A pair of UConn offensive linemen have been signed an undrafted rookie free agents by NFL teams. Just think about that statement for a bit while pondering the well-documented offensive line struggles at UConn in recent years.

Andreas Knappe was signed by the Atlanta Falcons shortly after the NFL draft came to an end. Today came word that after bringing in more than 50 players for tryouts, Richard Levy was one of three tryout players signed as free agents by San Francisco.

Levy was the starting left tackle as a sophomore and junior but with the emergence of redshirt freshman Matthew Peart, he moved to guard as he started all 37 games between 2014-16. I haven't heard whether Levy was playing tackle or guard for the 49ers.

I took over the day to day coverage of UConn football in 2013 and don't recall a rookie offensive lineman being on the 90-man roster of an NFL team during that time. I did some checking and it looks like the last time that happened was in 2012 when Moe Petrus was signed by Tampa Bay and Mike Ryan by Cincinnati.

By my count, 11 players on UConn's 2014 team - a roster that former coach Bob Diaco managed to squeeze one whole win against a Football Bowl Subdivision team - have taken part or will take part in NFL training camps (not including tryouts at rookie camps).

S Andrew Adams: Started 13 games and had 46 tackles as a rookie with New York Giants
DT Kenton Adeyemi: Signed as free agent in 2016 by Chicago and then Cleveland
WR Geremy Davis: Former sixth-round pick by New York Giants had two catches in 10 games in 2016, now on Los Angeles Chargers' roster
WR Deshon Foxx: Current on New York Jets roster, previously with Seattle
CB John Green: Signed as free agent by Tennessee Titans
DB Byron Jones: Starting safety for Dallas Cowboys who had 88 tackles in second NFL season
OT Andreas Knappe: Currently on Atlanta's 90-man roster
OT Richard Levy: Currently on San Francisco's 90-man roster
DL B.J. McBryde: Spent team either on the roster or practice squad with Philadelphia, Green Bay and San Franisco
S Obi Melifonwu: Second-round pick of Oakland Raiders
WR Noel Thomas: Signed as a free agent by Detroit

Also, defensive lineman Mikal Myers (Baltimore), kicker Bobby Puyol (Baltimore) and cornerback Jhavon Williams (New Orleans) got looks in rookie camp as did Reuben Frank with Detroit in 2015 while a talented group of seniors, who were freshmen on the 2014 team, figure to add to that list in 2018.

It's time to do a little catching up. I've been in Michigan since Friday to attend my nephew's graduation from the University of Michigan. My intention was to make it a completely computer-free weekend but that lasted until the news broke that former Duke women's basketball star Azura' Stevens would be transferring to UConn. Saying that is big news would be an incredible understatement. I would say that if the UConn coaching staff could pick a player off any other college team to add to its roster for the next couple of seasons, I would only like South Carolina's A'ja Wilson ahead of the 6-foot-6 Stevens.

Since this is a blog about UConn football, I'll stop there with the women's basketball talk.

Now that I am at the airport waiting to start my journey back to Connecticut, it's a good time to get caught up on draft/free agent news.

After nine years of having at least one player taken in the NFL draft, no Huskies were selected in the three-day draft.

However, at least five seniors on the 2015 team will be headed to NFL training camps.

It's already been reported that safety Andrew Adams was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted rookie free agent. It is the second straight year that a UConn player received a call from the Giants as receiver Geremy Davis was taken by the Giants in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL draft.

There will be a couple of familiar faces in camp with Adams as Ray Brownell, agent for former UConn safety Junior Lee confirmed in an email to me that Lee would be headed to training camp with the Giants. Lee opened more than a few eyes with a sensational performance at UConn's pro day He also had a chance to take part in the Giants' local pro day and there were multiple reports that Lee had another strong showing. Just a few minutes ago, Breakout Athletes which trains a large number of Connecticut athletes sent me a tweet that former UConn defensive end Kenton Adeyemi would be going to camp with the Giants as well.

As often as the Giants have been pursuing UConn products in the last couple of seasons, they have a lot of work to do to catch the Indianapolis Colts in that department. Well, the Colts are at it again as former UConn defensive lineman Julian Campenni is heading to camp with the Colts.

Also, after I posted the blog about Adams, Lee and Campenni getting calls from NFL teams, I received a tweet about linebacker Graham Stewart going to camp with the Minnesota Vikings.

