Unlike two years ago there weren't any current NFL coaches taking in the pro day event at UConn but a total of 20 teams were represented.

There was nothing earth shattering to report. Getting results from these things is no easy task especially this year when we weren't allowed in to watch the bench press, vertical or broad jumps as we have been in previous years. NFL scouts aren't in the habit of giving results out to the media at these sort of events.

The door was cracked open when I got there this morning so I did hear that Mikal Myers had 29 reps at 225 pound in the bench press followed by Matt Walsh topping him with 30.

Noel Thomas, who ran in the 4.63/4.64 range in the 40 at the NFL scouting combine believes he easily topped that mark today but I never got a time on his run or anybody else's.

"I definitely got a little bit of redemption in the 40-yard dash," Thomas said. "I have never seen a 4.6. I wanted to come out here and get that taste out of my mouth and I don't know the exact time but it definitely wasn't 4.6."

Obviously Obi Melifonwu, coming off a jaw-dropping showing at the NFL scouting combine, was the one former Husky the scouts were there to see. He stood on his efforts at the combine (why wouldn't he?) but did both shuttles and the 3-cone drill. His times in the 20 and 60-yard shuttles would rank nearly the top of the defensive back group who did those events at the combine.

Eric Edholm

@Eric_Edholm

results from UConn DB Obi Melifonwu's pro day:

4.09 short shuttle
10.69 long shuttle
7.05 L drill

NFL Draft Bible

@NFLDraftBible

obi melifonwu unofficial 10.95 unofficial sixty-yard shuttle!

Walsh was especially busy today as he did all the running and agility drills and he was among the final ones there to do run pass patterns for a couple of scouts who wanted to see him as a fullback, He made some pretty impressive catches 30-40 yards down field on some nice throws from Garrett Anderson

"Just like every other level of football, the more you can do, the more valuable you are," Walsh said. "I played a little bit of fullback here my first two years and got some linebacker stuff the last two years. I kind of mixed it up today and whatever a team needs me to be, that is what I am going to be.

"My agent is talking to everybody, he is the third party in the middle of everything so I wanted to stay out of it and all I focus on is putting up the best numbers I could, I am pretty happy with everything that happened today."

A couple years ago Reuben Frank did what Walsh did today working out on both sides of the ball during pro day. It worked out well for him as he got into NFL and CFL training camps. We'll see if Walsh is as fortunate.

Walsh said he could do 17 or 18 reps at 225 pounds on the bench press when he was at Hand High School and his max was 23 while at UConn but his work with Frank Quido at BreakOut Athletes pushed that number to 30.

"That was definitely one of my stronger events, all the events you can turn a head on are kind of the most important things," Walsh said. "That was one thing that had to stand out and get the ball rolling and start the day off with a bang."

Both Thomas and Andreas Knappe (probably generating the most buzz among the UConn products not named Obi Melifonwu) both had their days cut short due to their hamstrings tightening up when they ran the 40 which is unfortunate.

"It is the name of the game," Knappe said. "When you go all out and do whatever you can do, sometimes you get bruised and bumped a little bit so that is what happened.

"After I did my 40 so I didn't want to make it any worse so I am calling it a day."

Knappe was able to play in the NFL Collegiate Bowl which could prove beneficial moving forward.

"The NFLPA Bowl was awesome, it was nice to get to know some scouts and let them get to know you so they know what kind of guy you are," Knappe said.

Jhavon Williams is the UConn player who I think should be getting more buzz than he is in the pre-draft process and he said he was pretty happy with his performance today.

"You never know," Williams said "A lot of people told me I looked good today, I ran well but you never know. I am working hard and keeping it in God's hands."

Bobby Puyol was there to kick some long field goals and he was on target with all of them while also doing some kickoffs. He said he will be taking part in a workout run by the Miami Dolphins on April 7 and has heard from some other teams as well.

Garrett Anderson, John Green, Brian Lemelle, Richard Levy and Sean Marinan also took part in today's festivities.

