day being held at UConn.

It was impossible to walk around the Burton Family Complex during the time that UConn was holding its most recent spring practice yesterday and not bump into one of the seniors from the 2012 squad.

I spotted Sio Moore, Adam Masters, Nick Williams and Michael Smith checking out the practice. They had a good reason to be back in town as they will
take part in UConn's annual pro day this afternoon.

Between strong showings in postseason all-star games or eye-opening efforts at the NFL combine, there is quite the buzz surrounding the UConn's pro prospects.

There may not be a player at any school who has upper his stock more since the season ended than Moore. He went from being an under the radar guy to being the No. 4 rated 4-3 outside linebacker by NFL Network's Mike Mayock. Blidi Wreh-Wilson is Mayock' No. 5 rated cornerback and Wreh-Wilson has been slotted in as a late first-round pick on previous mock drafts done by ESPN's Todd McShay. There are some, however, who rate Dwayne Gratz ahead of Wreh-Wilson in their pre-draft coverage. Trevardo Williams is another one of the former Huskies who put up scintillating testing numbers at the NFL combine. It's not out of the realm of possibility that all four of them could go somewhere in the top four rounds.

Considering how well they performed at the combine, I would not be the least bit surprised to see those four sit out many of the drills today since they have done more than enough to catch the eyes of NFL scouts. However, this is a huge day for players like tight ends Ryan Griffin and John Delahunt, offensive guard Adam Masters, linebacker Jory Johnson and receivers Smith and Williams.

UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni has encouraged all the 2012 seniors to take part because you never know who might catch the attention of the NFL scouts converging on UConn this afternoon.

Here is where the UConn players are ranked on CBS' NFLDraftScout.com database
Player                                 Pos      Posiiton Rank     Overall Rank      Projection
Dwayne Gratz                   CB               12                          86                    2nd-3rd
Ryan Griffin                      TE               22                        414                  Free agent
Jory Johnson                    OLB             34                         366                  Free agent
Sio Moore                        OLB              6                           66                     2nd
Michael Smith                   WR             91                        692                   Free agent
Trevardo Williams           OLB              8                           76                     2nd-3rd
Blidi Wreh-Wilson            CB              14                        101                     3rd

UConn cornerbacks Dwayne Gratz, Blidi Wreh-Wilson and defensive end Trevardo Williams have accepted invitations to play in the Senior Bowl next month.


Gratz had 53 tackles and three of the Huskies’ six interceptions during the 2012 season, He finished his career with 189 tackles and eight interceptions.

Wreh-Wilson, a two-year captain, had 47 tackles and broke up nine passes as a senior. His only interception of the season came in overtime in a win at Louisville. He finished his career with 181 tackles and eight interceptions. He is currently ranked as the No. 11 cornerback in the NFL Draft Scout site who projects Wreh-Wilson as a third-round pick in April's draft,

Williams had 11.5 sacks as a senior and finished as UConn's career with a program-record 40.5 sacks. The NFL Draft Scout site lists Williams as the 16th best outside linebacker prospect and projects him to be a fifth-round pick.

The Senior Bowl will be played on Jan. 26 in Mobile, Ala. and will be televised live on NFL Network.

Other Huskies in the NFL Draft Scout site are Sio Moore, the 13th best OLB,  Ryan Griffin (No. 19 TE), Jory Johnson (No. 25 OLB), Dwayne Gratz (30th best CB), Adam Masters (No. 34 OG) and Michael Smith (No. 73 WR).

Senior cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson was named UConn's MVP at the team's awards banquet on Sunday.

Senior tight end Ryan Griffin was selected as the Offensive Player of the Year, senior defensive end Trevardo Williams and senior receiver Nick Williams were named the Defensive Player of the Year and Special Teams Player of the Year.

