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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here's what he had to say.

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

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

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

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

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

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

About the offensive line ...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bob Diaco had a lot to say in the 30 or so minutes he was available to the media at Wednesday's media day.

However, the one comment that really surprised me was when he spoke about the freshmen and had this to say:

"The offensive line, the defensive line, the tight end position, in the linebacker corps and that group there, that could become a mess. So where are they participating? They are participating, potentially, in the skill positions. I am fairly certain that is going to be the hallmark of this year. I can't imagine in the two deep there being a true freshman that is going to be a guy that the team is counting on (at those positions). The only one would be Matt Peart at left tackle and he is by no means ready to go in the game and play. We'll see if we can get him ready to go into the game in a week."

Peart was consistently working as an offensive tackle with the second team during all the three practices/scrimmages we were able to check out during preseason camp which made Diaco's comments all the more noteworthy to me.

When you look at the fact that UConn has been forced, mostly due to injury, to start four different players at right tackle during the 2013 and 2014 seasons, having quality backups at tackle is no small matter.

I followed up with offensive line coach Mike Cummings on which players would join sophomore Trey Rutherford as options as tackle behind starters Richard Levy and Andreas Knappe.

I assumed that former starting tackle Dalton Gifford would be at the top of the list of contenders and Cummings had plenty to say about Gifford.

"Dalton has played every position on the offensive line," Cummings said. "There are four tackles in there for sure who have played tackle. Tommy Hopkins have played tackle, there are a lot of guys who can play at that position."

One of the more intriguing situations in camp centered around Dalton, who began the 2014 season starting at right tackle while Knappe got healthy. Yet, there he was working with the third string as he was behind a true freshman (Peart) and true sophomore (Rutherford) and at the first practice I was at true sophomore Steve Hashemi was also seeing time at tackle ahead of Gifford.

"Dalton is doing a good job, he is working hard, he is a good teammate," Cummings said. "If he is taking anything personally, it is probably on the positive end. He has a great attitude and is a great senior. Anytime we ask Dalton to go in, he is ready to go. He isn't day dreaming through camp, he is ready to go."

Hashemi, a former St. Joseph of Trumbull star, has had an interesting camp. He moved to tight end as a freshman and after moving back to his natural offensive line position, he has worked in at both guard and tackle.

"We have him at both right now, we have him playing guard," Cummings said. "He has the skill to play either of them and he is a tough guy. We are trying to get the right people on the field at the right spots. He could play guard for us, he could play tackle. he is doing a great job. The biggest thing is he athletic, he is tough, he loves the school, he loves the state and that goes a long way."

Of course who is going to be the second string offensive tackles isn't as pressing of an issue as how the interior offensive line is going to perform. They seem to have had their struggles when I was there but Cummings and offensive coordinator Frank Verducci said they are encouraged by what they have seen from center Brendan Vechery and guards Tommy Hopkins and Tyler Samra.

Cummings believes Vechery will benefit from going head to head with defensive tackle/nose guard Julian Campenni every day in practice.

"I don't know if there is a better guy you could practice with at that position, I don't know if there could be," Cummings said. "He is getting a lot of work.

"Hopkins and Vechery are doing well, they learn every day. It is not like they are new to the position, they are working very hard."

Samra, who could be the only senior starter on offense depending on what happens with running back Max DeLorenzo, has plenty on his plate as he needs to take care of his duties but also add leadership with first-time starters Vechery and Hopkins next to him.
"We came a long way just coming from spring ball," Samra said. "Losing Ryan Crozier (to a season-ending leg injury) was pretty hard on us but Vechery is stepping up. You can see we are working together as a unit which was something that was kind of hard for us last year because we had a lot of newcomers, a lot of new starters so this year, this camp we have come a long way.

"They all know the game, it is not getting them used to (playing). We are getting better as a unit. It is more fluid in everything we do on the line."

UConn coach Bob Diaco also weighed in on Vechery's growth as the Huskies starting center.
"I am very interested what that play is going to look like (at center)," Diaco said. "I can't wait for the game to watch these guys play. I can't wait to watch Vech and see what he's going to be in the game after all this preparation and work that he's put in. He looks good, every day he gets better and better, learns something new about the spot so it is exciting."

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."