Atlanta, Arizona, Baltimore, Carolina, Cleveland, Detroit, Green Bay, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Miami, New England (with multiple scouts including Brian Smith who ran the show at both pro days), New Orleans, New York Giants, New York Jets, Oakland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay were teams represented at UConn's pro day. I'm missing three teams but I saw reps from Atlanta, Arizona, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, New England, New York Giants and Philadelphia at the event in Tolland so special kudos to those teams  (and others who were there) for going the extra mile. What is interesting is that two of the teams missing today were Minnesota (who had head coach Mike Zimmer at the event two years ago to see Byron Jones) and Dallas (the team which drafted Jones).

After the UConn event was over I headed over to Tolland for a regional pro day coordinated by agent Joe Linta. With NFL teams coming to UConn in large numbers and UConn not being receptive to players from other programs taking part in the UConn event, Linta has been holding events the same day in Tolland to check out other prospects.  Yale great Tyler Varga and New Haven's Mike Flacco are among clients of Linta's who landed on NFL rosters. Today Linta set the event up to showcase New Haven's All-American offensive tackle Zach Voytek of Trumbull. Voytek measured in at 6-4 1/2 and 313 pounds, ran a 5.37 in  the 40, 4.60 in the 20-yard shuttle and 7.90 in the 3-cone drill. All of those numbers would hold up favorably after offensive linemen at the NFL scouting combine. Scouts from 10 teams were there (the Patriots and Giants had two reps each while the scout from the Colts seemed especially chummy with Voytek).

Former Yale running back Dale Harris ran a 4.5 in the 40 and had a vertical jump 35 1/2, Southern Connecticut State receiver Devante Jenkins had a 33-inch vertical and New Haven defensive lineman Dean Tsopanides from Orange had 31 reps in the bench press.

Current NFL players Andrew Adams and Geremy Davis were at the UConn event as were Dan Orlovsky (who thinks he could be signed by an NFL team in the next week or two) and Yawin Smallwood. The current UConn team came out for the end of the event. I spoke to Davis and Orlovsky and at some point will get around to sharing stuff from those interviews. UConn will have its second spring practice tomorrow, sorry but after driving to UConn for six straight days and looking at as many as four drives to Bridgeport and back beginning on Friday due to my women's basketball coverage responsibilities, I am taking tomorrow to be UConn free but I believe one of my colleagues will be writing a story off tomorrow's practice.

Let's just file this under the "take this for what it's worth" department with the NFL draft still about 10 months away and it's hard to read too much into draft watch lists this far out but College Gridiron Showcase has been posting watch lists.

Offensive tackle Andreas Knappe and cornerback Jhavon Williams are the only UConn players to make the list as they are two of 412 draft eligible players on the list.

Knappe is going into his third season as UConn's starting right offensive tackle while Williams is coming off a junior season where he had 55 tackles and three interceptions.

Personally, if I were to list UConn's pro prospects in the senior class, I would start with safety Obi Melifonwu and receiver Noel Thomas but it is nice recognition for Knappe and Williams, who I would consider to be leading candidates to be among the UConn captains during the 2016 season.

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.

If the final score had been a little different, Folorunso Fatukasi and Jhavon Williams would have been toasted for perhaps the best games of their collegiate careers.

However, after Friday night's 30-13 loss at Brigham Young, neither Fatukasi nor Williams were in the mood to pat themselves on the back.

All Williams did was record a career-high 10 tackles as well as an interception. Still, heading home with his team on a three-game losing streak was not going to put Williams in a great frame of mind.

"We put so much time and effort into it and to not come out victorious, it really hurts," Williams said.

"I am just trying to make plays to help my team win so I am hurting."

Fatukasi moved back into the starting lineup after Mikal Myers started last week against Navy. He had seven tackles including a sack, two quarterback hurries and a blocked field goal.

"There is only so much you can control," Fatukasi said. "I can only focus on my job and do what I can do.

"Nobody is ever happy about losing but we are going to learn from our mistakes and grow."

UConn wrapped up non-conference play with a 2-2 record. Now the Huskies play their next four games against fellow American Athletic Conference East Division teams beginning a week from today with a 3:45 p.m. game at Central Florida.

