Starting defensive lineman Folorunso Fatukasi, tight end Tommy Myers and quarterback Bryant Shirreffs, reserve offensive lineman Kyle Schafenacker and Will Rishell, who is competing to become UConn's starting kicker, are among 952 players honored by the National Football Foundation for having already earned their degrees before their final college football season.

Fatukasi, who has started 23 career games and enters his senior season with 125 tackles and 10 sacks, was named to the preseason watch lists for the Outland Trophy, Nagurski Trophy and Wuerffel Trophy.

Myers has 27 career receptions and has been used mostly as a blocker especially during the 2016 season.

Shirreffs ranks in the top 10 in UConn history in career passing attempts, completions and yards as well as being 83 yards shy of becoming the fifth Husky with at least 5,000 yards of total offense.

Schafenacker appeared in nine games during the 2016 season while Rishell is a former walk-on who is competing with Michael Tarbutt to be the No. 1 kicker following the graduation of Bobby Puyol.

The words uttered by coaches on national signing day can often be little more than idle chatter. If the words are taken at face value, each recruit signed would be a three-year starter and All-American candidate.

However, when Bob Diaco said, "there are others who could quarterback our team but Donovan (Williams) is "the" quarterback, he was brought in for that purpose. It could be argued whether he was a national recruit but he was close. He was a 20-40 offer player, a spectacular young man, high achiever in all areas. He make all the throws, athletic, fast and every time I see him he gets bigger" this was not just typical signing day hype.

Fast forward to this week and during both Tuesday's and Wednesday's practice and there was Williams gets reps with either the first or second team offense. He wasn't in there a ton but he was getting the chance to go up against the No. 1 defense in 11 on 11 drills and not as the quarterback of the scout team which would be normal operating procedure.

When I spoke with offensive coordinator Frank Verducci after Wednesday's practice, the first question I had pertained to Williams' chance to work with the top offensive units.

"Any benefit we can give him as far being exposed to the varsity to bring him along, that is what we are trying to do right now," Verducci said. "Obviously if there is an apocalypse plan because you have plans for everything ... so you want to get him exposed as much as possible. If he never plays a down this year, he is going to start in spring ball at a level so much higher than he would have been if we just put him on the scout team the whole year. He is obviously a great physical talent."

Let's be honest here, UConn does not want to put Williams into a game this season. In a perfect world, he gets to redshirt this season, he moves into the role as No. 2 quarterback next season and then takes over as the Huskies' signal caller during the 2018 season.

Williams roomed with starting quarterback Bryant Shirreffs during preseason camp which was another smart move since it allowed him to spend plenty of time with the team's starting quarterback and one of its four captains.

"Donovan's a great kid," Shirreffs said after Tuesday's practice. "A really good kid, he stays quiet but once you get to know him, you learn who he is. He is a really hard worker and a pleasure to be around."

Another youngster who earned praise from veteran players and coaches was sophomore receiver Aaron McLean. Both Shirreffs and senior receiver Noel Thomas raved about the block McLean threw on one play and he had a key 24-yard catch on the final drive of the game. What I didn't realize until talking to Verducci was that those were McLean's only two plays in the game.

"McLean is really the exceptional one because he played two plays," Verducci said. "One play he did a kickout block like a fullback and puts the guy on the ground. The other play, he catches a 24-yard pass so give credit to him for his preparation and staying in the game. He had every excuse to not be focused but when those guys got gassed on the two-minute drill, he goes in and makes a play. It is not a scripted play, it is a scramble, it is an adjustment and he makes an adjustment and makes a play."

Those are the types of plays that should get McLean more than two snaps of playing time in the future.

Verducci chose his words carefully about how junior running back Arkeel Newsome has been utilized in the first two games but it was noteworthy that Newsome's 10 touches in the Navy game were the fewest for the former Ansonia High star since the third game of last season when he had two carries and one catch in a loss at Missouri. Newsome averaged 22 touches per game for the rest of the season. Playing time is earned during practice and Newsome hasn't been flashing as much the practices this year as he did a season ago but it is clear he is still a key piece of the offensive game plan. I would expect him to get more than the 10 touches he had against Navy on Saturday as the UConn coaches hope that he can return to being one of the most explosive playmakers on the team.

"Ron has shown some growth and we are happy with that but for us to be as good as we can be, both of those guys have to have a contribution," Verducci said.

There may not be a team on UConn's schedule with more history than the South Florida team visiting Rentschler Field on Saturday afternoon.