BreakOut Athlete BOA

@breakoutathlete

@NHRJimFuller my client Graham Stewart from UConn heading to Minnesota Vikings #boa

Campenni, who like Adams was a team captain on the 2015 UConn team, tweeted his appreciation to the Colts for giving him this opportunity.

 

Julian Campenni @Ima_BEAST_90

Just want to thank the @Colts for giving me an opportunity to live out my dreams!! Trust me you wont regret the decision!

Last year at this time it wasn't so much a question of if Byron Jones and Geremy Davis would be taken in the NFL draft but just when would the former UConn teammates hear their names called.

Jones joined Donald Brown as the only UConn player taken in the first round when the Dallas Cowboys took him with the 27th overall pick while Davis was selected by the New York Giants in the sixth round.

There's more of a wait and see approach with the current crop of UConn pro prospects.

At least one UConn player has been selected in each of the last nine NFL drafts and safety Andrew Adams seems like the most likely player capable of extending that streak.

While no former Huskies are listed on the ESPN draft database, Adams is the No. 13 free safety according to NFL Draft database maintained by www.cbsspports.com which I have found to be pretty accurate (or as accurate as these things get) in rating the under the radar prospects. Adams is rated as the 291st best player in the draft and lists him as either a seventh rounder or a free agent. Last year's No. 13 rated free safety was Ladarius Gunter out of Miami who went undrafted but was signed by the Green Bay Packers as a free agent.

At UConn's pro day Adams seemed to do what he needed to remain on the radar of NFL teams and considering the amount of tape that NFL teams must have watched on Jones a season ago, you would have to think Adams might have caught the eye of the film watchers.

I would not be surprised if Adams continues the trend of UConn players being drafted.

The player out of UConn seemingly creating the most pre-draft buzz is fellow safety Junior Lee who absolutely put on a show at UConn's pro day. I've also seen reports that he was impressive at the New York Giants local pro day. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle and National Football Post tweeted about a week and a half ago that Lee has worked out privately for the Giants, Jets and Colts.

One issue with Lee is that he was not a starter but consider that Jones was a first-round pick, Adams could very well get drafted and I would expect Obi Melifonwu and Jhavon Williams to be very much on the radar of NFL scouts next year with Jamar Summers most definitely being a draftable prospect in the next class so it is not like Lee was playing behind mediocre talents.


A lack of experience is not an issue for defensive lineman Julian Campenni or linebackers Marquise Vann or Graham Stewart. It will be interesting to see what happens with the trio but certainly would not be surprised to see them land in a training camp.

I received this question and answer blog with Campenni emailed to me. I think the key for Campenni could be how NFL teams view the Missouri tape since Campenni was normally lining up across from Evan Boehm, who is rated as the fourth best center in the draft according to cbssports.com. Other than getting invited to the major all-star games, which was an opportunity not afforded any of the UConn players, the best way to catch the eyes of scouts is to have strong tape in head to head matchups with fellow NFL prospects.

Stewart saw his work at UConn's pro day ended prematurely due to a hamstring issue but he had healed up well enough to take part in the Yale pro day held earlier this month. I was covering the women's Final Four at the time but talked to one person who was at the event and was told that Stewart did a nice job there. He is also the only other UConn player listed on the CBS Sports database. Stewart also started his collegiate career at Florida. The Gators have nine players listed in ESPN's draft database and 12 listed by CBS Sports so perhaps NFL scouts' familiarity with Florida players could aid Stewart in his quest to continue his collegiate career.

I haven't been hearing too much about Vann but he's played a ton of football for the Huskies and took part in the Tropic Bowl along with defensive end Kenton Adeyemi and guard Tyler Samra.

I really thought that Adeyemi's stock could take a similar jump to what happened a year ago with B.J. McBryde. While he did not have the eye-popping numbers at UConn's pro day that McBryde did, the 300 pounder showed more than enough to make me think that he could land in a camp.

Running back Max DeLorenzo is a player that David Schuman from NUC Sports believes NFL teams should be looking at.

Normally my late April/early May schedule includes watching the NFL draft waiting for UConn players to be drafted. However, my nephew is graduating from the University of Michigan this weekend so I will be out of the loop and my colleagues at the Register will be called upon to provide NFL draft coverage. Staying on that subject, I am not a pro scout but from what I am hearing the top prospects with Connecticut ties are former high school rivals Tyler Matakevich, a Stratford native who played at St. Joseph High in Trumbull, Milford Academy and Temple, and fellow linebacker Don Cherry, a former Trumbull High star who starred at Villanova. It will also be interesting to see if Yale quarterback Morgan Roberts, Branford's Kyle Nolan out of Georgetown and former Notre Dame of West Haven and University of New Hampshire star Sean Goldrich get signed by NFL teams.

