Making my way to the press box, I walked by plenty of folks heading to yesterday's UConn/Central Florida game but it seemed like I couldn't walk more than 10 feet without seeing friends or family members of the 11 Florida-born players for the Huskies.

Whether it was a couple of people wearing the No. 17 Puyol jerseys or even a couple of family members of injured offensive lineman Ryan Crozier proudly wearing his number 63, it figured to be a day those Sunshine State natives won't soon forget. If that was the mood before the game just imagine what it must have been like when the Huskies, behind stellar play from so many of the hometown products, raced off to a 40-3 lead en route to a 27-point victory.

Whether it was Jhavon Williams coming up with a crucial interception, Ron Johnson scoring a touchdown, Ellis Marder returning a muffed punt or Puyol going 5 for 5 on extra points and booting a 21-yard field goal, this had to feel like a walk into paradise for the former Florida high school football stars who made the difficult decision to head all the way up to Connecticut for college.

"They had a lot of fans down here," UConn junior safety Obi Melifonwu said. "I know Jhavon Williams' family came down, Bobby Puyol's family came down, Ellis Marder's family came down so it was great to see a lot of fans out here that support UConn football and will continue to support UConn football."

Williams, who intercepted a pass for the second game in a row and third straight road game, said he had 47 family members or friends in attendance.

"That was phenomenal to come here and be able to make a play in front of my parents, my godparents, my grandmother, it just feels so good, so surreal," said Williams, whose four career interceptions have come against Michigan, Missouri, BYU and now UCF. "It is a great feeling to know that something you worked so hard for all season came true tonight. They were running around with the trophy, celebrating, doing a song and dance in the locker room. It is so surreal feeling to be successful on the road."

If Williams was giddy about Saturday's festivities, imagine the emotions Johnson was feeling as his family had a chance to be reunited.

"I got to play in front of my brother who never got to see me play before," Johnson said. "It was a special moment for my mother having all of her kids together (for the first time) in almost 10 years, it was an amazing feeling.

"We wanted to come home in front of our family an put on a show and that is what we did."

Puyol said he felt as much joy seeing Williams or Marder make a game-changing play as he did when all six of his kicks went through the uprights.

"Today was for our team, our brothers and it was cool to see guys, especially Jhavon," Puyol said. "Jhavon lives 10 miles down the road from me so it was awesome seeing him do well, it was awesome seeing Ellis grab a fumble, he's my roommate. Ron, (Javon) Hadley it was great to see all of these guys perform because that is the greatest thing.

"In the beginning Coach Diaco said the swirl of game day but when we are going home, it is the swirl of game day. My mom telling me 'I've got this (number of) people coming' and she is saying 'oh, they are putting this on Facebook' and I said 'well, I might not get enough tickets' but I think the coolest thing about it is that we get to play in front of our families and our friends.

"We have been through a lot of ups and downs and to beat UCF, one of the top teams in our conference every single year, it was special and everybody sees you on ESPN. These are my guys, we are a brotherhood so it was cool to do."

Eight of the 11 Florida natives got into the game. Here is the breakdown

John Green, cornerback from Miami: One tackle and one pass breakup
Javon Hadley, cornerback from Miami: One tackle and one pass breakup
Ellis Marder, safety from Windermere: Had two tackles and a fumble recovery
Ron Johnson, running back from Naples: Ran for 21 yards including 12-yard TD and had two catches
Dan Oak, center from Fort Myers: Saw first action of career in the fourth quarter
Dallas Parker, tight end/h-back from Ponta Vedra Beach: Saw perhaps his most extended duty of the season
Bobby Puyol, kicker from North Palm Beach: Was 5 for 5 on extra points and had a 21-yard field goal
Jhavon Williams, cornerback from Delray Beach: Had three tackles and an interception

BIG GAME FOR UCONN COMMIT
Plenty has been written about the early success enjoyed by in-state UConn commits Keyion Dixon and Jasen Rose but other future Huskies are also having impactful senior seasons.