Ansonia's Arkeel Newsome is in the midst of an
impressive three-game run as a rusher, receiver
and kickoff return specialist for the Huskies

Who could forget the pure elation when Dave Teggart's 52-yard field goal with 17 seconds left was dead, solid perfect to give the Huskies the 19-16 victory, a share of the 2010 Big East title and a most improbable spot in the Fiesta Bowl. It was a day when UConn players, coaches and most of all fans could scream from the roof tops that they had arrived. The journey from solid I-AA team to BCS bowl participant was anything but an overnight one but the feeling was that this was just the start of something great.

Instead, a series of events transpired after the 48-20 loss to Oklahoma that sent the program reeling. Randy Edsall exited stage left to take the job at Maryland and the even though many of the decision makers were on the way out as well, the move was made to bring Paul Pasqualoni in to take the program to the next level. In retrospect it was the wrong man at the wrong time. Pasqualoni is one class act but also a decade removed from his last winning season as a collegiate head coach.

Fans and boosters scratched their heads at the hire and some did significantly more than that. The Huskies were actually in contention for bowl eligibility going into the 2011 season finale thanks to another win over USF but a loss to Cincinnati doomed the Huskies to a 5-7 record.

A 13-6 loss at USF in the 2012 season was the final nail in a four-game losing streak as the Huskies would once again finish with a losing season despite having five seniors taken between the third and sixth rounds in the 2013 NFL draft.

Foley Fatukasi is one of the rising stars on defense for UConn

It seems hard to fathom that USF's most recent trip to East Hartford came just two years ago and the Bulls took the field against a program in the state of disarray. UConn AD Warde Manuel had seen enough when a 41-12 loss at Buffalo, a school he used to work at, dropped the Huskies to 0-4. With an extra week to prepare for the start of the conference season, Manuel fired Pasqualoni and veteran assistant coach George DeLeone. Although the Huskies didn't give up an offensive touchdown in a 13-10 loss to USF, the feeling was UConn's program was years away from being relevant again even with the efforts of the energetic interim head coach T.J. Weist and a group of players who despite the chaos around them continued to fight the good fight. The Huskies would lose five more in a row to fall to 0-9 before ending the season with three wins a row.

Manuel aimed high and landed highly-respected Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco.

It took a while but Diaco's impact on the program is hard to miss. The Huskies are sitting at 3-3 after a convincing 40-13 win over Central Florida. UConn lost by three at Missouri and was within four points of Navy late in the second quarter, something that would likely never have occurred a season or even two seasons ago. Then the Huskies went on the road and was tied with BYU 10-10 heading into the fourth quarter before falling by 17. Suddenly there is a sense that this team has a chance to play in a bowl - not in five years but in December.

Quirky might be the most accurate word to describe Diaco, a man who perpetually acts like he is on his 12th cup of coffee. One of the most bizarre scenes in his brief tenure with the Huskies came in last year's 17-14 loss at USF. UConn attempted to pass the ball four times in the first quarter and the results were a holding call, an intentional grounding penalty and another call for an illegal block. The other attempted pass resulted in Chandler Whitmer being sacked. USF recovered to set up the game's first touchdown.

A few months earlier Diaco was surrounded by local media at American Athletic Conference media day and said he it gave him the best chance to win he would run the ball on every single play. Everybody within ear shot laughed except Diaco. Sure enough, playing in horrendous weather and not believing his team could drop back and pass without disastrous results, he had the Huskies run the ball on every single play in the second quarter. UConn ran the ball 13 straight times. Six of the 10 passes came in the final two drives as the Huskies' valiant rally fell short.

Luke Carrezola is one of four sophomores to start on defense for UConn

Last year Diaco pressed so many young players into action and this season there have been seven sophomore starting on offense, another four on defense. The true freshman receivers are coming on and so are so many of the second-year players. First-year starter Tommy Hopkins looks like a keeper at guard, cornerback Jamar Summer is one of the team's most talented players. Linebacker Junior Joseph and pass rushers Luke Carrezola and Cole Ormsby have tremendous potential while Foley Fatukasi has a chance to become an unblockable force on the defensive line. Arkeel Newsome has emerged into an impactful player as a runner, receiver and kickoff return and tight ends Tommy Myers and Alec Bloom don't get a ton of balls thrown their way but the ones that do come usually result in a big play. NC State transfer Bryant Shirreffs has the looks of being a difference maker at quarterback, something the Huskies have lacked in recent years.

Another bizarre move by Diaco was the creation of a trophy for the self-proclaimed "rivalry" with Central Florida, which had no clue about this so-called rivalry. Diaco was the butt of plenty of one-liners on social media and in various papers around the country. However, I have to admit that after seeing the UConn team celebrating with the trophy after the victory over UCF and posing for photos with it before leaving the field that there was a method to Diaco's madness. Say what you want about this trophy and rivalry but the players bought 100 percent in and really they are the only ones who really matter.