Other award winners were DT Ryan Wirth (Jasper T. Howard Award), OG Adam Masters (Football Alumni Award), LB Sio Moore (Kendall Madison Award), TE John Delahunt (Joseph M. Gianelli Unsung Hero Award), LB Jory Johnson (John L. Toner Scholar-Athlete Award) and CB Dwayne Gratz (Brian Kozlowski Award).

The Big East announced its all-conference teams today. Senior defensive end Trevardo Williams was one of the three players named as unanimous selections and he was joined on the first team by sophomore linebacker Yawin Smallwood and senior linebacker Sio Moore.

Williams had 11.5 sacks as a senior and finished his career with a program-record 30.5 sacks. Smallwood led the Huskies with 59 solo tackles and 120 total tackles while adding four sacks, 15 tackles for losses and two forced fumbles. Moore had 15.5 tackles for losses including eight sacks.

Senior tight end Ryan Griffin and senior offensive guard Adam Masters were second-team selections as was return specialist Nick Williams while senior cornerbacks Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh-Wilson were named to the second-team as well.

Griffin led the Huskies with six touchdown receptions and an average of 16.7 yards per catch as a senior. Griffin hauled in 29 passes for 484 yards as a senior. Masters was named to the all-conference squad despite playing in just seven games in an injury-shortened senior season. Williams returned two punts for touchdown, averaged 12 yards per punt return and 20.4 yards per kickoff return. Gratz led the Huskies with three interceptions and 14 passes defended. Wreh-Wilson, a two-time captain, broke up 10 passes and his lone interception came in overtime in the upset win over Louisville.

Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was named the Big East offensive player of the year while the defensive player of the year honor when to Rutgers' Khaseem Greene. The Big East Rookie of the Year was given to Stratford native Tyler Matakevich out of Temple.

Greene and Syracuse receiver Alec Lemon joined Williams as the only other unanimous All-Big East selections.


2012 BIG EAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL AWARDS
BIG EAST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville (So., Miami, Fla.)

BIG EAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Khaseem Greene, LB, Rutgers (Sr., Elizabeth, N.J.)

BIG EAST SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Matt Brown, RB, Temple (Sr., Baltimore, Md.)

BIG EAST ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Tyler Matakevich, LB, Temple (Fr., Stratford, Conn.)

BIG EAST COACH OF THE YEAR
Charlie Strong, Louisville
Kyle Flood, Rutgers

ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM 
OFFENSE 
Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
WR Alec Lemon * Syracuse Sr. 6-2 204 Crofton, Md./Arundel
WR DeVante Parker Louisville So. 6-3 205 Louisville, Ky./Ballard
OT Eric Lefeld Cincinnati So. 6-6 287 Coldwater, Ohio/Coldwater
OT Justin Pugh Syracuse Sr. 6-5 297 Holland, Pa./Council Rock South
OG Austen Bujnoch Cincinnati Jr. 6-5 285 Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder
OG Antwan Lowery Rutgers Jr. 6-4 305 Miami, Fla./Christopher Columbus
C Mario Benavides Louisville Sr. 6-4 280 Los Fresnos, Texas/Los Fresnos
TE Travis Kelce Cincinnati Sr. 6-6 260 Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights
QB Teddy Bridgewater Louisville So. 6-3 218 Miami, Fla./Northwestern
RB Ray Graham Pittsburgh Sr. 5-9 190 Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth
RB Montel Harris Temple Sr. 5-10 207 Jacksonville, Fla./Trinity Christian
K Maikon Bonani USF Sr. 5-10 176 Lake Wales, Fla./Lake Wales
RS Matt Brown Temple Sr. 5-5 165 Baltimore, Md./Peddie School/Milford Academy
             
