According to a report in the Daily Campus, UConn senior tight end Sean McQuillan was arrested earlier this month on charges of assault in the second degree and disorderly conduct.

Campus police responded the Celeron Square Apartments for a reported fight on campus. The story said that officers determined McQuillan assaulted another individual that the Daily Campus reports was his roommate.

McQuillan, a redshirt senior, started and had the only touchdown in the spring game on Apr. 11. McQuillan finished with a game-high 76 receiving yards, 41 coming on the touchdown pass from Bryant Shirreffs.

McQuillan had 16 catches, the second most among the returning Huskies, for 158 yards and a touchdown during the 2014 season. He has 41 catches and a pair of touchdowns in 24 career games at UConn.

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."

It seems like a lifetime ago since the Bob Diaco era at UConn kicked off with a 35-10 loss to Brigham Young.

One aspect of that game that caught my attention was how often the tight ends were involved in the passing game as Sean McQuillan, Tommy Myers and Alec Bloom were targeted a total of nine times resulting in six catches. Through the first three games of the season UConn quarterbacks threw passes in the direction of the tight ends 15 times resulting in 10 completions. However, UConn also gave up 15 sacks and 29 tackles for loss.

With little other choice, the UConn coaching staff used the tight ends primarily as blockers as they were targeted on pass plays just five times in the next four games. However, considering how well the offensive line played against East Carolina, the coaches decided to reintroduce the tight ends into the passing equation once again.

According to the play by play, tight ends were targeted five times and the results were a season-high four catches for McQuillan and the first catch for Myers since the season opener.

"The offensive line has been great, progressing each and every week and the tight ends can be a little more involved in the passing game and don't have to stay in quite as much," McQuillan said. "It is nice to be versatile, get back to those things and get back to running some more routes than we have in the past.

"It is all about getting the win and whether that means I have to block on 90 percent of the plays or run routes 90 percent of the time, it doesn't matter, it is all about the game plan and what is going to help us win."

UConn gave up 24 sacks in the first six games of the season and countless other times the quarterbacks were able to avoid the pass rush to either get back to the line of scrimmage or get a yard or two. In the last two games there were just three sacks surrendered and most of the runs by the quarterbacks were of the designed variety.

"I think things are starting to click," senior center Alex Mateas said. Nothing really big has changed, they are starting to work and the coaches are doing a great job."

Left tackle Richard Levy believes having one game in 25 days gave the line a chance to tighten up some things.

"During the bye weeks we had a lot of (coaching) of what we are going to do and we put those bye weeks into action,' Levy said. "It is a great feeling because it shows how much we have matured."

Redshirt juniors Jefferson Ashiru (32) and Andrew Adams (22)
combined for all of UConn's season-high four interceptions vs. UCF

It was a scenario that could have resulted in utter disaster.

UConn was coming off a valiant effort in a loss on the road against nationally-ranked East Carolina and now the Huskies were playing a Central Florida team which absolutely dominated them a season ago. Adding to UConn's potential misery was that it would be without two of its four captains as cornerback Byron Jones suffered a season-ending shoulder injury while receiver Geremy Davis was held out with an ankle injury.

UConn coach Bob Diaco and his staff has been challenging his veterans, even those not elected captains, to show some leadership both on and off the field.

Apparently those pleas did not fall onto deaf ears as redshirt juniors Andrew Adams (three interceptions), Sean McQuillan (season highs with four catches and 36 yards), Graham Stewart (career-high 12 tackles), Jefferson Ashiru (first career interception) and Julian Campenni (sack, 1 1/2 tackles for loss) delivered key plays in UConn's upset victory.