Is this team ready to come away with the three more victories needed to receive a bowl invitation? It's hard to say but this is not a question that was even being posed either last season or two years ago.

Stay tuned because there's a chance that this young head coach has a plan that has the program moving in the right direction. A win on Saturday would be a major step in Diaco's master plan.

I just finished watching a replay of last night's game because you always see things a little differently than you do on game night. Now it is time to break down what went right and what did not.


THE GOOD
The sophomore trio of Foley Fatukasi, Luke Carrezola and Junior Joseph have a chance to be scary good by the time they are there. Heck, they might already be there. I would have to think Villanova quarterback John Robertson was seeing images of Carrezola when he went to sleep last night, Carrezola was only credited with six tackles but he was constantly applying pressure. It was Carrezola who did just enough to force Robertson into the throw which was intercepted by Andrew Adams/ Fatukasi had two of the team's four sacks and two tackles for loss. He was simply too much for the Villanova line to handle. Joseph didn't get as much attention as the game was going on but when he hits you, the play is over.

Ron Johnson displayed quickness, vision and power for UConn

Tight ends were not a featured part of the passing game in the two scrimmages I saw and it was good to see Tommy Myers and Alec Bloom targeted as much as they were. The combined for 99 yards on three catches and could have had six catches between them.

I wrote earlier in this blog how much quicker Ron Johnson looks and it was on display against Villanova. He was cutting quickly and with purpose but also displayed pure power. I had him forcing four missed tackles in the first half and I wish I had charted his yards after contact because it would have been a pretty impressive number. His final numbers (23 carries for 69 yards) might not blow anybody away but don't forget a 24-yard run wiped out by a needless hold by left tackle Richard Levy.

If Bryant Shirreffs was rusty while playing his first game since 2013, it didn't show. He finished 12 of 20 for 202 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He was victimized by two sure drops, made a great throw down the sideline to Noel Thomas that was just a matter of an inch or so from being a huge play and while his throw to Myers late in the first half wasn't great, it was merely bad luck what it resulted in an interception. Shirreffs was tentative a couple of times on runs but that part of his game figures to improve. I thought they forgot to look in the direction of Noel Thomas for long stretches which is something the Villanova team was probably very thankful for.

THE BAD
Villanova had six tackles for loss and by my count, four of them were a result of simply not blocking the defender. Most of these came from the left side where there seemed to be communication issues with Levy, the tight ends and running backs. This is easily fixed and I would think it will be addressed this week in practice. It was encouraging that the interior of the line featuring first-time starters Tommy Hopkins and Brendan Vechery seemed to hold up pretty well. Also, senior guard Tyler Samra wasn't too noticeable on the tape which is usually a good thing for an interior offensive lineman.

Six offensive touches for Arkeel Newsome is simply not acceptable. He needs to get his hands on the ball more and his 27-yard dash to the end zone with a screen pass made that abundantly clear. What was interested in watching the tape is that he ran to the sideline right before that play thinking he was being taken out. Instead, Max DeLorenzo came to the sidelines and Newsome came up with one of the best plays in the game.

The holding penalties on veteran tackles Levy (wiping out Johnson's best run) and Andreas Knappe (resulting in a safety when he was called for holding Trumbull's Don Cherry in the end zone) were lazy plays. They were in position to make the blocks but instead reached out and grabbed jerseys. The 15-yard penalties against Fatukasi and Johnson was a case of young, enthusiastic players getting carried away. I am sure it will be a point of emphasis as their passion and skill make them key players on this UConn team but they will learn when it is time to line up for the next play.

THE UGLY
 With the exception of the third quarter, UConn's defense on third down was just dreadful. There was a stretch where Villanova converted five first downs on seven third-down plays. Here's the breakdown

3rd and 6: 7 yards
3rd and 2: 2 yards
3rd and 21: 22 yards
3rd and 9: 10 yards
3rd and 6: 13 yards and a touchdown

Villanova averaged 7.2 yards on third down plays and 3.5 on all the other plays. The Huskies did such a great job putting themselves in position to get off the field only to throw it away with poor execution on third down.

By my count UConn missed 10 tackles. Now five of those came against the slippery John Robertson but still, that is a concern. It is the season opener and it is the first time they could hit with no restrictions but with Army and its vaunted option offense up next, this needs to be cleaned up.

