UConn sports

A few injury updates from UConn coach Randy Edsall’s brief talk with the media Friday:

– DE Lindsey Witten has a bum knee. He’s day-to-day.

– G Alex LaMagdelaine hurt his shoulder. He’s week-to-week.

– RB Andre Dixon (ankle) should return to practice Saturday. Sunday at the latest.

– WR Brad Kanuch will work with the scout team in practice this week to help him get back in shape.

– KR/RB Jordan Todman is still not scheduled to practice. He’s still week-to-week.

- Neill

A few quick hits after UConn’s 35-3 win over Hofstra Thursday night:

– Donald Brown ran 23 times for 146 yards and four touchdowns. He played, obviously, very good. But Brown agreed that he and the rest of his teammates have some work to do.

“We shot ourselves in the foot many times tonight. We made a lot of mistakes and we have to get those mistakes fixed,” said Brown, who had his seventh career 100-yard game. “When we get into the Big East part of our schedule we can’t be making those mistakes and expect to win. We’ll take care of it, though.”

The last UConn player to score four touchdowns in a game was Cornell Brockington. Brock scored four against Wake Forest on Nov. 15, 2003.

If he had played another quarter Brown probably would have challenged Walt Trojanowski’s 63-year-old school record of 6 TD’s in a game. (Walt turned the trick against Worcester Tech in 1945.)

– Running back Andre Dixon didn’t play, but it sounds like he was chomping at the bit to get in the game.

“Andre should be back this week. At least that’s what he told me,” UConn coach Randy Edsall said. “He didn’t like standing on the sidelines.”

– Hofstra coach Dave Cohen said he found out “16 minutes before kickoff” that quarterback Bryan Savage would be unable to play because of a back injury.

“Something was bothering him,” Cohen said. “It was brought to my attention from the trainer to the doctor and it was in his best interest not to play.”

– Freshman Cody Endres was the backup quarterback and not sophomore Zach Frazer. Endres hit 4-of-5 passes for 49 yards in fourth-quarter action Thursday.

Endres had suffered a concussion a few weeks ago but it wasn’t injury that pushed him back to No. 3.

“We felt that Cody just had the better week of practice, so that’s who we went with,” Edsall said. “It’ll probably be an ‘OR’ situation as we continue.”

– DE Lindsey Witten had two sacks, three total tackles for a loss and seemed to be active all evening. But Edsall said after the game that Witten suffered an injury (he didn’t say what the injury was) and his status was unknown.

– WR Ellis Gaulden entered the game having made five catches for 29 yards in his career. He had four for 62 against Hofstra.

– Other stuff: Lawrence Wilson had a team-high 8 tackles. … UConn has won eight straight at home, the sixth-longest streak in the nation. … This is the first time in its Division I-A history (since 2002) that it won a game where it committed five turnovers or more.

- Neill

Here’s some of the Huskies as they go through the “Husky Walk” before Thursday’s game.

You may not want to fall in love with these photos. One, because I’m obviously not a pro “shooter” as they call themselves. Two, I’ve only slightly mastered the technology.

We’ll see.

- Neill

Greetings from Rentschler Field and the UConn football team’s opener.

For starters, Andre Dixon won’t be playing tonight. The junior tailback is on the sidelines in street clothes while his teammates warm up.

Dixon’s ankle apparently wasn’t strong enough to play Thursday.

Safety Aaron Bagsby, however, is in uniform and looks like he’s ready to play if needed.

A minor bombshell from football coach Randy Edsall on Tuesday afternoon: running back Andre Dixon hurt his ankle in practice and may miss Thursday’s opener against Hofstra.

Edsall, as he always is with injuries, was vague on the particulars.

“He’s got a little bit of an ankle,” Edsall said. “We’re going to see where he is.”

He’s got a (blank) is Edsall-speak for an injury to that body part. The coach said Dixon was hurt in a non-contact drill this week in practice and that he is _ sing along with me everyone _ day-to-day.