Tyler Samra is one of two returning offensive linemen to start
all 12 games at UConn during 2014 season

The exact timeline is a little fuzzy to Mike Cummings.

At some point during his first season on the UConn football coaching staff all the weeks felt like all the other ones. So just when Cummings, who was hired to be the offensive coordinator and work with the tight ends, began taking on more of a hands' on approach with the struggling offensive line escapes him.

"Some of it is a blur for me but I would say it was around week four," Cummings said.
The timing would make sense. The fourth game of the season was the nightmare at South Florida when the Huskies abandoned the passing game for a significant portion of the game because the coaching staff didn't want to risk more costly turnovers.

Once the season began the practices were not open to the media which is nothing new as it was the same way when Paul Pasqualoni was the Huskies' head coach. The result is I didn't fully understand how involved Cummings was in the improved play of the offensive line until the season was over.
UConn coach Bob Diaco did want to use the fact that Cummings was being pulled in a few different ways as an excuse. But when the season came to an end, it was clear he was going to make some changes on the offensive side of the ball. Mike Foley, who coached the offensive line from 2006-10 when future NFL running backs Jordan Todman and Donald Brown were among the nation's most productive tailbacks. When Pasqualoni was hired, he brought in George DeLeone to work with the offensive line and Foley moved over to work with the tight ends during the 2011 and 2012 seasons and started the 2013 season in the same capacity. When Pasqualoni and DeLeone were fired after an 0-4 start, Foley returned to work with the offensive line. He was the only coach retained by Diaco before deciding that something had to be done.

When the dust settled none of the remaining offensive assistants had the same responsibilities. Nobody was more impacted than Cummings who returned to his speciality of coaching the offensive line. While he is still listed as co-offensive coordinator, veteran NFL assistant coach Frank Verducci was brought in to be the offensive coordinator and call the plays.

In retrospect Cummings admitted the time be devoted on fixing the leaky offensive line probably hurt his performance as a play caller.

"I spent all the individual time with the line," Cummings said. "The division was doing position, individual (work) with the offensive line and then I spent time with the team in the other (practice periods).

"It is difficult when you spend so much time coaching five guys that it feels like it is a different world. It if difficult because you are focused and locked in on a particular portion of the offense that when you step out into the big picture, you kind of go back to that part of the offense which is a huge part of the offense."

The results were hard to overlook.

UConn did not allow a sack in three of the last four games and the running game was more productive as well. After the East Carolina game UConn had one game with at least 160 rushing yards in the last 31 contests. The Huskies accomplished the feat three times in the last five games with the 249 yards against SMU is the most since a Nov. 11, 2010 game against Pittsburgh.

"That was huge," Cummings said. "That does mean a lot. If you coach the position, you are motivated by players getting better. You are not motivated by notoriety, obviously you want to win the games and that is primary but seeing players get better and develop skill wise, emotionally, socially those are big deals."

Cummings said he is 100 percent all in with his new role. I'm sure seeing somebody else call the plays must have stung Cummings a little but he certainly said all the right things about Verducci's arrival and his changing role.

"Frank is very detailed," Cummings said. "I think he has a very good vision and plan and I think it is a shared vision. I enjoy working with him, he really likes collaborative efforts with the staff which is big. He lets the position coaches have ownership."

As for the players he will be working with, Richard Levy and Tyler Samra started every game at left tackle and right guard respectively. Andreas Knappe likely would have started every game at right tackle if not for a leg injury he suffered late in preseason camp. He started the last seven games while true freshman Ryan Crozier was the starting left guard for the final three games. UConn did lose Alex Mateas, the starter at center in all 12 games, and Gus Cruz, who got the start at left guard for the first nine games. Those were the only losses on the offensive line. Trey Rutherford, Thomas Hopkins, Kyle Bockeloh and Gifford lead the list of the other linemen who got game experience a season ago. Obviously the biggest question facing the offensive line is who is going to earn the starting center job. Daniel Oak, who redshirted last season, drew plenty of praise for his work in practice. He figures to push Bockeloh for the job. Cummings couldn't say enough good things about Oak, who added 13 pounds since the end of last season and is now listed at 278.