In closing, UConn has to feel pretty good about how things went especially with 11 of the 22 starters being sophomores including seven first-time starters. I am sure there are some out there saying what's the big deal about an FBS team beating an FCS team especially at home. The fact is that a year ago UConn would not have won that game and two years they didn't emerge victorious in a similar situation as Towson posted a 33-18 win. Villanova is not your ordinary FCS team even with the loss key players on the both sides of the game. For a program needing positive results to build off, what took place last night was a nice way to get things started.

Guard Tyler Samra could be UConn's only senior starter on offense

A new season, a new offensive coordinator and plenty of optimism that this is the season when not turning the ball over can be considered a successful possession.

As I begin my fourth season on the beat, the story lines surrounding the UConn football team haven't really changed. Frank Verducci is the fourth offensive coordinator in the last four seasons (five if you count the time when Shane Day called the plays after T.J. Weist became the interim head coach).

Bryant Shirreffs will be the third different quarterback to start a UConn season opener in the last three seasons and there are people, myself included, curious to see how he is going to perform. For the record, I liked what I saw in the two scrimmages and two practices I attended in preseason camp more than what I witnessed during spring practice. He can make all the throws, has looked pretty good throwing the deep sideline out which is the one throw I always look for in judging a quarterback's arm strength. He doesn't seem to be as much of a riverboat gambler as Chandler Whitmer. Whitmer's aggressive mindset resulted in some tough throws into tight windows but also costly interceptions. I don't think Shirreffs will make as many risky throws as Whitmer did. He also gives UConn a true pass-run threat at the quarterback position which is something that has been lacking.

That is not the only question I have regarding the offense. I think UConn is in pretty good shape at offensive tackle with Richard Levy and Andreas Knappe returning for their second season as starters. However, the interior offensive line positions, that is a different story. UConn fans have to hope that the season-ending injury suffered by Ryan Crozier doesn't become a popular story angle because that would mean that first-year starters Brendan Vechery and Tommy Hopkins were struggling. It was hard to get an accurate read on how they are playing because going up against UConn's defensive line is going to be a tough task for anybody this season.

Noel Thomas enters his junior season as UConn's top receiver

My other major concern is who emerges as a secondary receiving option. Noel Thomas is primed for a special season. In my opinion he's been UConn's best player in camp. He has caught everything and I do mean everything thrown in his direction. He had enough highlight variety catches in the last scrimmage I was at as some players get in an entire season. However, teams are going to make it a point of taking Thomas away so it will be imperative that somebody else steps up. It would not surprise me in the least if true freshman Tyraiq Beals ends up being that guy. I also anticipate tailback Arkeel Newsome and the tight end position (likely Alec Bloom and Chris Lee)  to be targeted often.

While their offensive philosophies are different, I see a lot of T.J. Weist in new offensive coordinator Frank Verducci. He's an energetic, tell it like it is kind of guy and when the assistant coaches are made available to the media, he is usually either the first or last guy I seek out. He was the last person I spoke to during UConn's media day and he gave me some great stuff about the growth of the offense since a less than stellar showing in the first scrimmage of preseason camp.

Here's what he had to say.

"I like how we have progressed in the last week," Verducci said. "(The second scrimmage) was a giant step for us, it was more situation specific, red zone and stuff like that. We were pleased with the progress. Even since then I think we have made another jump.

Arkeel Newsome led UConn in all-purpose yardage as a freshman

"One of the things that is hard to develop is a sense of self expectation standards. I think our standards have risen, our expectation of how we practice, how efficient we are and all that kind of thing and that has jumped up. The greatest thing is that we have kept the players healthy and in doing so, they have had a chance to improve and I think they have done that."

Every indication is that sophomores Ron Johnson and Newsome will handle the bulk of the carries although I expect to see senior Max DeLorenzo seeing time as well likely at a variety of positions.

"What we have to be careful with Ron is we have to understand that he is still a young player," Verducci said. "In a lot of programs he would have been a redshirt and he would just be playing, he would be getting his first exposure right. A lot of times he would be getting exposure behind an upperclassmen where he shot to the front of the line here for whatever reason. The thing as a coach that I have to be aware of is that he is a young player, he does lack experience in certain areas. Just because he is the No. 1 guy, we still think his ceiling is still very high and we are trying to continue to develop him as he is contributing which is a bit of a challenge.

"Arkeel is very deceiving. For a guy as slight in stature as he is, he is as physical of a player that we have pound for pound he really is a physical player."

About the offensive line ...

"I think the greatest asset we have there is Mike Cummings because he's doing a tremendous job of building them as a group, developing them individually so I have all the confidence in the world there," Verducci said. "As a former line coach myself, I sit there and watch what Mike does and he does a sensational job. The players absolutely respond to him and I am confident with where we are headed even with the lack of experience there, we are just going to continue to get better."