Donovan Williams was 11 of 13 passing for 190 yards and four touchdowns in less than two quarters as Hylton High defeated Gar-Field 61-20.

Something tells me that the race to get to teammates with no family members coming to tomorrow's game could have been rather interesting this week.

Perhaps nowhere are the need for tickets more pronounced for the Central Florida game than from UConn's defensive backs as four of the eight players on the two-deep chart hail from the Sunshine State.

Starting cornerback Jhavon Williams, a Delray Beach resident, estimated that he needed 40 tickets.

"I don't think I am going to get them all but my parents, they understand and will do their best," Williams said.

Reserve safety Ellis Marder from nearby Windermere couldn't even come up with a number.

"No counting" is how Marder responded when I asked him after Tuesday's practice how many tickets he was hoping to secure for friends and family.

Marder played at Lake Highland Prep in Orlando, just about two miles from the UCF campus.

Lake Highland Prep receiver Hayden Jones is a member of the UCF team and Marder remains in touch with him. Defensive back Drico Johnson, who is considered doubtful to play, is another UCF player that he knows very well.

"Drico played on my 7 on 7 team in high school so we have been close," Marder said. "I haven't talked to him in a little while. I talked to Hayden Jones a little bit, he played on my high school team and he is a great receiver."

The focus of my advance for tomorrow's game is on the quartet of Florid-raised defensive backs expected to see time for the Huskies (reserve cornerbacks Javon Hadley and John Green are both from Miami).

Maybe it's a coincidence that four defensive backs from Florida were not only recruited to UConn but play key roles for the Huskies or maybe not.

"You are going to go up against quick receivers, there is a lot of passing down there and it all about football down there," Hadley said. "Coming up here, we are going against faster receivers at the next level, it is top-level guys I have been playing since I was little."

There are 11 Florida natives on the UConn roster but only seven have made it onto the field this season with kicker Bobby Puyol, tailback Ron Johnson and tight end/h-back Dallas Parker joining the four aforementioned defensive backs. Ryan Crozier, who would have been the starting center had he not been sidelined for the season with a knee injury, reserve offensive linemen Dan Oak and Kyle Schafenacker and freshman receiver Frank Battle (who is redshirting) are the other Sunshine State products on the roster.

UConn assistant coaches Don Patterson and Mike Foley speak to the mothers 
of Bobby Puyol and Ellis Marder before Women's Football 101 Clinic

I've been inside the Burton Family Football Complex many times over the last few years but never experienced a night like tonight with the inaugural Women's Football 101 Clinic.

Sean Marinan, Deshon Foxx, Jhavon Williams and Graham Stewart
talk to a group taking part in the Women's Football 101 Clinic at UConn

The appearance of UConn President Susan Herbst drew much of the pre-event publicity but there were other coaches, administrators, moms of current UConn players as well as others from both inside and outside the UConn community."It is going to be a fun night, a way to get everybody involved and meet all of the coaching staff," said Peggy (Walsh) Myers, mother of UConn redshirt freshman tight end Tommy Myers and a star on Geno Auriemma's first women's basketball team at UConn. "There are moms here, alumni, coaches, I think it is a great thing.

"I think it is awesome, I think it is a really good idea to get women involved in the sport and have a good time with all of this."

So what does her son think of all of this?

"He doesn't want me to embarrass him," Meyers said. "I was going to wear his jersey but he said just don't embarrass me."

The moms of quarterback Tim Boyle, kicker Bobby Puyol and defensive back Ellis Marder were among the estimated 200 women who took part in the event.

While this was the brainchild of first-year UConn coach Bob Diaco and something he took part in when he was on Brian Kelly's staff at Central Michigan, it was quarterbacks coach Don Patterson who set the tone for the evening when he told the gathered campers "hopefully you will leave here with more knowledge of football than your significant others."

Those who took part went through tackling and blocking drills, attempted field goals, ran through an agility course, threw some passes, spent time in the weight room and in film study rooms.