"We just have to stick together, gel as a team," Williams said. "Now we go into conference play and that is the most important thing right now, winning in the conference and going to a bowl game is the most important thing right now for us right now."

UConn defensive backs Andrew Adams and Jhavon Williams received honorable mention recognition from the College Football Performance Awards.

Adams, a junior safety, returned a fumble 32 yards for a score, forced another fumble and had three tackles while Williams, a sophomore cornerback, had two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and five tackles in a 27-20 loss to SMU.

It was the second time Adams made the list as he was named the Defensive Back Performer of the Week after he had three interceptions in a 37-29 win over Central Florida.

Adams led UConn with 65 solo tackles (the most for a UConn defensive back since Terrance Smith's 70 during the 2003 season), four interceptions (the most since Jerome Junior and Blidi Wreh-Wilson each had four in the 2010 season) and eight pass breakups. When the All-American Athletic Conference is announced on Wednesday I'm not sure how many UConn players are going to be on the list but I would expect Adams to be UConn's best candidate to be named to the first team.

Now that the drama surrounding the naming of a starting quarterback is out of the way, it is a perfect time to focus on some other hotly-contested battles for starting positions at UConn.

TAILBACK: Max DeLorenzo is the returnee with the most experience but I will go on the record as saying that I expect Josh Marriner to be UConn's leading rusher this season. I am very interested to see how true freshmen Arkeel Newsome and Ron Johnson are utilized. Springing a game-breaking player like Newsome on teams for 6-10 snaps a game could add some much-needed juice to the offense.

Brian Lemelle (84) and Dhameer Bradley (1) are in the mix
to be the No. 3 wide receiver for UConn during 2014 season

NO. 3 WIDE RECEIVER: I do not expect UConn to use the three-receiver sets as much this year as a season ago simply because UConn coach Bob Diaco is going to use more multiple tight end formations. Geremy Davis and Deshon Foxx are unquestionably the top two receivers. Thomas Lucas has been getting plenty of love in the preseason. Brian Lemelle, Dhameer Bradley and Noel Thomas, who had 16, 13 and five catches respectively as true freshmen, will be in the mix. I haven't heard much about Kamal Abrams but wouldn't be surprised to see him in the rotation.
DEFENSIVE END: There's been plenty of buzz surrounding Reuben Frank, whether he lines up as a defensive end or outside linebacker on the right side, but no position appears to be more competitive than the defensive end on the other side of the ball as B.J. McBryde and Kenton Adeyemi appear to be running neck and neck. Adeyemi has run out with the first unit in the last two practices the media was able to attend but Diaco raved about McBryde when I asked about the competition between the two of them after a recent practice.

Both Adeyemi and McBride had sacks during the spring game and figure prominently in UConn's defensive line rotation regardless of which one ends up drawing the starting position.

NO. 2 CORNERBACK: Byron Jones is unquestionably UConn's top corner. Jhavon Williams received plenty of work as a nickel corner a season ago and he figured to be a starting CB this year. However, true freshman Jamar Summers has been opening eyes since he arrived on campus in January. He finished tied for third on the team with five tackles in the spring game and with Williams less than 100 percent early in camp, Summers was seeing plenty of first-team work. Javon Hadley is another talented youngster with the capability to push for playing time.

KICK RETURNER: Diaco said that Foxx will be the primary punt returner and will be handling kickoffs as well. Now the question is who will go back with Foxx on kickoff returns. Diaco said that Bradley, Lemelle and all the tailbacks are in the mix for that position. Unfortunately, I did not see UConn work on shagging kickoffs during the media access portion of practice so can't offer too much insight into who has been getting most of the work back there.

ANOTHER MAJOR AWARD FOR JENNINGS?
The Arena Football League will hand out its individual awards tomorrow in Cleveland and among the candidates for the Rookie of the Year has to be former UConn star Teddy Jennings.