Some of his quotes on Shirreffs made the story I filed on Sunday when Shirreffs was named the starting quarterback but in case you missed it, here you go.

"I love Bryant Shirreffs," Verducci said. I think his teammates will say that he is one of if not the hardest working guy on the team,

"Bryant Shirreffs is a guy that every minute you invest with him, you get a return, he is a joy to work with."

Finally, depending on what happens with DeLorenzo, guard Tyler Samra could be the only senior starter on offense so I was curious if Verducci was concerned about a lack of veteran leadership.

"The team is led irregardless of class," Verducci said. "Some of our best leaders are sophomores and juniors on the offensive side of the ball and I think you will always see that in a program is geared towards developing leadership at all levels regardless of seniority."

Verducci mentioned tackles Levy and Knappe and guard Samra among the players taking leadership roles on offense.

Tomorrow night we'll get the first look at how this offense is going to look and get the answers to some of the questions posted above.

A year ago there was some actual mystery involved in the naming of UConn's starting quarterback, a job that went to Casey Cochran before one too many concussions resulted in the retirement of the former Masuk High star.

Well, there would be no such drama this season. While UConn coach Bob Diaco waited until today to announce that Bryant Shirreffs would start Thursday's season opener against Villanova, it was abundantly obvious that the North Carolina State quarterback was the clear choice to win the job.

In the two scrimmages we were allowed to watch Shirreffs was head and shoulders above the competition. In the second one, Shirreffs worked exclusively with the first-team offense while Tim

In the two scrimmages during preseason camp, both held at Rentschler Field, Shirreffs was unofficially 22 of 32 passing for 236 yards with two touchdowns and an interception as he was easily the most productive quarterback. Now it is time for Shirreffs to take control of an offense which has lacked quality play from the quarterback position since the graduation of Dan Orlovsky.

"People will tell me all the time that we have had struggles at UConn all the time in the quarterback area but I couldn't tell you that much about it because I have only been here a year," Shirreffs said. "I just know what I can do and I am going to do it to the best of my ability.

"I don't think any other quarterback is trying not to play well, I am going to try to play the best that I can. I wanted to be the best I can be and wherever the coaches, wherever I was on the depth chart, that was up to them. I wanted to prepare the best that I could and have it show up on the field. I don't really think of first string, second string, seventh string, that doesn't matter to me as long as we are winning."

Shirreffs played in eight games as a freshman at North Carolina State in 2013, running the ball 34 times and passing it five times. In his second game Shirreffs had a 28-yard touchdown run and a 7-yard TD pass in a win over Richmond.

While Shirreffs has displayed arm strength and accuracy during camp, his ability to make plays with his legs will provide an added dimension to UConn's offense.

"I can't wait to watch," UConn senior running back Max DeLorenzo said of Shirreffs taking command of the offense. "He leads by example more than by vocal but we have some other vocal guys but he will be even more of a leader when he starts making plays like I know he will."

It will be a new era with not only a new quarterback but also a first-year offensive coordinator in Frank Verducci.

"I love Bryant Shirreffs, I think his teammates will say that he is one of if not the hardest working guy on the team," Verducci said. "Bryant Shirreffs is a guy that every minute you invest with him, you get a return, he is a joy to work with."

It's already been well documented that yesterday's scrimmage was not the best of days for the UConn offense. However, it wasn't all doom and gloom,

There were a couple of connections from quarterback Bryant Shirreffs to Noel Thomas that were something to behold. While the jury is still out whether the offensive line will enable UConn's running game to take off, after watching one practice and yesterday's combination of practice/scrimmage, it is looking like UConn has found its starting quarterback in Shirreffs and No. 1 receiver in Thomas.

The first time the two hooked up was a thing of beauty as Shirreffs threw a sideline out to Thomas who not only made the catch but showed off his athleticism by getting a foot down.

"It was a well placed ball and he placed it only where I could have it," Thomas said. "I just made sure I got the foot down and got the catch. I actually remember the last practice the receivers working on sideline catches, Coach (David) Corley making sure we get a foot down."

Based on the reaction by UConn head coach Bob Diaco and offensive coordinator Frank Verducci, yesterday was not the first time Thomas came up with a key catch.

When I asked Diaco about the lift that early catch by Thomas gave a struggling offense he thanked me multiple times for asking about Thomas.

"This guy has kind of reinvented himself," Diaco said. "He has always been a special talent and now this guy comes with a purpose to work  every day. He is putting the preparation to have a special year, a breakout year I would say. If he continues to work the way he has been working, he will have a special year."