"Dan Oak made a lot of progress," Cummings said. "He is a smart player, he is very tough. While he didn't get the game experience, we felt it was best to redshirt him because we could. He is a player that we are expecting a lot from him. We were able to put him in (practice) and he was able to battle with our defense as a next man in, not as a scout team or look team (center) and he was very aggressive. He did a good job, not a great job but a good job against our nose men which in our league are very difficult to block."

Another player of interest is Shelton's Steve Hashemi, who was moved to tight end and saw time on special teams as a true freshman. With so many tight ends as part of the incoming freshman class, Hashemi can move back to the offensive line which is what he was recruited to play.

"He has a lot of upside and he is going to develop," Cummings said. "He is only 270 pounds. I say only 270 but he's going to weight 300 and some pounds. He is a good big athlete who could step in and be able to do the job we asked him to do. Now we've got somebody for that job so we will bring him back and put him in the position we really wanted him in."

Obviously true freshmen Crozier and Rutherford were seeing time throughout the season and the Huskies had inexperienced starters at the tackle position. It is only natural that there were some growing pains.

"There is a frustration part of it that you know they are going to be really good but they are not there yet so you had to pull it back and make sure what you teach them is to the smallest common denominator so they can successful," said Cummings, who helped turn Eric Fisher from lightly-regarded prospect to become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft during his four years coaching the offensive line at Central Michigan. "As they get older it is really fun because they have the building blocks and experience. It is not a guy who is in his third year and hasn't played, it is a little different."

It also helps that the offensive linemen continue to bulk up led by the tackle duo of Levy and Knappe.
"They are pushers, shovers, mushers were everybody else is a runner," Cummings said. "They are totally trained for that, that has been a big improvement for Andreas, he has been through the battles."

NEWSOME, JOHNSON READY FOR AN ENCORESpeaking of young players getting a baptism under fire, there wasn't much time for tailbacks Ron Johnson and Arkeel Newsome to act like the true freshmen that they were a season ago. With Max DeLorenzo the only experienced tailback on last year's team, Johnson, Newsome and redshirt freshman Josh Marriner were thrown right into the mix from the opening game.
That experience should serve the young running backs well this season.

"He is a guy that is obviously very explosive so we tried to find ways to get him the ball," said UConn assistant coach David Corley, who coached the running backs last season. "We got the ball in his hands and a couple of times he was able to make some big plays happen. It is a natural maturation process. In your first year of college there are so many distractions that are happening, things are moving faster on the field then they were in high school. I think he was able to settle himself. I think he is better prepared now  what is expected from him, what is necessary and I think he is looking forward to these 15 days of spring practice and find a way to get better every day.

"They had no choice but to grow up. You come out high school, you are used to a certain speed of the game, a certain size of the opponents. Now you are in college and you are playing against grown me who are 21/22 years old. I think those guys definitely, it was a process and it didn't happen overnight but I think they learned and they grew up quite a bit in those 12 games last year."

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."

While there's plenty of work yet to be done before UConn opens up the 2014 season against Brigham Young, it is looking like the coaching staff has a pretty good idea who are the building blocks on the offensive line.

At the first practice I attended, the No. 1 line consisted of (from left to right) tackle Richard Levy, guard Kyle Schafenacker, center Alex Mateas, guard Bryan Paull and tackle Dalton Gifford. After nearly a week and a half off due to spring break and more importantly, that much down time for the staff to break down the performance of that line, four of the five players were in the first O-line group sent out at yesterday's practice.

Levy and Gfford remained the left and right tackles and Mateas (who is impressing head coach Bob Diaco with his leadership) was the starting center. Paull moved from right guard to left guard while Tyler Samra moved in at the right guard spot. Again, this is very much subject to change with 10 more spring practices to go before the Apr. 12 spring game.

Gus Cruz, who started five games in each of the last two years at right guard, is still relegated to riding the stationary bike at practice. If he is able to return to the field after seeing his 2013 season cut short due to cardiac issues, it could provide a huge lift to a young offensive line.