Jennings led all rookies with 11 sacks during his rookie season with the Philadelphia Soul as he was a first team AFL pick at defensive end. I can't say I follow the Arena Football League enough to come up with a complete list of the top candidates but the only other player to earn first team honors was Portland defensive back Varmah Sonie, who had nine interceptions and led all first-year players with 86 tackles. Orlando receiver Greg Carr was a second team selection and he finished sixth in the league with 113 catches and 1,435 yards. Another player to consider is A.J. Cruz as the former Brown star led the league in kickoff return average, was sixth in punt returns and also returned a missed field goal 58 yards for a score.

Getting the Defensive Player of the Week honor from the American Athletic Conference wasn't the only accolade for UConn junior linebacker Yawin Smallwood.

Smallwood was named the College Football Performance Award's National Defensive Performer of the Week and the Linebacker Performer of the Week after recording eight tackles, scoring the game-winning touchdown on a 59-yard interception with 4:20 left and registering a sack on the final drive in UConn's 28-21 win over Temple. Smallwood went over the 100-tackle mark for the second straight season and more importantly, helped the Huskies snap a 10-game losing streak.

Also, senior defensive end Tim Willman was one of eight defensive linemen given honorable mention recognition after recording two sacks and two fumble recoveries.

In other news, none of the players who missed Saturday's game are listed on the two-deep chart for the Rutgers game although interim coach T.J. Weist said he hopes to have OT Kevin Friend, CB Jhavon Williams and WR John Green back.

Also, Rutgers has made a switch at quarterback as Chas Dodd will start in place of Gary Nova.

While linebacker Graham Stewart is expected to be back after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain, it is not sounding good for cornerback Taylor Mack to get onto the field for UConn on Saturday.

"He tried to go a little bit and really couldn’t do much so he is going to be a game-time decision for us," UConn interim coach T.J. Weist said on a conference call earlier today. "He has not had much contact this week so we are not sure if he is going to go."

Freshman Jhavon Williams is set to make his fourth straight start at cornerback in Mack's absence.

Although Stewart and Ryan Donohue, who were starting linebackers before getting injured, are both expected back against UCF Jefferson Ashiru and Marquise Vann figure to be the starting outside linebackers.

Like so many others UConn safety Ty-Meer Brown was captivated by the events transpiring in last week's Louisville/Central Florida game.

The Huskies' second-leading tackler watched the majority of the game and saw redshirt junior quarterback Blake Bortles bring UCF from 21 points down to stun previously undefeated Louisville with 31 points in the final 18:02.

"I didn’t catch the whole game as we were in meetings but I caught the majority of it," Brown said. "It was a big-time game with two great teams that came down to the wire, it was exciting."

Aside from the pure entertainment value, Brown came away impressed with what he saw from the offensive playmakers on the Central Florida team.

One running back (Storm Johnson) ran for more than 100 yards and had 79 more yards on four receptions while another (true freshman William Stanback) ran for 65 yards and two TDs. The Knights also had six different receivers with multiple receptions.

Coming off a nightmarish defensive effort in a loss to Cincinnati, Brown knows the Huskies need to be better this week.

"It is going to be a challenge for our defense as a whole, our line getting to him and making him a little unsettled and the defensive backs being able to cover longer," Brown said.

"We have to make sure we cover well on the back end so we give the defensive line to get to the quarterback."

Redshirt freshmen Jhavon Williams and Obi Melifonwu struggled against Cincinnati as it looked as if the Bearcats targeted the two least experienced members of the secondary.

"They are still in there, they are still young and they are still learning," Brown said. "We have faith in them because if we didn’t they wouldn’t be in the game and they are going to continue to grow. Experience is the game is going to give these guys confidence and allow them to play better.

UConn senior cornerback Taylor Mack tweeted that he did not make the trip for the Buffalo game

Taylor Mack @TMVeinti9

this injury kept me from traveling with my team this week, but i know that we'll go up to buffalo and handle business #bleedblue #UCfootball

So redshirt freshman Jhavon Williams, who was one of the most impressive players for UConn in the Michigan loss, figures to get the start. Tyree Clark would be the likely choice to play the nickel cornerback position although I wouldn't be surprised to see Wilbert Lee be in the mix as well. It was Lee who deflected the pass (after it went off Jeremy Gallon's hands) which led to an easy interception by Williams against the Wolverines and I was impressed with Lee's play at the practices I attended during preseason camp.