Verducci has also been impressed not only with Thomas' emergence but the amount of work Shirreffs and Thomas have put in together.

"We are looking for Noel to be that kind of player, a guy that when the chips are down, whenever we need to get a jump start 'let's find a way to get the ball to Noel and see what he can do,'" Verducci said. "He has the kind of potential. He has had a great camp. Tremendous. The hard work that they have put in this summer is extremely evident and it shows up the most in the timing aspect where Bryant will hit that third step, boom get the ball out and Noel is out of his break. It is a credit to them, all the work they have done in the offseason to get to that point. Thank goodness it is showing in their productivity."

According to Neill Ostrout of the Manchester Journal Inquirer Shirreffs finished 10 of 18 for 108 yards while the other four quarterbacks were 7 of 17 for 111 yards.

The two completions to Thomas were among the highlights for Shirreffs.

"Noel and I have gotten really close lately, we are together all the time but with Noel I have learned he can make plays," Shirreffs said. "You saw it today, we have been working on that play for a while and it finally paid off."

If you factor in a drop on a perfectly thrown third down pass Shirreffs would have completed more than 60 percent of his passes working against the No. 1 defense, a unit that could very well be a top 25 or 30 ranked squad this season. Still, only managing one offensive touchdown left Shirreffs feeling like there's plenty of work yet to be done.

"We just need to learn from today, see what we didn't do as well and improve on it,' Shirreffs said. "It is the first time we got out here with referees and simulated a game so you are going to have some mistakes. I had some mistakes so you have to go to the film, see what I did wrong and not do it again. It is good to look forward and now that positive things are going to come the more you worry about what is going wrong and looking back, the more you are going to be stagnant.

"What I liked about today is in my group, I don't know about the other groups, but my group nobody really panicked. We had a couple of slow drives in the beginning but then we got things going there at the end."

While some of the freshmen are already making an impact led by Tyraiq Beals, some of the busiest receivers on Saturday were the most experienced ones as junior Brian Lemelle continues to work with the starters and classmate Dhameer Bradley was the most targeted receiver.

With the graduation of Geremy Davis and Deshon Foxx, leadership at the receiver position is falling to Thomas, Bradley and Lemelle.

"I feel like me, Dhameer Bradley, Brian Lemelle, we have the most experience at receiver on the team and we are definitely taking ownership and trying to get everybody up to speed," Thomas said. "We have talented young guys so we want them to play so we try to help them out as much as we can because we definitely learned a lot from Geremy Davis and Deshon Foxx."

Lemelle showed plenty of promise as a true freshman but seemed to be a little bit of a forgotten guy a season ago. Now he is set to make an impact as a receiver and on special teams as he could see time returning both kickoffs and punts.

"He certainly has a swagger, he plays like it too," Thomas said of Lemelle. "He plays with a chip on his shoulder and he is going to be good."

It is hard not to notice what Beals has been doing in camp.

While much has been made of Diaco targeting tall receivers, in the two practices I have been to it has been the 6-foot Beals, the shortest of the four true freshman scholarship receivers who has been seeing to most time with the first or second teams. He also had a nice catch near the sideline.

"He is a really a special freshman," Verducci said. "He has come in and acclimated really well, great personality, a very smart young man and I am confident he will put himself in the mix to be a contributor."

Beals had one game as a senior at East Orange (N.J.) Campus HS with 16 catches for 218 yards and another with 13 catches for 259 yards and six TDs so he knows something about catching the ball.

"I know Beals made a great play on the sideline today but every single freshman receiver has really thoroughly impressed me," Shirreffs said. "They came in during the summer and worked their tails off with us in the weight room, Coach Balis really gets after up in the weight room and with conditioning. They all handled it like true champions so to have them on the field and involved in the offense is definitely an honor."

Speaking of youth, I find it interesting that four of the five players on the second-team offensive line are guys either in their first or second year with the program as sophomore Steve Hashemi is at one guard, sophomore Trey Rutherford is at a tackle, redshirt freshman Dan Oak is the center and true freshman Matthew Peart is at tackle. The lone veteran is redshirt junior Kyle Bockeloh.

I was surprised not to see Ron Johnson out there more at tailback but perhaps it was just a chance to see how the other three guys look since it looks like Johnson has put himself in position to have a key role this season . Also, I thought the tight ends would be featured more. They were targeted early and often in the 7 on 7 drill right before the start of the scrimmage but not very busy in the passing game once the scrimmage started.

Offensive coordinator Frank Verducci summed up what transpired at today's scrimmage perfectly when he said "it wasn't pretty."