Also in the "for what it is worth department" Casey Cochran was the first QB I saw in the offensive reps although the QBs seem to be getting a similar amount of reps and the brief time I was able to watch, I saw plenty of formations with both a fullback and tight end which was a rarity a season ago whether it was Paul Pasqualoni coaching the team or T.J. Weist assuming control of the team. It is going to be interesting to see how this plays out. UConn has an overflow of talented receivers so if the Huskies opt to use a tailback, fullback and tight end, that means only two receivers can be out on the field. The trio of Geremy Davis, Shakim Phillips and Deshon Foxx figure to be among the best playmakers on the 2014 UConn team so that would mean that either the fullback or tight end position would get fewer snaps if Diaco and offensive coordinator Mike Cummings opts to use more three-receiver sets. Davis has looked rock solid in blocking drills so that could also figure into things down the road when the Huskies determine how to best use their receivers, tight ends and fullbacks as  big receivers like Davis (6-3, 216 pounds) and Phillips (6-3, 206) could help in the running game as well as given the No. 1 quarterback big targets on the outside.

Center Alex Mateas is the most experienced of UConn's returning linemen

There were plenty of question marks with the UConn offensive line even before the news broke that Xavier Hemingway, who was expected to compete for a starting offensive tackle spot, was not enrolled at UConn for the spring semester and no longer with the team.

With Hemingway gone, the status of Gus Cruz up in the air and four starters having graduated, there's no question that offensive line coach Mike Foley and head coach Bob Diaco will have their hands full in putting together the offensive line for the 2014 season.

Center Alex Mateas is probably the lone sure thing right now although Dalton Gifford showed tremendous growth as he started the final four games of the season at right tackle in place of Friend.

Guards Tyler Samra (who started against Cincinnati) and Kyle Schafenacker, who redshirted as a true freshman, came to UConn as highly-touted recruits from national powerhouse programs. If they are as good as advertised, the interior of the offensive line should be in good shape. Tackles Richard Levy and Paul Nwokeji, guard Zach Rugg and center Bryan Paull were all in the rotation a season ago. If Cruz gets a clean bill of health and that's a big if due to his season being shut down due to cardiac issues, he could always be bumped outside to tackle. Kyle Bockeloh could be another name to look at in the interior of the line while Tommy Hopkins is a tackle prospect who redshirted as a true freshman. Another option I would have to think the coaches should at least consider is moving defensive lineman Andreas Knappe to the other side of the ball. He certainly fits the size requirements as he was listed at 6-foot-9, 296 pounds as a redshirt freshman.

Diaco has made the offensive line a major priority in recruiting with a commitment from St. Joseph All-Stater Steve Hashemi and offensive tackle recruits Derek Allen and Trey Ratliff visiting last week. Still, expecting a true freshman to come in and start at offensive tackle might be asking a little bit too much.

I addressed the offensive line position with Foley when we met with the UConn assistant coaches earlier this month and here's what he had to say.

"With Kevin getting hurt Dalton got to play a lot," Foley said. "Dalton towards the end of the year played a lot and did a nice job, Alex Mateas I thought really developed as the year went on and really improved over the year before so you have those two guys and there are some good young players. I think the spring will be important for them and next fall in camp but that is college football, that is the way it is and the next guy has to step up and we have to get them ready to do the things we are going to ask them to do.

"There is definitely talent there and it is a matter of getting some experience. One of the things we tried to do and I went back with the offensive line and that was to make sure that during the individual work that they got a lot of work also, not just the starters but everybody right down to the last guy was getting work so I could evaluate them as players to see what they had and try to develop them. What we did in the two-deep is we rotated because we knew we were going to redshirt some guys so a guy like Kyle Schafenacker had been up and I watched him for a couple of weeks, then we put him down and brought about freshman up to look at them. It had nothing to do with Kyle as a player, I liked him, he was a good player and he is going to be a good player but it more so that I could get a look at somebody else up so I could get a look at somebody else. I think there is some talent there and it has to be developed. With O-linemen, very rarely are any of them ready as true freshmen sometimes even as a redshirt freshman it takes a couple of years in the weight room to develop and that is what we are doing."

With the cardiac issue preventing starting right guard Gus Cruz from making the trip to Cincinnati for Saturday's game, one of the more promising offensive line prospects on the UConn roster got to make his first career start.

Sophomore Tyler Samra had his moments but he was also replaced a couple of times by senior Tyler Bullock, who is listed as the starter for Saturday's game against Central Florida. Still, Samra knows that the experience of going up against one of the best defenses in the American Athletic Conference can only be a helpful situation moving forward.