Mack left the Michigan game in the first half with a shoulder injury. His absence means the Huskies will play without three players who were expected to be among their top five defensive backs coming into the season as Andrew Adams was injured during the preseason and David Stevenson has been suspended indefinitely. It does help UConn that safeties Ty-Meer Brown and Obi Melifonwu are capable of locking up with receivers but the Huskies are getting pretty thin in the secondary. We'll have to see if true freshman Javon Hadley gets pressed into duty today.

Even a few days after the fact it was evident that redshirt freshman defensive back Jhavon Williams was honored and appreciative that current NFL cornerbacks Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Dwayne Gratz are still serving as supporting role models for one of the rising stars on UConn's defense.

The night before UConn hosted Michigan and Williams would be one of the players being asked to contend with the Wolverines' dynamic Jeremy Gallon, Wreh-Wilson spoke to him via phone hookup in the team hotel. Following the game, Dwayne Gratz picked up the phone and called Williams as well.

Williams was being touted as one of the top players in last year's group of true freshmen but he was able to be redshirted with all the depth the Huskies had in the secondary. He worked his way into the two-deep chart as a redshirt freshman and when nickel corner David Stevenson was suspended indefinitely between the Towson and Maryland games, Williams was the first DB off the sidelines when UConn went to its nickel package.

"Actually Coach Perk (UConn cornerbacks coach Darrell Perkins) grabbed me (before the Maryland game) and said ‘get ready to grow up because I am throwing you in,’" Williams said. "We spoke to Blidi the night before the game and he told us that it doesn’t matter if it is Michigan, they put on their pads just like we do and they play football just like we do. He said just play technique and we will be fine. I wasn’t nervous at all. I knew if I did what Coach Perk told me to do and coached me up to do then I would be fine. I did what he told me to. It definitely helped (talking to Wreh-Wilson), I talked to Dwayne Gratz after the game and he told me what I can do a little bit better, how I can improve my game. It was a win-win situation to be able to talk to those guys and having them reaching out to me from the NFL  and telling me I could do it."

Williams intercepted a pass, forced a fumble, had four tackles and also recovered by muffed punt by teammate Brian Lemelle against Michigan.

Starting cornerback Taylor Mack hurt his shoulder in the first half of the Michigan game and his status for Saturday's game at Buffalo is still up in the air so if Mack can't go, Williams could draw the start at cornerback. Whatever his role is, Williams vows to be ready.

"Whatever he (UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni) asks me to do, I am going to do. If he asks me to get water that is what I am going to do. He knows what he is talking about, I never doubt him and do whatever my coaches tell me to do.

"It is a big week of practice and just going out there playing fast, dominating and doing whatever they want me to do."

Williams will be playing in his first road game at UConn but there is at least one familiar face waiting for Williams as Buffalo sophomore running back James Potts played with Williams at American Heritage before Williams transferred to Palm Beach Central for his senior season.

"I am looking forward to being able to see him in 1 on 1 in the open field and it is going to be fun," Williams said. "We spoke in preseason and he (busted my chops) a little bit and I can’t wait to be able to see him. We got the best of them last year so I know they have a chip on their shoulder."

When Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh-Wilson played their final game there were plenty of questions going around concerning how UConn will fill the void at cornerback.

For better or for worse, many answers will be provided tonight as Taylor Mack and Byron Jones will be asked to slow down Maryland's dynamic receiving tandem of Stefon Diggs and Deon Long,

"It will be a good challenge," Mack said. "No. 1 (Diggs) and No. 6 (Long) are both good receivers and they like to look for them in the pass game deep shots and unders and stuff like that. I think we have a pretty good game plan right now. In the back end minus those two plays, I feel like Byron and I had not an overly bad game (against Towson) and we are going to make major improvements and it is going to be a big challenge but we are looking forward to it."

UConn only gave up 13 catches against Towson but there were enough big plays surrendered for it to be a concern heading into tonight's game.

"We just need to stick to our technique," Jones said,. "The deep ball when the guy caught the ball on me, I didn’t get my head around.