DEFENSE
Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
DL Dan Giordano Cincinnati Sr. 6-4 260 Frankford, Ill./Lincoln-Way East
DL Trevardo Williams * Connecticut Sr. 6-2 233 Bridgeport, Conn./Canterbury 
DL Aaron Donald Pittsburgh Jr. 6-0 275 Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills
DL Scott Vallone Rutgers Sr. 6-3 275 Central Islip, N.Y./St. Anthony’s
LB Greg Blair Cincinnati Sr. 6-2 252 Pittsburgh, Pa./Schenley/Lackawanna CC
LB Sio Moore Connecticut Sr. 6-2 229 Apex, N.C./Apex 
LB Yawin Smallwood Connecticut So. 6-3 235 Worcester, Mass./Doherty 
LB Khaseem Greene * Rutgers Sr. 6-1 230 Elizabeth, N.J./Avon Old Farms
CB Adrian Bushell Louisville Sr. 5-11 184 DeSoto, Texas/Cedar Valley CC
CB Logan Ryan Rutgers Jr. 6-0 190 Berlin, N.J./Eastern
S Duron Harmon Rutgers Sr. 6-1 200 Magnolia, Del./Caesar Rodney
S Shamarko Thomas Syracuse Sr. 5-10 206 Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes
P Brandon McManus Temple Sr. 6-3 190 Hatfield, Pa./North Penn
* unanimous selection
                                                                                                                                                   
 ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM 
OFFENSE 
Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
WR Mike Shanahan Pittsburgh Sr. 6-5 225 North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin
WR Devin Street Pittsburgh Jr. 6-4 190 Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty
WR Brandon Coleman Rutgers So. 6-6 220 Accokeek, Md./Bishop McNamara
OT Alex Kupper Louisville Sr. 6-3 298 Louisville, Ky./Trinity
OT Kaleb Johnson Rutgers So. 6-4 300 Jacksonville, Fla./Edward H. White
OT Martin Wallace Temple Sr. 6-6 300 New York, N.Y./Beacon School
OG Adam Masters Connecticut Sr. 6-4 298 Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman 
OG Mark Popek USF Sr. 6-7 299 Plant City, Fla./Plant City
C Ryan Turnley Pittsburgh Sr. 6-6 320 Hopewell, Pa./Hopewell
QB Ryan Nassib Syracuse Gr. 6-3 227 West Chester, Pa./Malvern Prep
TE Ryan Griffin Connecticut Sr. 6-6 247 Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry 
RB George Winn Cincinnati Sr. 5-11 210 Southfield, Mich./Detroit Jesuit
RB Jawan Jamison Rutgers So. 5-8 200 Stark, Fla./The Bolles School
K Brandon McManus Temple Sr. 6-3 190 Hatfield, Pa./North Penn
RS Nick Williams Connecticut Sr. 5-10 184 East Windsor, N.J./The Hun School 
             
DEFENSE 
Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
DL Walter Stewart Cincinnati Sr. 6-5 249 Ashville, Ohio/Teays Valley
DL Cory Grissom USF Sr. 6-2 316 La Grange, Ga./Troup County
DL Brandon Sharpe Syracuse Sr. 6-1 255 Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes
DL John Youboty Temple Sr. 6-4 250 Houston, Texas/Klein
LB Preston Brown Louisville Jr. 6-2 255 Cincinnati, Ohio/Northwest
LB Sam Barrington USF Sr. 6-1 230 Jacksonville, Fla./Terry Parker
LB Tyler Matakevich Temple Fr. 6-1 220 Stratford, Conn./St. Joseph’s/Milford Academy
CB Dwayne Gratz Connecticut Sr. 6-0 198 Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway 
CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson Connecticut Sr. 6-2 190 Edinboro, Pa./General McLaine 
S Calvin Pryor Louisville So. 6-2 213 Port St. Joe, Fla./Port St. Joe
S Hakeem Smith Louisville Jr. 6-1 187 Jonesboro, Ga./Riverdale
S Jason Hendricks Pittsburgh Jr. 6-0 180 Brooklyn, N.Y./Hudson Catholic
P Pat O’Donnell Cincinnati Jr. 6-5 222 Lake Worth, Fla./Palm Beach Central
P Justin Brockhaus-Kann USF Sr. 6-2 214 Winter Springs, Fla./Winter Springs
Additional players added to the All-BIG EAST teams due to ties in the voting

On Paul Pasqualoni's conference call on Thursday he was asked if he felt the Huskies were snake bitten in the injury department after senior offensive guard Adam Masters and freshman defensive end E.J. Norris were lost for the season with ankle and shoulder injuries respectively.