"It is time for that group of fourth-year players who are getting ready in a few weeks to formally own the team to get moving," Diaco said. "Let's go, it is time for some leadership, it is time for some real leadership from Andrew Adams, from Graham Stewart, from (Marquise) Vann, from Julian (Campenni), from Sean (McQuillan), from (Tyler) Samra, it is time, let's go, it is time for some real leadership. They have done a really nice job of answering the bell. I want to see some more personalities from our younger guys, don't sit and wait for it to be your turn, let's see who you are, freshmen and sophomores, let's go. If you have something to say, say it. You can weigh in, you can get passionate and have some energy, you can show a little bit of personality. We have been working on that for a few weeks. It came at the right time to have some energy without some of our captains."\

It's a pretty young team as the most recent depth chart lists five seniors on the offensive side of the ball and just two on defense so the juniors understand that they can't wait until next season for make their presence felt.
"I would say that especially in the last two weeks the leadership from the fourth-year guys has stood out," McQuillan said. "It started at East Carolina, we tried to be more vocal in the locker room, tried to take it onto the field and coach the younger guys when they come off. As a fourth-year guy myself, I am trying to take more of a role myself in my position group and also on the offense. Coach always talks about our group being the backbone of the team and if we can bring leadership along with the seniors, I think it is going to be beneficial for the entire team."

Adams was already viewed as a leader of the defense but following Jones' injury, he has taken an even bigger role.

"Leadership is a big thing in our program, the juniors stepping up is really a great thing, they are really the backbone of the team because we will be returning next year," Adams said. "Guys are stepping up, Graham, myself, Junior Lee, we try to bring a spark to the team, energy to practice day in and day out and if we keep doing that, I am pretty sure we will be OK."

Dhameer Bradley and Deshon Foxx were targeted 17 times against ECU.

Not that UConn fans want to ponder life without Geremy Davis but with the prolific senior receiver being knocked out of Thursday's loss to East Carolina in the first half with an ankle injury opportunity knocked for some of the Huskies' young receivers.

Fellow senior Deshon Foxx did finished with four catches for 120 yards including an 88-yard touchdown (the seventh longest offensive play in UConn history) to become the first Husky with multiple 100-yard receiving games in consecutive seasons since John Fitzsimmons accomplished the feat in the 1999 and 2000 seasons. Still, UConn's freshmen and sophomore skill position players were targeted 12 times in the second half. While these numbers are very unofficial as a handful of pass plays in the official box scores do not list an intended receiver but the East Carolina game marks the first time this season that underclassmen were target more and caught more passes than the junior and senior classes.

Foxx led the team with nine targets against the Pirates but sophomore Dhameer Bradley was targeted eight times (one more target than he saw in the first four games combined), sophomore Noel Thomas matched his season high with four targets. Freshman Thomas Lucas was targeted a season high three times (as was freshman tailback Josh Marriner) while sophomore Brian Lemelle was targeting for just the third time this season.

Thomas, Lemelle, Lucas, Marriner and freshman tailback Arkeel Newsome combined for 10 catches on 12 targets. Lucas' two catches went for 43 and 37 yards as he became the first UConn player with two catches of at least 35 yards in the same game since Nick Williams had catches of 49 and 64 yards against Buffalo on Sept. 24, 2011.

"They are going to continue to play more and more," UConn coach Bob Diaco said. "They now collectively need to grow up and mature, mature with how they prepare, prepare all week, prepare on the practice field, prepare in the meetings, prepare in their volunteer time and what (time) they spend studying, we just need to take that next step. They are passionate about (football). Here's what you've got, you have four guys, all four of them, they love to compete, they are passionate about football. They like to play football, love to play football. You would like to say that is inherent for everyone, it is not. Those four guys definitely are that way and they are talented. Now what we have to do is hone in on the professionalism as far as what it takes to become a productive player and how to become a good to great player."

Here is my unofficial tally of targets and catches this season broken down by class
                Seniors    Juniors   Soph.   FreshmenBYU          22 9-104  10 5-51  9 4-36  8 6-72
SBROOK  16 7-119    9 3-22  1 1-5    1 1--4
BOISE       16 9-154    4 3-27  8 3-7    8 7-54
USF             5 3-62      1 0-0    2 2-18  1  0-0
TEMPLE   12 8-80      3 1-5    8 3-12  5 2-77
TULANE  14 10-88     1 0-0    6 4-26  3 3-27
ECU           11 5-125    1 1-4  13 7-87  7 6-96
Here is the breakdown by position (not including the passes thrown away due to quarterback hurries since the box scores don't list official receivers and this week's interception which was tipped at the line of scrimmage)