"It is always a learning thing. It is my first year of being a starting corner and using what I am learning and take it to the next game

"I can’t wait. It is going to be a good challenge for both Taylor Mack and I think we are going to do well."

A bigger concern might be the play of the nickel cornerback after David Stevenson was suspended indefinitely. Redshirt freshman Jhavon Williams figures to slide into that spot while Tyree Clark could also see time when the Huskies use additional defensive backs.

"We're very confident that Jhavon and Tyree," Mack said "I know Jhavon will come in and not miss a beat, he has confidence and I know he will play and keep the ball rolling. It is going to be sad missing (Stevenson) but I know Jhavon can make plays. He has been making plays since he has been here. I think he does, you guys have seen him practice out there making picks. I know he is exciting to come out and make a lot of plays. He is a good player."

I had an opportunity to catch up with Paul Pasqualoni after the football team was honored alongside the Huskies' men's and women's basketball programs at the annual "Husky Day" at the State Capitol.

Even though the offense failed to score a touchdown in the regular portion of the spring game, Pasqualoni said he is encouraged with what he saw from his team during the spring.


"We had quite a few guys make significant progress during the spring," Pasqualoni said. "The spring game is more about fundamentals and technique than its about anything else. I am pleased with the progress the offensive line has made, they are a cohesive unit, they are kind of intact 90 percent (back) from last year. I am pleased with the progress our two older wide receivers (Geremy Davis and Shakim Phillips) made watching the film. I think Deshon Foxx is making some progress as a wide receiver, pleased with the progress with the guys up front on defense. Young guys inside Julian Campenni, Mykal Myers, I think Andreas Knappe is making some excellent progress, Tim Willman made progress, the corners on the outside Jhavon Williams, Taylor Mack so I am happy with the effort and fundamentals, the level of focus which are all great signs going into August."

So is he concerned after UConn needed to rely on a pair of Bobby Puyol field goals during the normal portion of the spring game?

"That is just a matter of a little thing here and a little thing there but I thought the offense came up with some good plays and moved the ball down the field," Pasqualoni said. "I thought Chandler (Whitmer) did a good job of hitting the open receiver, took them down and all of that is a positive.

"We cut down what we did, we had controlled scrimmage for most of the game so those things are going to happen in that situation. We had too many guys rehabbing or injured, we didn’t have enough offensive linemen, we didn’t have enough linebackers for two units. You need six linebackers and we had five healthy for the scrimmage and I don’t know how you do that. Everybody will be fine, when the kids get back on campus in June I expect all the kids to be full go."

The player with the longest recovery process figures to be running back Martin Hyppolite who continues to rehab after being a passenger in a car involved in a fatal accident.

Pasqualoni was optimistic that when the team holds its first fall practice on Aug. 1 that center Alex Mateas will be part of the squad. Mateas was suspended indefinitely for the final week of spring practice for what was called a violation of team rules.

"That’s a team policy issue and that will be addressed at the end of the semester," Pasqualoni said.

When I asked him if he believed Mateas will be there for the start of fall camp, he said that he did.

Pasqualoni addressed the crowd at the Husky Day event and here's some of what he had to say.

"Growing up as a young kid in the state I don’t think I ever envisioned the mighty Michigan Wolverines ever coming into East Hartford to play UConn, what a tremendous, tremendous (honor).

"I am a little bit tired, the players are a little bit tired of the results we’ve had for the past two years; we are tired of it and our guys will acknowledge it, we have talked about it. What I can tell you is this – this team is being built the right way, the way the fans and the people in the great state of Connecticut would want it done with hard-working, high-character guys with tremendous, tremendous integrity looking forward very much to August 1 when we came back and have our first day and we get ready for the season opening on Aug. 28 at the Rent against Towson. We are committed to doing this the right way and bringing you the type of team I know you want, an exciting team, a team that is going to play great on defense and be exciting on offense, win games and represent the state of Connecticut and I-A football the way we all want."

Offensive linemen Jimmy Bennett and Steve Greene, defensive linemen Tim Willman and Shamar Stephen and kicker Chad Christen were among the UConn players there for the Husky Day ceremony.

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."