"Going into your first college start you are a little nervous, you have some nervous jitters but after the first play happened it was smooth sailing from there," Samra said. "I definitely learned (the) strength, speed (of the game) and the difference between that and practice. I got a bunch of pretty good feelings of what to expect whether it is this year or next year..

"Getting a little experience was great, even my freshman year going into the UMass game which a lot of people thought I should have redshirted but I respected the coaches’ decisions and I learned a lot from going into that game. I think everything has a positive outlook on it."

With four starting offensive linemen for the UCF game being seniors, Samra is one of the younger linemen who figures to shoulder the load in the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He certainly has a good pedigree as he played for a Don Bosco Prep team which won national championships in 2009 and 2011.

"One thing my high school coach taught us is whatever you can do, just be a winner and that is what I try to bring to this program, whatever I do just go and do things with great effort, great energy and all great things will happen," Samra said.

"I have never dealt with (an 0-6 start) but things happen, you can’t keep your head down at that point. You have to keep being positive and good things will happen."

UConn interim head coach T.J. Weist just spent about 45 minutes answering a variety of questions with the local media on a variety of subjects.

Pretty high up on the list was his decision - at the request of the players - to allow music to be played at the beginning of practice to get the team in the right frame of mind.

"I sat down with some of the seniors and team captains  and I wanted to get their input of what changes they think can help us in this transition and can help us to win games," Weist said. "One thing they said is they’d like to have some music. It is kind of a new thing around the country that people are doing and when players see those things, they see other teams with music, they all watch the videos there are videos everywhere of teams practicing and they get excited about it so we added some music early in practice during the (team) stretch just to get the practice started out right. We really don’t want to have music during practice necessarily but just to get them started out. It is my music. It is like the weight room, in the weight room you have different days for the country guys, for the rock and roll guys, rhythm and blues and everything so we started out and I made it easy, it is my music to start and I was going to allow the players to pick out some clean versions of some of the music out there so that is what we’ve got.

"I focused on some of the music that other teams play in stadiums, whether it is Back in Black or Enter the Sandman. I have no idea about some of the latest hits so I let some of the players pick that, I couldn’t name any of them. I try not to go back too far to the 70s. I don’t know how long there are going to let me keep the music going on my terms because they don’t recognize any of it. I want to teach them musicology, I want to teach them the evolution of music. I want to get them motivated for practice so I don’t want to make it a learning session but they appreciate it and I will mix it up every day throw in some country and throw in some rock and roll, throw in some opera, punk and dance music or whatever gets these guys motivated. Heck, half the time I have to make it the instrumental because we have some people out at practice and I can’t hear those words they are saying but the worst part is they play the instrumental (version) and the players sing it anyways."

It might not come as a shock that the most popular topic for discussion centered around the quarterback position with freshman Tim Boyle set to make his first career start on Oct. 12 against South Florida.

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"He has done a good job," Weist said. "He has shown good maturity in handling the offense, he is handling the scheme and making decisions throwing the ball, handling everything with the run game and all the calls that we have, every day he gets better and every day he is going to have to improve and take steps improving until we get to game time and really find out how much pressure he can handle, instinctually how he can lead this team, drive us down the field and keep drives alive and make smart decisions so that is what we are looking for out of Tim, smart decisions, efficiency, let him play with maturity and handle the offense and he is on his way to doing those things

"We are not married to any player on this roster, a starter, we evaluate them every single game. I would say this for Tim and any young player that we play we are going to be patient, obviously the quarterback position is a different position. If I had to play a true freshman, there has to be some patience, they has to be a period where he makes some mistakes where our last starting quarterback, our last starting wide receiver or our last anybody that a freshman replaced, they are going to make some mistakes and you were patient with the other guy at times so we will be patient with him. I treat him like most of the players and you have to go out there and perform, our goal is to win and you need to do the things to help us win. If he goes out and doesn’t perform the way we want that we are going to keep him in the game and stick with him no matter what. We have to do what is best for the team at any position. We are going to give him time but we have to win."

Weist was quick to point out that many of the interceptions previous starting quarterback Chandler Whitmer threw including the one returned for a touchdown in the loss to Buffalo were not his fault and that Whitmer will see normal reps as the No. 2 quarterback.