"It is part of the game," Pasqualoni said. "Losing Adam Masters and the versatility he gave us, that was unfortunate. We’ve been in this and we’ve lost good players. It’s not at the point where I feel snake bitten."

If Pasqualoni wants to see what it's like to be a bit snake bitten injury wise, he needs to merely take a glance across the field tonight as the number of injuries suffered by South Florida is staggering.

Leading rusher Lindsey Lamar is the latest key player for USF to go down as he fractured his collarbone in the fourth quarter of last week's loss to Syracuse. USF coach Skip Holtz is not ready to declare Lamar lost for the season  but said he definitely is out for tonight's game. He is far from the only one.

The Bulls could be without both starting offensive guards Danous Estenor and Mark Popek, tight end  Evan Landi, receivers Derrick Hopkins,  Andre Davis and D'Vario Montgomery and defensive end Ryan Giddens for the game tonight. If all of those players are held out of the game, the injured players will have more receptions (84), receiving yards (1,053) and TD catches (10) than the ones who are suiting up. For those scoring at home, USF could be without 56 percent of its catches and receiving yards and 71 percent of its TD receptions.

UConn just posted its two-deep chart for Saturday's game at South Florida. As expected, sophomore Gus Cruz moves into the starting spot at right offensive guard due to the season-ending ankle injury suffered by Adam Masters. Sophomore Bryan Paull enters the depth chart as the top backup to Cruz.

The only other change I noticed is Martin Hyppolite being listed as the No. 2 fullback to take the place of Seymour's Mike Osiecki, who is still sidelined with a concussion. In a corresponding move, Max DeLorenzo is now listed as the No. 2 tailback, a spot previously held by Hyppolite.

UConn football coach Paul Pasqualoni and offensive coordinator George DeLeone spoke at the National Football Foundation New Haven Chapter's dinner on Thursday night and after wrapping up my work following UConn women's basketball practice, I headed down to New Haven just in time for the speaking portion of the event.

Afterwards I caught up with Pasqualoni and DeLeone to catch up on some things since there hasn't been any access since a conference call with Pasqualoni on Saturday.

High up on the list of things I was interested in was the progress that new starting guard Gus Cruz was making stepping in for senior and team captain Adam Masters.


"He’s good, he is practicing full speed and he has had a pretty good week of practice," Pasqualoni said. "He doesn’t have the experience but Gus is a pretty athlete, he moves pretty good but he just doesn’t have that high level of experience because Adam had all those games under his belt but I am very encouraged, he is enthusiastic for it and he has passion for football. He just needs experience and that it why we are playing him."

DeLeone, who also coaches the offensive line, also talked about Cruz move from reserve to starter.

"They like to say the most popular person on the football team is the backup quarterback but also I say that being a backup guard is a pretty good job too," DeLeone said. "Now he is in the heat of the battle and he has to raise his expectation level. He is making progress and I am hoping down the road he can play up to a starter’s level for us."

Pasqualoni said it will be a straight move of inserting Cruz at the right guard spot Masters manned so there won't be a case of shifting Steve Greene to right guard and putting Cruz in at left guard. Rather than mixing things up too much, Greene will start at left guard and Cruz moves in at right guard.

I asked Pasqualoni which of the offensive linemen has picked up the leadership void lost by Masters' absence and Greene was the first player he mentioned.


"Steve Greene has been awfully good in the communication aspect of the offensive line," Pasqualoni said. "He has really been good. Tyler Bullock is trying hard to get in there as a center and be a vocal guy and give some leadership. They all in their own way are working pretty hard at it, they really are. I like what their approach."

From an injury standpoint, Pasqualoni said sophomore fullback Mike Osiecki is still unable to practice due to a concussion which forced him to miss the last two games but everybody else he was expecting to be back at practice has been able to go.