I'm not sure much more should be said so this will go down as shortest blog post of my career.

OK, maybe not.

I wasn't down at field level until the very end when the third and fourth stringers were going head to head but it felt like many of the inexperienced offensive players' eyes were as big as saucers with this being the first Rentschler Field experience in key roles for many of them. It was also the first time in camp that referees were on the field and there were also some NFL scouts in attendance so it was a brave new world for many of them.

Before the first snap there was a false start in the middle of the offensive line where the Huskies are very young. Still, had Dhameer Bradley secured a perfectly-throw pass by Bryant Shirreffs on third down the drive would have continued. An interception by Andrew Adams ended the next drive and later on Tim Boyle's pass bounced off Josh Marriner's hands resulting in a pick 6 by redshirt freshman safety Anthony Watkins. One of the first promising drives was short circuited by back to back delay of game penalties and a sack by Cole Ormsby.

"Any time that happens it is not going to work out." UConn coach Bob Diaco said of setting the tone with a penalty on the first offensive play. "It is hard enough to move the football and get the field flipped, let alone shoot yourself in the foot, the next man in offense comes down the field, makes a high red zone penetration and then penalty, penalty, sack and before they did anything they were on the 42 (after getting to the 23)."

There was some good news.

Shirreffs and Noel Thomas hooked up on a couple of gorgeous connections. The first one was a perfectly throw sideline out (perhaps the toughest throw for a quarterback) with Thomas' ability to secure the football and get one foot down bearing just a passing resemblance to Geremy Davis. True freshman Tyraiq Beals continues to work with the second-team offense (as he did in Wednesday's practice) and he had one impressive catch. He is also in the mix for work as a punt returner. Marriner had a string of solid runs on that aforementioned drive to the 23 before the offense self destructed and Max DeLorenzo had the offense's lone TD in the scrimmage.

Beals, second-string left tackle Matthew Peart, second-string defensive tackle David Ryslik and tight ends Chris Lee and Zordan Holman are among the true freshmen in line to not only play right away but be on the two-deep chart heading into the Villanova game.

Defensively Junior Joseph (more on his in the next day or two) looks ready to become a major factor at middle linebacker, Graham Stewart had a sack and defensive tackles Julian Campenni and Foley Fatukasi wreaked havoc.

With No. 1 holder Blake Feagles no longer a member of the team, quarterbacks Tim Boyle and Garrett Anderson got work as holders on field goal attempts before the start of the scrimmage. The most noteworthy part of that part of practice is how players like Luke Carrezola, Javon Hadley and John Robinson nearly had blocked field goals.

UConn will open spring practice a week from today so I figured it would be a good time to take a look at what the Huskies have to work with going into spring practice. I will take a position or sometimes double up on some positional groups.

I will start with the quarterbacks. It's a group that the Husky faithful can only hope makes up in quality what it lacks in quantity.

Junior Tim Boyle is the only one of the three to have thrown a pass in a game for the Huskies. He appeared in nine of the 12 games a season ago but a 52.4 completion percentage and one touchdown versus three interceptions won't wow anybody. Boyle was thrown into the fire as a true freshman after the Huskies got off to an 0-4 start and I'm not sure he was ready for what was coming. This is a huge year for him to prove he can be the type of quarterback an offense can be built around. The 6-foot-3 Boyle has the size and arm strength to make all the throws. He hasn't always handled pressure from the opposing pass rush as well as he needs to. He should have an edge over Bryant Shirreffs and Tyler Davis since he has been with the program the longest.

Shirreffs is an intriguing prospect. He played in eight games as a freshman at North Carolina State, running for 158 yards and a touchdown and completing 4 of 5 passes for 17 yards and another touchdown. His numbers as a high school senior were rather impressive as he had more than 3,700 yards of total offense. Although Boyle can make plays with the legs, Shirreffs is definitely more adept of thriving as a dual threat quarterback.

Davis graduated from Mepham (N.Y.) High School early so he is currently enrolled at UConn and can take part in spring practice. Casey Cochran's ability to go through spring drills after wrapping up a record-breaking career at Masuk was invaluable in allowing him to get onto the field as a redshirt freshman. Davis is a prospect that was at the top of the wish list of the current staff and like Shirreffs, he has shown a real ability to make big plays in the run game. Davis had six games with more than 150 rushing yards including 378 in one of the contests. After throwing five interceptions in his first three games as a senior, he had just one for the rest of the season so that is a good sign.

Obviously quarterback is the most high-profile position on any team so it will generate plenty of attention. However, the quality of the quarterback play has held the Huskies back in recent years and it will be interesting to see not only who emerges as the No. 1 guy but also if they have what it takes to be more than just a game manager.