He also said he is not planning any changes to the starting offensive line and hopes to have starting right tackle Kevin Friend back for the USF game. Weist said the entire offensive line plays better when Friend is out there.

More on the injury situations. fullback Jazzmar Clax is out there practicing and Weist likes what he sees out of him and receiver Kamal Abrams, who was hurt warming up for the Towson game, has also been back at practice.

When asked about other young players who could see bigger roles now that he is calling the shots, he mentioned freshman wide receivers Brian Lemelle and Dhameer Bradley and offensive guard Tyler Samra, who moves up in the rotation following the suspension of Tyler Bullock.

Bullock was arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence and failed sobriety tests according to the police report. While not mentioning Bullock by name, there was no question who he was referring to when he mentioned "the events that happened yesterday."

"We have a lot of things that are happening around us that we have to deal with obviously with some of the events that happened yesterday and that is part of it," Weist said. "Players have to realize that every decision they make is for the best of the team, they are representing the university, representing the athletic department, the football program, representing every former player who has played here, representing their families and our families as coaches. We are stressing the point that all of their decisions have an impact on this team on and off the field."

Weist said he is still contemplating whether to bring in another coach since UConn is down a pair of coaches right now following the firing of Paul Pasqualoni and George DeLeone but he is not considering pilfering a coach who currently has a job. He complimented the graduate assistants for stepping in and helping with the day to day coaching. He has liked what he has seen in the first three practices.

"It has been a great four days," Weist said. "It has been exciting, I think our players have responded well, we have had three spirited practices. We are getting back to work. There is nothing magic about it, get back to work, refocused on one purpose of this team coming together as a team to win football games and especially to focus on being South Florida, our next (opponent). I think we made good progress and have had good practices."

The 2012 season was not the best of times for UConn's offensive line.

UConn was 100th nationally in sacks allowed and 117th in rushing offense a combination that resulted in a disappointing 5-7 final record despite ranking ninth in total defense.

Six offensive linemen who started games last season are back so obviously optimism is high among the returnees as they look to reestablish the line as a dominant unit.


"I think we are going to go up," said senior guard Steve Greene. "I know I am not going to stand for it and all the other guys are with me, we are not going to be the weak point of this team. We are going to be the driving force behind this team that helps us win the game.

It was awful. There is no other word that says it. When you can’t run the ball it makes you so one dimensional and teams can virtually just tee off on you and it makes everything else a lot harder. When you can run the ball you can control the game and that is what we need to be back to. That is what we’ve been preaching and what we’ve been working. We are going to run the football and be successful at it."

Running the ball has been a trademark of recent UConn squads which made what happened last season tough to swallow for players and fans alike.

"It was a collaboration of everything, it wasn’t everybody all the time it was one person having a breakdown," Greene said. "On offense you need 11 guys functioning together or it is not going to work. Right now I feel like we are on that page, we are working real well and you are going to see some results.

"The standard has been set. We know what needs to get done. Really there is nothing left to do but to do it. I know it is a corny saying but that is what it comes down to."

The only returning starter gone is right guard Adam Masters who missed the last three games of the season with an ankle injury. 

"We lose Masters who is a special dude, he is tough to replace but he (got injured) early," Greene said. "Gus (Cruz) came out and got a lot of time so you can say we return the five guys we finished the season with which is going to be huge for us."

A bonus is the return of starting left tackle Jimmy Bennett for a sixth season of eligibility.


"Jimmy is one of my best friends, a great kid and the sky is the limit for him," Greene said. "It is good to see him finally play a full year of football last year and it is going to be good to see what he can do in his second year back. I am excited, we are all excited. We have been working well in the spring without Jimmy and when we gets inserted back into the lineup, I feel like it can only go up."

Bennett has shoulder surgery in December forcing him to miss the entire spring camp. In his place Xavier Hemingway and Dalton Gifford have had an opportunity to take first-team reps at left tackle.

"Jimmy is my right arm, I guess my left arm since he plays on my left side," Greene said. "Me and Jimmy have such a good chemistry out there, we don’t even have to make calls to know what each other is doing. It is huge for them to step in and get this time. I honestly felt they have been doing a great job. Honestly I was a little skeptical coming into the spring having X (Hemingway) on my left, a guy who hasn’t had much experience but he has done a great job. He got hurt, he is down right now and Gifford has stepped up and he has done a great job too."