Player                Targets  Catches Yards
Geremy Davis     58          34       436
Deshon Foxx       38         17       296
Dhameer Bradley 25         11        70
Sean McQuillan   16          8         69
Noel Thomas       14          8          97
Kamal Abrams    12          5          43
Thomas Lucas     12          7        115
Arkeel Newsome  9           8        117
Josh Marriner        6           5         35
Jazzmar Clax        4           3         12
Alec Bloom          3           3         40
Brian Lemelle       3           3        13
Ron Johnson         3           1        11
Max DeLorenzo    1           1        17
Tommy Myers      1           1          3
Matt Walsh           1           0          0
A couple of thoughts on the breakdown of targets. First, tight ends and fullbacks were targeted 19 times in the first three games and just six times since. Those numbers are a direct result of the pass protection issues as UConn has needed to keep in additional players to block just to throw the ball. Dhameer Bradley seemed almost like a forgotten piece of  passing offense earlier this season but his 18 targets over the last three games is second only to Davis during that span.

Staying on the subject of receivers, some future Huskies displayed the gift of grab as well over the weekend.

Tyraiq Beals had eight catches for 179 yards and a pair of touchdowns in East Orange's 29-21 win over Bloomfield. It was his fourth game with at least two touchdown catches this season and in six games he has 62 catches for 1060 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Also, John Robinson IV caught three passes for 78 yards and a touchdown in Dwight Morrow's 23-20 win over Dumont. It was his fourth TD reception in the last five games while Nazir Williams (4 catches for 78 yards) and Chris Lee (3 catches for 27 yards) also had multiple-catch games.

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.

Josh Marriner and the other UConn freshmen running backs were
involved in the running and passing game in season-opening loss

While the way quarterbacks Casey Cochran and Chandler Whitmer were utilized in last night's game against BYU continues to be a popular topic of conversation, I was more concerned with who was getting the ball thrown to them.

The first thing that caught my eye is that freshmen running backs Arkeel Newsome, Josh Marriner and Ron Johnson had receptions of 18, 17 and 11 yards respectively. So what you may say but a season ago you would have to go to the 11th game of the season to document three catches of at least 10 yards by the running backs and the 49 receiving yards by the backs tops any number the Huskies put forth a season ago.

"It is an important piece," Diaco said. "As a (former) defensive coordinator and (former) linebacker, those guys are hard to cover."

As for overall targets, I went through last night's tape and here is what I came up with (this includes plays wiped out due to penalty)

Player               Targets     Catches

Geremy Davis     13            7

Deshon Foxx        9            2

Sean McQuillan    6            3

Kamal Abrams     5            3

Noel Thomas       4            2

Dhameer Bradley 4            1

Alec Bloom          2            2

Thomas Lucas      2           0

Ron Johnson        2            1

Jazzmar Clax       1            1

Josh Marriner      1            1

Tommy Myers     1            1

Arkeel Newsome 1           1

Although UConn's tailbacks only combined for 84 yards on 24 carries, Diaco liked what he saw from them. The play calling was slanted more to the pass game (52 to 27 if you count the four sacks as pass plays even though they go down as running plays). Much of that has to do with getting down 14-0 early.

He had good things to say about both true freshmen Arkeel Newsome, who he said uses all of his body mass as a runner as he is at optimal speed when he has the ball in his hands. He said Johnson also impressed him but in a different way. Newsome added a 34-yard kickoff return and he looked like the most explosive of the three players sent back on kickoffs.

Diaco also said that the team came through the game in pretty good shape health wise with nothing but the normal bumps and bruises. He said he was happy with what he heard from the training staff including that offensive tackle Andreas Knappe "is getting better."

Former St. Luke's star Noel Thomas is one of 11 Connecticut natives
on UConn football team's two-deep chart which was released on Thursday

A quick look at UConn's two-deep chart and there are no lack of local boy makes good stories out there.

The emergence of Casey Cochran as the No. 1 quarterback, Max DeLorenzo as potentially being the top running option, Sean McQuillan the top guy at tight end, Graham Stewart primed for a big season at linebacker and Byron Jones being named as a team captain and emerging as an NFL prospect at cornerback have been reported on in the past and they will continue to dominate the headlines. However, there are some other state natives flying a bit under the radar.

Defensively, Windsor's Cole Ormsby is pushing for quality playing time at the hybrid outside linebacker/defensive end position. Ormsby learned his lessons well a season ago when he knew he was going to be redshirted.