Finally, the Graduation Success Rates (GSR) were released today and the football team came in at 69, one point above the national average. Although the numbers should be credited more to the work during the Randy Edsall regime, Pasqualoni was still thrilled to hear that they came in above the national average.

"That is important," Pasqualoni said. "I’d be disappointed if we weren’t. All the years at Syracuse, we were up there very high and one year we won it. My expectations of the kids off the campus, in the classroom are as high as my expectations are for them on the field. You can do both, you can be a good student and you can be a great football player. That has always been our philosophy."

Things just went from bad to worse for the UConn football team as head coach Paul Pasqualoni confirmed on Saturday that senior offensive guard and team captain Adam Masters' left ankle injury will require season-ending surgery.

Masters has started 30 games during his career including seven this season at right guard. He has seen time this season at both guard and tackle positions and on the offensive side of the ball the Huskies might not have a tougher player to replace than Masters.

"His ankle is going to require surgery so he is done for the season," Pasqualoni said on a conference call on Saturday afternoon. "He was our most versatile guy, our swing guy. Not only that, he was probably played the most snaps up there so we are going to lose a guy with versatility and we are going to lose a guy with experience. Gus Cruz will have to step it up. Dalton Gifford will get some reps as the next tackle. Tyler Samra will get reps as a guard so we will continue to have seven people who will be prepared to go in the game.

"It is difficult on him. He is obviously disappointed. It is at the end of his senior year and he is very disappointed. He is a tough guy. He is optimistic. He will get the surgery and do the rehab but it is going to take some time and as it would be for anybody, it is really disappointing for him."

Masters' injury seems to be the only one serious one coming out Friday's 30-point loss to Syracuse.

Defensive end Tim Willman had his left arm in a sling after the game but Pasqualoni doesn't expect him to miss practice time. Linebackers Sio Moore and Yawin Smallwood, defensive end Trevardo Williams and receiver Michael Smith all had to come out of the game but Pasqualoni believes they will be good to go.

Moore's emotions got the better of him late in the game but Pasqualoni just chalked it up as being part of football.

"It is no big deal, just a little bit of frustration, guys are playing hard and it is an intense, emotional thing," Pasqualoni said. "One minute it appeared to be a little bit of a scuffle  but in 30 seconds everything was fine. There was no big deal made about it."

UConn won't play again until traveling to South Florida on Nov. 3 and Pasqualoni thinks the bye week comes at an ideal time.

"We had a very physical preseason, eight very tough games in a row," Pasqualoni said. "I don’t know if anybody else has played eight in a row. We are a little banged up so this open week comes at a good time for us, we will be able to get some work done but at the same time give the kids a good amount of rest.

"One of the things we really need to take a look at it is running the ball. We have not been able to run the ball especially in the past two weeks which is frustrating for us so those are things that we are going to work on and are going to have to improve on as we move forward. We have to establish some sort of runs and the runs that we feel the run concepts we feel like we would be the best at, try to narrow those down and do a good job with what we decide to do."

On a Thursday conference call with members of the Connecticut media UConn football coach Paul Pasqualoni said that he considers senior cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson to be probable for Saturday's game at Western Michigan and that senior guard Adam Masters is also expected to play.

Wreh-Wilson missed Saturday's game with a hamstring injury but Pasqualoni said Wreh-Wilson has been able to practice this week. Masters missed the Maryland game due to a stomach bug which impacted several team members.

Pasqualoni said that while the stomach bug issue is still impacting the team, he doesn't anticipate it preventing any players from making the trip or playing against the Broncos.

Saturday's game will not be televised but will be available on ESPN3. Here is the link http://espn.go.com/watchespn/affList

 

While much of the focus of the questions the UConn players faced today centered around Saturday's game against Maryland which is coached by former UConn coach Randy Edsall, a more pressing matter is how the Huskies were moving forward from a disappointing loss to North Carolina State.