Not only will Bennett be out of the lineup and Hemingway is iffy as well, but Alex Mateas (who started the first four games at center during the 2012 season) at has been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules. At the last open practice Tyler Bullock was at center with Cruz and Greene at guard,  Kevin Friend and Gifford at tackle on the first team. The second team featured Kyle Bockeloh at center, Zach Rugg and Tyler Samra at guard with Paul Nwokeji and Richard Levy at tackle.

Parking lots will open at Rentschler Field tomorrow beginning at 9 a.m. with gates set to open at 10:30 a.m. for the spring game which will start at noon. In the wake of the events in Boston security could be tighter than normal. UConn put out a reminder that  that personal bags are not allowed to be brought into events at Rentschler other than bags containing personal medical supplies.

Opening Big East play on the road against a nationally-ranked opponent would get the members of the UConn football team raring to go under normal circumstances. But when you add in the fact that six New Jersey natives are expected to be members of the travel squad and get to play in front of friends and family at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway, N.J. and clearly motivation is not going to be an issue.

UConn has three starters who hail from New Jersey led by senior cornerback Dwayne Gratz from Piscataway. Gratz did not pull any punches when talking about playing in his hometown for the final time.

“I get to play in my hometown,” Gratz said. “A lot of people come to see me every time I go to Rutgers. It is a special feeling to play in front of everybody who watched you grow up as a child. I hate Rutgers and that is all that really matters. It doesn’t matter if we are going back home, I am there to beat them. We are just going to go there and try to get this ‘W’.”

Gratz still recalls how Rutgers was indifferent towards him until the Huskies began to pursue him.

“The funny thing about that is they offered me a scholarship only because UConn did,” Gratz said. “I couldn’t respect that and hated them for that because I wanted to go to Rutgers so I am going to use that for motivation.

“(Rutgers) week is always heightened intensity. The team sees how much the guys from New Jersey hate Rutgers and it rubs off on them. Every time we play Rutgers the emotions are high.”

Although there are 10 New Jersey natives on the team, only six are expected to be on the travel squad including starting receiver Nick Williams and defensive tackle Ryan Wirth who were also recruited lightly or not at all by the Scarlet Knights.

“The stage is set,” Williams said. “They are ranked in the top 25, they are undefeated. They just went down to Arkansas in front of 90,000 people and beat a pretty good team. I know the Jersey guys on the team set the tone on the team early on this week and everybody kind of feeds off that energy and I am expecting that to happen this week.

“I think in Big East play everything turns up a little bit. I wish that wasn’t the case. I wish you could simulate that atmosphere for every single game but it is human nature, it is impossible to do that. If you are playing in the Super Bowl it is going to be different than if you are playing in week one. For us New Jersey guys this is kind of like our Super Bowl. The rest of the team sees that, the game is in New Jersey and we lost a couple nail biters to them. It is an important game for us.”

For Wirth, who was called the most pleasant surprise of the team by Paul Pasqualoni during Tuesday’s press conference, one of the highlights of the early portion of his career at UConn was a matchup against former high school teammate Ryan Blaszczyk back in 2009.

“Growing up a couple of my buddies from high school went to Rutgers,” Wirth said. “Ryan Blaszczyk was a center there so looking up to him; that was a place I wanted to go to first. My redshirt freshman year I actually got to play against Blaszczyk. I wanted to go to Rutgers and I landed here and playing Rutgers is going to be exciting.

“I have the same story as everybody else. I guess I wasn’t good enough for them. I am happy where I ended up.”

Other New Jersey products on the two-deep chart are reserve linebacker Ryan Donohue and backup offensive guard Tyler Samra while linebacker David Kenney is a key special teams' player for the Huskies.

Competition for tickets has been fierce among UConn's Jersey contingent.

"All the Jersey guys including this one next to me (Gratz) scooped up all the tickets," Williams said with a laugh. "I struggled to get tickets. I couldn’t meet the demand and couldn’t decide who gets these four tickets out of x amount (he is allotted) so I told everybody you are on your own for this one. I spoke to my mom, my aunts and my brother plus my friends and there will probably be over 100 people at the tailgate they are throwing."