"It is just another opportunity to expose UConn Husky football to a whole other group and the give back is 'have you ever been in a football meeting?' so here is a great opportunity to actually sit in football meetings and get on the field coaching just like actual players," Diaco said.

As much fun as those who signed up for the clinic were having, the UConn players who volunteered for the event may have been the ones making the biggest commotion.

An ever present smile was on the face of offensive tackle Paul Nwokeji as he was involved in a blocking and tackling drill, quarterback Chandler Whitmer was there throwing passes but perhaps nobody was enjoying themselves more than linebacker Graham Stewart and defensive back Jhavon Williams who were clearly getting into the spirit that Diaco envisioned this night being all about.

"It is so great," Diaco said. "There are administrators here, there is great support from faculty, there is people from student services, there are parents of players, it is a just a great event.

"We capped it at 200 and it sold out really quickly so if everybody enjoys themselves and tells somebody else we go to 400 and if they tell two people 'what a great time, let's go together next year' now you are at 600 people so we would like to keep escalating it."

Getting back to the Myers family, I asked Peggy how her son likes the new coaching staff and she said "he loves it, Tommy is very fired up."

UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni wasn't about to wait around any longer as he had the Huskies report bright and early for the first day of spring practice.

Players started rolling in between 5-5:30 this morning with practice getting rolling at 6 a.m. so not to impact with academic responsibilities.

We were only allowed to watch the first 30 minutes of the practice so there's not a heck of a lot to report.

One guy who caught my eye in the pass-catching drills was redshirt freshman receiver John Green and with Jimmy Bennett still working his way back following offseason shoulder surgery, Xavier Hemingway got first-team reps at left offensive tackle.

Defensive end Jesse Joseph and middle linebacker Yawin Smallwood were among the players limited to riding the stationary bike or getting on the cross trainer.


UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni said he liked what he saw on the first day.

"A lot of energy," Pasqualoni said. "I thought they did a good job on the first day of not flattening out. We made a few mistakes and this is the first day, there is a lot to improve on but I was very happy with the level of energy from everybody including the coaches. The coaches are running around after the kids and the kids are running around, it is the kind of environment you want."

With T.J. Weist the new offensive coordinator and Hank Hughes returning to the role of defensive coordinator, there are some new or somewhat new voices running the offense and defense.

"It is not all totally new, it is a lot of carry over with a lot of things that we are doing we have done here," Pasqualoni said. "We have two new coordinators, we are running our offense and we are running out defense but at the same time we have two new voices. I thought on both sides of the ball and we might as well include special teams because Kermit (Buggs) is new here too so the special teams aspect is new as well. With three new coordinators, (practice at) 6 a.m. in the morning I thought it was good."

There are plenty of holes to fill and a chance for young players to move into more prominent roles.

Leading the way of the positions of interest is cornerback. Starting safety Byron Jones was moved to corner to add some more size to that position.


"We needed some size there obviously. I wanted to get a 6-foot guy over there at one of those spots with the corner skill set," Pasqualoni said. "Byron does have some corner skills, we played him as a corner here two years ago but when Blidi (Wreh-Wilson) got hurt two years ago he did start and play the corner position so like a lot of guys on this team I know Byron Jones but I don’t know him well enough as a corner so that is what spring ball is all about. The same thing with Ellis Marder, we recruited him as a safety/corner combination and he has mono right now so he is very limited with what he is doing but I have to get to know him and see. They give you tall guys out there who match up on receivers."

Another player in the spotlight will be former Xavier High star Graham Stewart, who sat out last season after transferring from Florida who sat out last season due to NCAA regulations and wouldn't have been able to play regardless after injuring his shoulder in a freak weight-lifting mishap. Stewart figures to help fill the void left by the graduation of Sio Moore and Jory Johnson.

"I like his speed, his reactionary athleticism, his instinctive reactionary quickness today," Pasqualoni said. "There is no question that when we sees it he pulls the trigger, he is playing fast and hard so that was great to see but we have to see it over the long haul."