A year ago Don Patterson was in charge of coaching the quarterbacks but when the dust cleared after a revamping of offensive staff coaching duties, former receivers coach Wayne Lineburg was moved to work with the QBs.

"It is important that we raise our level but every position we have to be better," Lineburg said. "Obviously quarterback is a focal point, you get too much blame when you lose, too much credit when you win. It is a big position and we have to do a great job of finding a guy that is going to lead the team, move the team and score points. Who is that guy who is going to protect the bal and do those things. If we can do those things, it will help us out and lead us to better production."

Since we didn't get to see Shirreffs in action a season ago, I was curious about Lineburg's thoughts on his potential.

"I have seen him some but mostly he was on the scout team so I haven't been able to watch him a ton so it will be interesting to see how he does." Lineburg said. "He has a good skill set and he is an intelligent guy and he has shown some leadership skills. We will have to see how he does and I'll be able to tell you more at the end of spring of where he is."
Coached quarterbacks for several years at Richmond so it was a natural position for me having played it. I love receiver play but I love quarterback play as well so I am looking forward to working with those guys.

It was a rather interesting day at UConn to say the least.

The initial impression I got was that no players would be available even though this was the day we were expecting Bob Diaco to announce who is going to be the starting quarterback.

Then came the process of removing the podium from the defensive meeting room inside the Burton Family Football Complex and replacing it with a table. Five chairs were then brought in which made the media wonder if this was going to be the day when the team captains were named. Instead, the chairs were for all four scholarship quarterbacks and Diaco. I've covered my share of competitive quarterback battles but have never seen a coach bring in every scholarship quarterback to announce the starter. It was original, that is for sure.

It didn't take long for Diaco to cut to the chase and announce that redshirt sophomore Casey Cochran was going to be the No. 1 quarterback, senior Chandler Whitmer was going to see time in games and Tim Boyle would likely be redshirted.

Diaco told the quarterbacks of his intentions earlier on Monday before announcing the news to the media early in the evening.

"It is great news and it feels even better to hear it around these guys," Cochran said. "We are working as hard as we can. I am glad that Chandler is going to come in and play as hard as he can, we are going to work together in terms of being able to putting points on the board and winning games this year. I have a different life now, a different lifestyle and it feels amazing."

As Cochran mentioned, the plan is for both Cochran and Whitmer to see action in games. Diaco didn't have a preset scenario where Whitmer, who started 16 games over the previous two seasons, would get a certain amount of plays or get onto the field in particular situations.

In practice Diaco said the repetitions with the starting offense will likely be closer to a 51/49 percent breakdown than the maximum 85/15 allotment of snaps.

Whitmer, who was benched after starting the first four games of the season, has admitted that he lost some of the joy he used to get from playing football and with his degree in hand, he could have walked away from the sport. Instead, one phone conversation with Diaco changed it all. Diaco told Whitmer if he could handle being in a situation where he worked with the scout team and didn't get a snap during games he was welcome to come back. If he was only thinking on returning to be the Huskies' starting quarterback, there would be no need to return.

Whitmer vowed that "I did not come back to be the starting quarterback at UConn."

Diaco raved about Whitmer's maturity.
"Every day since he has repaired, rebuilt and gained back the respect of his teammates," Diaco said. "He didn't have to gain back our respect, he got it through his actions, through his behaviors and through his work."

Whitmer sat at a table with fellow quarterbacks Cochran, Tim Boyle and Bryant Shirreffs and said he is ready for whatever role Diaco, offensive coordinator Mike Cummings and quarterbacks coach Don Patterson has in store for him.

"I wanted to come back, set the record straight and not leave UConn the way things ended last year," Whitmer said. "I wanted to change my attitude. I grew as a man and I credit Coach Diaco for having me come back and just the way he changed this whole group, this environment. He has increased the love and it has made it easy for me to be a better teammate."

Diaco said it was nearly a dead heat between Cochran and Whitmer (Boyle was slowed by what appeared to be a lower body injury as he started today's practice riding a stationary bike.

Cochran led UConn to a season-ending three game winning streak culminating when also threw for a single-game program record 461 yards in the regular-season finale against Memphis.

However, with a new head coach in Diaco, new offensive coordinator in Mike Cummings and new quarterbacks coach in Don Patterson Cochran had to earn the job all over again.

The first step was doing the work in the weight room. Diaco said Cochran weighed in at 247 pounds at one point which predictably did not go over well with the new regime. He worked diligently to get down to under 220 pounds and showed enough during the preseason camp that he was named the team's starting quarterback on Monday.