While we won't know for sure until the ball is snapped on Saturday, the players I spoke to said they have liked what they have seen when UConn hit the practice field to prepare for the Maryland game.


"You could feel that out there, you could feel the camaraderie and so far things are going in the right direction," said senior offensive guard Adam Masters.

While UConn's defense ranks near the top in most categories in the national FBS rankings, the offense is languishing near the bottom.

But the UConn offensive stars have not lost faith.

"There was a little higher energy," UConn sophomore quarterback Chandler Whitmer said. "I tried to do a god job of keeping the tempo up like Coach P (Paul Pasqualoni) always preaches and we are going to continue to work on that."

In terms of the meeting against the Edsall-coached Terrapins, Pasqualoni continued to downplay the entire situation and said he did not instruct the players not to address the issue when they were asked about it today. Still, there wasn't much anti-Edsall venom to be heard coming out of the mouths of the UConn players  today. Pasqualoni said that coaching moves are a part of the business and he was not concerned about the way Edsall departed for Maryland when he began pursuing the job at UConn.

"You guys probably know more about this than I do," Pasqualoni said. "I never asked, I never read any articles on it. I was coaching Dallas, interviewed for the job here. Once I was offered the job here my focus was on recruiting.

"I thought Randy left the culture of this program very good. The kids from an off the field standpoint understood the expectations academically. It is a lot along the lines of what we did at Syracuse."

Edsall spoke to the media on a conference call but wasn't exactly in a mood to talk about any lingering bad feelings from his departure from UConn. When he was asked how he would liked to be remembered at UConn, Edsall ignored the question and said that he wanted to focus on questions about the game.

He did express regret with the fact that he accepted the Maryland job without informing any of his players at UConn of his decision face to face.

"I have nothing but great memories, great times at the university and what we were able to do," Edsall said. "I was very proud  of what we were able to do there at the University of Connecticut, it was a special place to me and my family in the sense that my daughter graduated from UConn, my son has spent all his years at school in there in the state. If I could do it over again, I wish there was some way that I was able to see the players and tell them face to face that I was going to leave and come to Maryland. Due to the circumstances surrounding that, I wasn't able to do that and that is something I have to live with.

"This is where I grew up and I spent a lot of time here  at Maryland in terms of being a young man, I went to camp here As we move forward we are looking to build a program here at Maryland."

INJURY UPDATE

It seems as if junior defensive tackle Shamar Stephen is getting closer to returning to the field after spraining a knee during fall camp but there is nothing more to report on defensive end Teddy Jennings' injured knee. Also, freshman quarterback and former Masuk star Casey Cochran still has a cast to protect his injured left thumb.

"Shamar is still questionable," Pasqualoni said. "We are going to get a look at him today and see how he moves around. He won't do everything today but we will get something out of him. 

"I have to see him today. Sometimes if you put a lot of pressure on it it swells up. If he works on it today and it doesn't get swollen than I will be encouraged."

As for Jennings, Pasqualoni said he wasn't sure if another MRI was necessary.

"I don't know if he will get pictures but the trainers know exactly what they are looking for," Pasqualoni said.

UConn named seniors Adam Masters, Jory Johnson, Nick Williams and Blidi Wreh-Wilson as captains for the 2012 season.

“We have an outstanding group of 17 seniors on our football team that all have shown outstanding leadership during their time here,” said UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni in a statement. “The four seniors that will serve as our team captains have been exceptional in all areas that are expected from a UConn football player.”

This is the second straight year that Wreh-Wilson has been named captain and he has started 22 career games. Masters, an offensive guard who has seen time at tackle as well, has started 23 games since arriving in Storrs. Johnson, a linebacker, was UConn's leading tackler in 2011 and has started 14 games including 12 during his junior season while Williams is UConn's career leader with a kickoff return average of 28.3 and is second all-time at Connecticut with 1,556 yards. He also will return punts and see time at receiver as a senior.