Julian Campenni set to make his 36th career start and final one at home

The last couple of seasons the final home game gave the underclassmen a chance to try to send the seniors out the right way but there wasn't much else on the line.

Both in 2013 and 2014 the Huskies entered the home finale (which doubled as a season finale) with a 2-9 record. In 2013 the Huskies destroyed Memphis before falling to previously winless SMU in the final game of 2014. Other than those wishing to pile on after last year's loss, neither game created much of a stir nationally. That will not be the case tomorrow with an undefeated Houston team which is ranked 13th and has a chance to play in a New Year's Day bowl game coming to town.

For the 13 seniors, there has to be plenty of emotions circling around them this week but they are doing their best to focusing on toppling the Cougars and making them bowl eligible.

"There is a lot of hype to this game but we are not going to let the game be bigger than it really is," Adams said. "I just keep my eye on the ball, just stay focused, stay grounded and basically just stay focused on doing my job, all this stuff is great but I am just focused on playing well."

Julian Campenni, set to make his team-best 36th career start, is taking a similar approach to his final game at Rentschler Field.

"All the other stuff is great but it comes down to we have four quarters to go out there and play the 13th-ranked team in the country so that is what I am excited about and that is what I am really looking forward to," Campenni said.

"It is really exciting. It is an accumulation of five years of work so to have an opportunity to play a great team this week on senior day, I guess you could say that it is a storybook ending.

"It is what you come to a school like this to do, you want to play great teams and you want to play them at home so any chance we get to play at The Rent against a great team it just adds extra excitement."

It won't just be the seniors who are excited, not with a chance to attain bowl eligibility and send out the seniors with a program-defining victory.

"They are doing a great job leading the team, it is not only the captains but everybody who is in that position to be a leader," UConn junior receiver Noel Thomas said. "I think they are great guys and it is important to send them off in the right way.

"We take pride in them and we play hard for these guys and we expect the same from them."

UCONN COMMITS GETTING SOME PRESS
While the focus naturally is on what the Huskies are trying to accomplish tomorrow, I figured I would pass on links to a couple of stories of interest on UConn commits Ryan Gilmartin and one on Quayvon Skanes as well.

Also, UConn commit Jay Rose's Southington team faces Cheshire on Thanksgiving. It is one of the games CPTV Sports is considering televising although currently that game is in second place behind Shelton/Derby with today the last day to vote.

You could go down the list of returning players at UConn and see the transformation in their bodies over the last year or year in a half. However, there might not be a player who has taken to Matt Balis' strength and conditioning program more than senior defensive end Kenton Adeyemi.

Adeyemi was listed at 257 pounds as a true freshman and played in the 264-266 range over the last couple of seasons. On the most recent roster Adeyemi is listed at 291 pounds and he believes the additional weight will serve him well especially in holding up against the run.

"I feel like I did what the coaches asked me to do," Adeyemi said. "They said it would not only help me but help the team if I got bigger in our defensive schemes to run the 3-4. Last year running the 3-4 and with me being 260 pounds wasn't ideal so I figured I would get as big as I can."

Adeyemi believes that the additional weight has not come at the expense of his speed or quickness. He is ready to bring more pressure from the left defensive end position. Adeyemi believes the defensive line, which combined for just 9 1/2 sacks a season ago, can be a more disruptive unit.

"I put a lot of work this offseason into my personal pass rush and from watching the guys, I can see we got a lot better at pass rushing as well so I think we are going to dial up a little more pressure this year," Adeyemi said. "Hopefully we can (rush the passer) on the edges a little bit more and get a little more pressure on the quarterback.

"I think the three of us (Adeyemi, Folorunso Fatukasi and Julian Campenni) can wreak havoc all year. I think we have one of the best defensive lines. We have Cole (Ormsby, who had 3 1/2 of those sacks) behind us, we have Mike Myers, Sean Marinan coming off the bench who can help us a lot so I feel like all six of us are deep at defensive line to help the team tremendously. (Freshman David) Ryslik is going his thing, he is coming along nicely. He came in, he is 300 pounds and has good size. We are hoping he could help us in the future."

Adeyemi spent a season at prep school after high school and then had a redshirt season followed by two seasons where he played in a total of six games and made four tackles. He has been very impressed by how quickly Ryslik had adjusted to the speed of the college game during UConn camp.