Pasqualoni was also happy with what he saw from starting quarterback Chandler Whitmer especially in the ball security department.


"What I was pleased with today was that we had a couple of turnovers but he didn’t turn it over so that is the other big issue going into spring is that we have to eliminate turnovers, we have to have good judgment with the ball and really take care of the ball," Pasqualoni said. "Coaches are really coaching the ball security thing. He handled things pretty well on the first day, he showed some good judgment and didn’t turn it over."

Casey Cochran did have two turnovers in a span of four plays but the former Masuk High star drew praise from Pasqualoni for being in much better shape than he was a year ago.

Pasqualoni said there is a comfort level with Whitmer returning as the starting quarterback.

"It is a big deal in the sense that Chandler was a first-year player last year," Pasqualoni said. "Obviously he has 12 tough games in him, he has been here now for a solid year and I think that showed with the way that he played. We are looking for Casey to be a little more comfortable as well. I think that part of it is good and I think it is a big deal for us."

Finally, senior running back Martin Hyppolite was at practice although he still needs crutches to get around after he injured his hip as he was the passenger in a vehicle involved in a recent car accident which resulted in the death of a New Hampshire judge.

"I had a long talk with him last night and he said he is feeling a lot better so he is rehab mode and it is going to be a while but he is getting everything mentally," Pasqualoni said. "When you are a running back and it is your hip it is tough because you are always cutting. It’s going to be at least until June until we can say ‘OK, he will be back on this date.’ We want to give it that amount of time."

When spring practice kicks off a week from today there is probably not a position which will garner more attention than the cornerbacks.

So much of what the defensive coaching staff has been able to do in the last couple of seasons had a lot of do with the ability of cornerbacks Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh-Wilson to lock up on the outside receivers. Their coverage skills and reliability enabled UConn to be more aggressive in sending linebackers on blitzes. However, with the departure of Gratz and Wreh-Wilson leaves two gaping holes to fill in UConn's defense. Add in the fact that Don Brown, who coached the cornerbacks as well as being the defensive coordinator, is also gone.

Now UConn was a relatively inexperienced group of corner prospects while former UConn receiving coach Matt Cersosimo moved over to defense to coach the corners.

Cersosimo, who spent the last seven seasons coaching receivers at UConn, is eager for spring ball to get started so he can see how the cornerbacks perform.

"I am very excited, it gives me the opportunity to go on the defensive side of the ball and become a little bit more well rounded as a coach," Cersosimo said. "I have only coached offense but I played defense in college (at Springfield College) so I get a chance to go back there and a lot of things I did are starting to come back in my mind that I have stored away since I have been on offense.

"It is a great group of kids that I am able to work with. i am looking forward to the opportunity in spring ball to be able to work with them, go through the whole process with them on a daily basis, the meetings, get the chance to review film and all the things that go along with that."

Rising senior Taylor Mack is the most experienced of the returning corners. Another top prospect at the position is David Stevenson, who was a star in the 2012 spring game.



"Stevenson on travel squad, it is not like he is new," Cersosimo said, "(Jhavon)Williams, Ellis Marder, Tyree Clark, we have a young group of guys they have been in some games before, they have been there, done that and it is just an opportunity to trying to get them acclimated to what we are doing defensively, have great technique and make sure they are holding true to their responsibilities."

UConn also brought in a pair of cornerback prospects in Javon Hadley and Tom Lucas but they aren't among the early enrollees so neither one will take part in spring drills.

Obviously UConn probably won't be able to put these group of corners out on islands as much as they did with Gratz and Wreh-Wilson.

"A lot of that will be answered in spring practice," Cersosimo said. "We will get a chance to put those guys in the situation and see how well they react in those situations and see if it is something they can excel at. If it is that is something we can potentially look at as a staff and say this could be a strength of ours and if  it isn't it is something we will work on until we get really good at it."