"I worked as hard as I could and tried to be ready," Ormsby said. "I am ready for anything and whatever the team needs me to do.

"I am excited because I want to prove to everybody that I can do it. I am way more prepared with the new coaching staff,"

Well, he is ready to go now. While UConn coach Bob Diaco said Ormsby has the flexibility to be an asset either on the outside or inside, Ormsby said he has worked almost exclusively on the outside.

Moving over to the offense, tight end Tommy Myers has been a fixture at UConn sporting events as long as he can remember since his father Norman played for the UConn football team in the early 1980s and his mother Peggy was one of the stars of Hall of Fame Geno Auriemma's first women's basketball teams at UConn.

Like Ormsby, Myers was redshirted a season ago but is now No. 2 at tight end.

If there is such a thing as a player born to play football at UConn, Myers could certainly fit the bill.

"I remember coming to these games when they were at Memorial Stadium and just always wanted to play UConn football and it feels natural," Myers said. "I kind of fell into the position of tight end because growing up I always wanted to play quarterback or receiver like everybody does but I think I fell into the tight end spot just by size and ability."

He displayed some of that ability in the spring game when he one of four players to catch at least four passes. Noel Thomas was also on the list of prolific pass catches in the game. As a freshman he was best known as a gunner on the punt coverage teams as he displayed a knack for downing Cole Wagner punts inside the 5.

Diaco said Thomas has made tremendous growth as a player and a person in the last several months and he has put himself into the rotation at receiver.

"I just want to help the team win and anything I can do in a positive way," Thomas said.

So what has Thomas been doing to get ready for his sophomore season?

"I've been running a lot, working out with Coach (Matt) Balis (UConn's strength and conditioning coach, he is an amazing guy, and I just want to make sure I catch everything that is thrown to me."

There are 11 state natives on UConn's two deep chart while others like Tim Boyle, Arkeel Newsome, Steve Hashemi aren't on the two-deep but could see action this season. Here is the list of Nutmeg State natives on the depth chart

Kenton Adeyemi (Wethersfield), No. 2 defensive tackle
Chase Briley (Hartford), No. 2 kicker and No. 2 punter
Casey Cochran (Monroe), starting quarterback
Max DeLorenzo (Berlin), starting tailback
Byron Jones (New Britain), starting cornerback
Cole Ormsby (Windsor), No. 2 defensive end
Sean McQuillan (Glastonbury), starting tight end
Tommy Myers (Coventry), No. 2 tight end
Graham Stewart (Durham), starting linebacker
Noel Thomas (Norwalk), Co-No. 2 receiver
Matt Walsh (Madison), No. 2 fullback

Sean McQuillan, who had 25 catches as a sophomore, was only player
from UConn named to the All-AAC first team by Athlon magazine.

In the take it for what it is worth department, Athlon has been making predictions of not only order of finish but also the preseason all-conference teams.

Tight end Sean McQuillan was the only UConn player named to the first team while receiver Geremy Davis was the only other offensive player selected as he was a second-team pick.

On defense, tackle Julian Campenni and cornerback Byron Jones were named to the second team while safety Obi Melifonwu was a third-team selection.

In the team prediction side of things, Athlon had UConn finishing 5-7 and 3-5 in conference play which would put the Huskies tied with Memphis and Southern Methodist for sixth place. The magazine had Cincinnati and East Carolina finishing at the top of the conference with 7-1 records.

His UConn teammates look on as an injured Sean McQuillan is placed into
an ambulance after taking a huge hit during an Aug. 17 football practice

One of the enduing images of the practices I was allowed to attend during preseason, it was hard to top the scary sight of seeing starting tight end Sean McQuillan being taken from the field in an ambulance after he took a bit hit from cornerback Taylor Mack.

UConn, already thin at the tight end position due to graduation and unexpected departures, were facing the possibility of losing the projected starter.

Thankfully for McQuillan, it was little more than a scary moment. He did miss about 1 1/2 weeks of camp but was cleared a couple days before the Towson game. McQuillan did not record a catch in the game but he was able to play without restriction.

Today was the first time I was able to speak to McQuillan since the day he was injured and he relived the incident.