"It is real hard," Adeyemi said. "You go from being the man in high school to having to come here and realize you are a little fish in a big pond. He is working on the transition and I like his progress so far."

In the one practice and two scrimmages I have been at, nine of the defensive starters have remained the same while Marquise Vann has seen the majority of the time with the first-team defense at WILL (weak-side) linebacker while being pushed and occasionally spelled by Matt Walsh. However, both Adeyemi and Ormsby have been seeing first-team reps. Adeyemi believes the competition is good for both players.

"Me and Cole are pushing each other tremendously," Adeyemi said. "Cole is a tremendous football player, a tremendous D End, a real strong kid who is 260-270 pounds and strong as an ox. He definitely pushes me and I push him to get better every day "

The frustration was rather obvious when Graham Stewart took a peek into his crystal ball.

Stewart and the rest of the seniors felt incredible pain to seeing a respected group of seniors leave the UConn program with a 2-10 record as well as a string of four straight losing seasons. Stewart doesn't know what the record will be in his final season but he is very clear that Stewart and the fellow seniors are taking the steps they feel are necessary to be more successful.

"I am a guy from Connecticut so it is kind of like taking ownership," Stewart said. "I take a tremendous amount of pride in that I definitely don't want to finish my senior year the way last season finished, I think that would stick with me forever and I can't let that happen."

Just like last season, there is a small group of seniors on the UConn roster. Last year other than receivers Geremy Davis and Deshon Foxx, center Alex Mateas and cornerback Byron Jones, most of the remaining seniors were either players splitting playing time or those who rarely see the field. That is certainly not the case this time around.

Stewart, fellow linebacker and returning captain Marquise Vann, safety Andrew Adams, defensive linemen Kenton Adeyemi and Julian Campenni are defensive players accustomed to playing key roles, tight end Sean McQuillan, guard Tyler Samra and running back Max DeLorenzo are players with at least two years of being regular contributors while Junior Lee and Dom Manco are among UConn's best special teams players.

The seniors are determined to not only walk the walk but talk the talk as well.

"We got together in the beginning and kind of talked about what we wanted to do and the bigger goals," McQuillan said. "We want to be one of the senior groups that everybody feels like you can come up to, you can approach, you can talk to and we just want to be a close-knit group and make sure everybody is comfortable with each other. This senior group has a goal in mind and we are not going to stop until we get there."

UConn coach Bob Diaco has liked what he has seen from his seniors during the early stages of spring practice.

"Even now we are all in so 'what do we do? How does that look like, sound like, smell like, taste like so what do I do?" Diaco said. "We are ready so that is the kind of phase we are in right now, that group helping them have a voice, helping them have an appropriate voice and collectively all of them from John Bogue all the way to Max to Graham to Kenton to Andrew and that whole group, they are really doing a nice job with the team."

Luke Carrezola (15), Mikal Myers (92) and Cole Ormsby have added
a combined 41 pounds since end of 2014 season adding strength to front 7

This is pretty much the calm before the storm in the college football season.

The hoopla from national signing has subsided and the start of spring practice is still a few weeks away so the biggest news out of UConn was some of the changes on its roster.

I've already addressed Matt Walsh's move from fullback to linebacker but another aspect of the recently posted spring roster has been the weight changes. There isn't a position that has been a bigger change in the listed weight of players than on the defensive line.

Walk-on Sean Marinan, a former Xavier High star and one of three football players honored for having a 4.0 grade-point average in one of the two most recent semesters, leads the way as he went from 264 to 286. Kenton Adeyemi added 19 points and is now listed at 287 pounds. Mikal Myers added 14 pounds and is now at 326. On the other end of the spectrum, Foley Fatukasi dropped nine pounds to get down to 298 pounds. Cameron Stapleton and Luke Carrezola, while listed at linebackers, can be used as defensive ends as well and there could be better suited to hold up at the line of scrimmage as sophomores after adding 20 and 18 pounds respectively.

We met with the UConn assistant coaches earlier today and I spoke with defensive line coach Kevin Wolthausen about how the defensive linemen have been changing their bodies.

"You have not just a strength and conditioning coach, he (Matt Balis) is everything," Wolthausen said. "You have the trainers, the nutritionists and everything and that is why we can look at the frames we can look at and they can develop so well. We had guys who have gone 'x' number of years at a certain level of training and then who knows.

"Foley Fatukasi, he got down in weight to get back up, Julian Campenni and all of those guys they attacked it and will continue to do that. We are expecting them to have great results
.
"It is a group that we added the two redshirt freshmen (James Atkins and Sheriden Lawley) and now we have to take a look at them in the spring and it is a group that just by the nature of understanding what we are doing, you expect (improvement) and what they expect out of each other how can you not be excited about the next level of development."

Linebackers coach Vincent Brown echoed Wolthausen's sentiments as the young players who were thrust into key roles a season ago will be more physically able to handle things at the point of attack.

"They will be 10 times better," Brown said. "They are stronger, their understanding of how to play the position and techniques will be so much better. With those guys, they are eager to learn so they are growing every day. I am really excited to watch them grow.
"It is a nice blend, you have some veteran leadership with Marquise (Vann) and Graham (Stewart) because they bring an element of strength and toughness, they have been here, they have been through some really tough times here. I am hoping the younger guys like Junior Joseph, Stapleton, Vontae (Diggs), Luke and they are all embracing their roles within the defense. We are excited to come out and watch these kids come out and play."

It took all of one defensive play for it to become apparent that UConn's front four was going to have a more impactful role against Stony Brook than in the season-opening loss to Brigham Young.

In that 35-10 loss UConn's defensive linemen combined for five solo tackles but in a 19-16 victory over Stony Brook the same group had five tackles behind the line of scrimmage even though a leg injury kept Angelo Pruitt, the Huskies' most experienced defensive end, out of the game.

It started right away as nose tackle Julian Campenni, with help from Jefferson Ashiru, held Stacey Bedell to a 1-yard gain on the Seawolves' first offensive play.

The nose tackle duo of Campenni and top reserve Mikal Myers combined for four solo tackles, six assisted stop, 3.5 of UConn's nine tackles for loss and Myers had the team's lone sack. Even more important than any individual statistics was the way the interior of UConn's defensive line pushed the Stony Brook offensive line back at the point of attack, especially in the first half.

"We just did what the coaches teach us to do every day, they do a great job of putting up in position to make plays, we took full advantage of it," Myers said.

"We complement each other. I am going to do as good as he does and he is going to do as good as I do. We try to work together and play well as a collective unit.

Kenton Adeyemi, who got the start in place of Pruitt, B.J. McBryde and Reuben Frank also got into the backfield.

"It always feels good to get a little love, make a couple of plays when we had to,: Myers said.."We did a way better job tackling this week and kudos to a great week of practice."

On his day after the game conference call UConn coach Bob Diaco had some good things to say about the play of the nose tackles.

"I thought they played excellent," Diaco said. "I thought those two players had a major impact on the game and they made it hard for the offense to run the ball and even pressed the pocket back on passes and a lot of first and second down runs. They really had nice great games, great effort both guys and Sean (Marinan) had a great week of practice and I was very pleased with his work all week."

TV DETAILS FOR BOISE GAME
It was announced that Saturday's noon game against Boise will air regionally on ABC and be seen on ESPN2 by the rest of the country. Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway and Paul Carcaterra will call the game.

I caught some of Boise's game against Colorado State and they looked unstoppable on offense piling up 656 yards of total offense led by running back Jay Ajavi's 219 rushing yards and 280 yards of total offense. Ajavi is listed at 216 pounds but looked so much bigger the way he ran through would-be tacklers.

Boise may utilize its running backs in the passing game as well as any team in the country so that will be a test for UConn's linebackers and while he is not Taysom Hill, quarterback Grant Hedrick showed the ability to make plays with his legs.

It should be noted that Boise also gave up 462 yards (434 through the air) and had just two sacks on 58 Colorado State passing attempts.

The offensive coordinator is former Yale assistant coach Mike Sanford, who got plenty of air time on the ESPN2 broadcast due to his wife setting up a separate area in the house for him to sleep following the birth of the couple's second child Gunnar a few days ago.

NCAA STATS UPDATE
The NCAA updated its stats through last night's games and let's start with the good news as the Huskies rank 22nd among 124 FBS team in 3rd down defense, allowing opponents to convert just 26.7 percent of the time. However, there's some scary numbers as well as UConn is 118th in rushing offense (76 yards per game) and 121st with an average of 9.5 tackles for loss surrendered.

Individually Geremy Davis ranks 23rd nationally with an average of 104.5 receiving yards per game. Boise's Matt Miller is among the receivers ahead of him as he ranks 13th with an average of 117.5 yards in the two games. Marquise Vann is 42nd with an average of 10 tackles per game. Deshon Foxx is 14th with an average of 21 yards per punt return (of course 72 of his 84 yards came on one return).