"It was hard for me and my family," McQuillan said. "My mom was at the practice which I find of wish she wasn’t. It was a scary time and I have never been through anything like that. I’ve had one previous concussion to this point but never been through something like that. Waking up in the ambulance. I was able to wiggle my fingers and toes so it kind of reassured me that things are going to be all right. As the day started progressing, I had a massive headache and I had some whiplash on the hit but as the day started progressing I started to be a little more comfortable just knowing it was probably just a head and neck injury and it wasn’t anything more serious.

"Stuff like that is scary, it is part of the game but you never want something like that to happen to anybody. It is part of the game and I walk out to practice every day knowing that anything can happen, you have to play hard and you can’t really think about it. You know in the back of your mind that injury comes along with the game."

McQuillan believes that he will be more involved in the passing game as the season progresses beginning with Saturday's game against Maryland.

"I think this week and from weeks on I think we will get more involved," McQuillan said. "There are going to be weeks when you don’t get the ball and that is when you have to block and help the team in other areas. I am not really too concerned about it. I am sure we will get more involved and like I told you a few months ago, tight ends will be very involved in the offense this year so I am not really too worried about it."

More than anything else, McQuillan is eager for Saturday's game as it will give him and the rest of the Huskies the chance to show they are a much better team than they looked like in the loss to Towson.

"I can’t wait," McQuillan said. "That is not UConn football, that is not what we are all about. We worked entirely too hard for that be what kind of a team we are. I think we are going to come out this week and show that we can play with anybody. People didn’t realize it is new systems on both sides of the ball and I think we had to work out the kinks. I think that those are gone, the nerves are out and we are going to get to playing UConn football for sure."

UConn players gather around in support of injured teammate Sean McQuillan
at Saturday's practice. McQuillan was injured after being hit by Taylor Mack
and was taken to Windham Hospital for observation.

The most enduring image from Saturday morning's UConn practice was not the back to back 20-yard hookups from Chandler Whitmer to Geremy Davis, freshman fullback Matt Walsh's four touchdowns in short-yardage 11 on 11 drills or Obi Melifonwu's interception which was returned for a score.

Instead, it was Sean McQuillan's teammates gathering near the ambulance that the sophomore tight end needed to be loaded into after a collision with Taylor Mack late in practice.

Whitmer swung out a pass to McQuillan and the ball arrived just before Mack did. Mack delivered a big hit which sent McQuillan sprawling backyards. After crashing to the ground, McQuillan rolled over and was in obvious distress. After being examined for about 15 minutes, a backboard was brought out to stabilize McQuillan and he was taken to Windham Hospital for observation.

"It puts a damper on the day," UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni said following practice. "Fortunately he was wiggling everything so we are optimistic that he will be OK."

Pasqualoni said McQuillan, who is projected to be the starting tight end for the Huskies, was communicating when he was being tended to.

"He is in great care, they know exactly what they are doing," Pasqualoni said. "You just don’t like to see stuff like that."

McQuillan was taken to Windham Hospital for observation but was treated and released. CT scan on his head and neck were normal. He is back on campus and being treated for a concussion.

Shortly after the collision Pasqualoni came over to the sideline and told Mack that the hit was "unnecessary." Following practice Pasqualoni was not about to place blame on Mack for causing the injury to McQuillan.

"The corner made a break on the thrown ball and they collided," Pasqualoni said. "It just happens in football and it is part of the game unfortunately. The way it happened, it was a bang-bang play. When you are playing that type of coverage and that player has that zone of the field so he is playing the ball more than the guy so often times you don’t see the guy, you are going for the ball and it has always been part of it."

Mack was clearly shaken emotionally after seeing McQuillan taken from the field in the ambulance.

"I started praying, that is about the only thing I can say," Mack said. "God blesses you every day to come out and play the sport you love and you never take it for granted. I am praying for Sean, we are all praying for him. I am going into the locker room and say a prayer for him after I step off this field.

"It is just a football play. You can’t take it for granted, walk out on the field, smell the grass and thank God that you can play the game."

Starting safety Andrew Adams was also injured during practice. Adams was tangled up with Davis in a receiver/defensive back blocking drill. Davis was able to keep Adams from breaking through Davis' block but the two were still engaged after the drill ended before Adams fell hard to the ground. He immediately was tended to by the medical staff and did not return to practice.