BIG GAME FOR FORMER UCONN RB
While Lyle McCombs debuted with Rhode Island, he was not the former UConn tailback making the biggest splash as Joe Williams ran 10 times for 178 yards and two touchdowns, caught two passes for 26 yards and another score and had a 12-yard punt return in ASA College's 48-21 win over Erie Community College on Saturday.

As for McCombs, he ran 17 times for 39 yards, caught three passes for 31 yards, had 57 yards on three kickoff returns and lost one yard on one punt return in Rhode Island's 48-7 loss to Marshall.

Casey Cochran was one of 13 state products to play in UConn's opener

As I mentioned in the days leading up to Friday's season opener, there was going to be a chance for local products to shine at Rentschler Field.

I went back through the online box scores dating back to 2006 to see how many Connecticut players took part in the season opener. I would have gone back further but the 2005 box did not include a player participation list and this is just the third time that at least 10 Connecticut natives played in the Huskies' opener as 10 players saw snaps in 2008 and 2006. 

According to the participation chart, 13 Connecticut players got into the game

Here is the breakdown

DT Kenton Adeyemi (Wethersfield): Had three tackles

QB Casey Cochran (Monroe): Started and was 17 of 31 passing for 171 yards with an interception

TB Max DeLorenzo (Berlin): Started and finished with a team-high 38 rushing yards

DB Chris DeBerry (Torrington): Saw time on special teams

CB Byron Jones (New Britain): Started and had five tackles

DL Sean Marinan (Higganum): Saw time on special teams

TE Sean McQuillan (Glastonbury): Started and had 33 yards on three receptions

TE Tommy Myers (Coventry): Had a three-yard catch

TB Arkeel Newsome (Ansonia): Ran three times for 10 yards, caught an 18-yard pass and had 49 yards on kickoff returns

LB/DE Cole Ormsby (Windsor): Had a solo tackle

LB Graham Stewart (Durham): Started, tied for the team lead with 11 tackles and forced a fumble

WR Noel Thomas (Norwalk): Had two catches for 18 yards and made a special-teams tackle

FB Matt Walsh (Madison): Saw time at fullback and the field goal, extra point, kickoff return, punt return and punt coverage teams as he recorded one tackle.

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.

The latest media access to practice has come and gone and there's not a heck of a lot of report.

I didn't see Andreas Knappe out there as Dalton Gifford worked with the first team offensive line at right tackle. Hopefully we'll get an update when Bob Diaco meets with the media. True freshmen Ryan Crozier (left guard) and Trey Rutherford (right guard) were working with the second-team offensive line.

On defense once again defensive lineman Kenton Adeyemi and cornerback Jamar Summers got first team reps.

Here is some video from the practice

Just where the upset of nationally-ranked Louisville will go down in UConn folklore figures to be determined by just what happens in Saturday's regular-season finale.

If UConn wraps up the regular season with a win over Cincinnati, the Huskies will have secured a bowl bid which is something that seemed like a virtual impossibility following a loss at South Florida on Nov. 3 and that will make what transpired in Louisville all the more important. A loss to the Bearcats, especially a lopsided one, and it will be merely a footnote in a second-straight losing season.

“What it did for us is it makes this one (against Cincinnati) the most meaningful game we’ve played,” UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni said. “The next game you play is always the most important one because it is the next game but obviously it is a game where we could become bowl eligible. It is the last game the seniors will play here at the Rent (Rentschler Field) so that Louisville game put us in position to have a pretty exciting game.”

Pasqualoni said that Christen was given the special teams’ game ball while the offensive game ball went to sophomore tailback Lyle McCombs, who ran for 133 yards. In a rare gesture, Pasqualoni said that the entire defensive unit was awarded the defensive game ball.

“It was very clear on the film how many guys (on defense) contributed to the win,” Pasqualoni said. “It started with doing a very good job on run defense, constantly putting them in second down and third down and longs where you kind of knew it was going to be a drop back type of thing instead of a play-action type of pass. They threw the ball 65 times in the game and that required us to use a lot of people. Guys like Julian Campenni came in and got a sack. B.J. McBryde came in and did a good job in the pass rush. Tim Willman came in and did a good job with the pass rush and Kenton Adeyemi came in and gave us a couple of rushes. I thought the guys inside did a good job of trying to keep (Louisville quarterback) Teddy Bridgewater in the pocket. It was an overall good team win. Obviously Blidi (Wreh-Wilson’s) play at the end was just a huge play to make that interception in the end zone.”