Donald Brown was and is scheduled to start at tailback. Robbie Frey will take most of Dixon’s carries if he can’t play.

– There was some good news on the injury front from the coach Tuesday. WR Brad Kanuch is doing some sprinting and KR/RB Jordan Todman was slated to practice in pads Tuesday.

Kanuch has been out for all the preseason with a hamstring injury. Todman hurt his shoulder near the end of training camp.

Both players will not play on Thursday, Edsall said. “Yeah, but I tell you, they’re getting a lot better,” Edsall said.

– Safety Aaron Bagsby has practiced well after coming back from minor knee surgery and could play against Hofstra.

“Aaron Bagsby might see some playing time this week,” Edsall said. “He’s back in there, he’s practiced every day this week and has looked good.”

Bagsby is on a couple special teams and could see some time at free safety behind starter Robert Vaughn. Bagsby’s return probably means Danbury’s Glenn Mourning has been pushed back to third-string.

– Edsall swears he hasn’t made a decision on which of his backup QB’s will be No. 2, but did say sophomore Zach Frazer was healthy enough to play despite his mild concussion.

It would be hard to see Cody Endres as the backup right now, but you never know.

- Neill

There’s a feature on UConn kicker Tony Ciaravino in today’s paper, but here’s some info that was left on the cutting room floor.

If you didn’t know, Tony and punter Desi Cullen are two of the biggest hams on the UConn football team. They like to have some fun during practice, off the field and any other time they can (other than during the three-hour games, of course).

“Desi and I have had really good chemistry from the moment he got here,” Ciaravino said. “He’s obviously a different type of kicker.”

With his quarterly changing hair style and color, not to mention his gregarious personality, Cullen is probably the lead actor in the “Kick Squad” fun and games.

UConn coach Randy Edsall says he doesn’t have an issue with most of the shenanigans.

“They keep themselves loose and do things to keep other guys loose,” Edsall said. “I don’t have a problem with people doing that as long as they know that when it’s time for business or time for work, there’s work to be done. I want guys to have fun.”

Besides, Edsall points out, Ciaravino, Cullen and backup kicker David Teggart have more free time than many of his other players.

“Those guys have a lot more time on their hands to think about stuff to do, all the little skits and stuff,” Edsall said.

Ciaravino agreed with his coach’s time comments.

“We go to walk-throughs even though we’re not needed. We’re probably more of a nuisance,” Ciaravino said with a laugh.

“In football or in anything in life, you need to laugh,” Edsall said. “Those guys will keep you laughing.”

A couple of quick hits from Sunday’s chat with coach Randy Edsall and the UConn football team:

– Darius Butler may not play offense at all Thursday against Hofstra. The cornerback may concentrate on defense and returns only.

Edsall hinted strongly that Butler wouldn’t see any time at receiver, saying his full-time receivers have “come along a little bit.”

“If we don’t need him (Butler), we probably won’t use him,” Edsall said.

– WR Brad Kanuch (hamstring) and KR/RB Jordan Todman (shoulder) are the only contributors who are likely to miss Thursday’s game, Edsall said.

Free safety Aaron Bagsby (knee) practiced in full pads Sunday and could be ready to play soon, though probably not against Hofstra.

- Neill

A few more notes from Wednesday’s practice and the dramatic (read: sarcastic) unveiling of the depth chart:

– QBs Zach Frazer and Cody Endres were listed as co-backups for Tyler Lorenzen. Frazer suffered a concussion recently and was wearing a red jersey (no contact allowed) in Wednesday’s practice.

“I would say Zach was a little bit ahead of Cody,” head coach Randy Edsall said. “We’ll see what happens and make a decision probably right at game time.”

– RB/PR/KR Jordan Todman did not practice. His injured left shoulder was not in any sling, brace or cast, however, perhaps signaling that the freshman speedster won’t redshirt.

“I don’t know. It’s week-to-week,” Edsall said when asked Todman would return.

“People respond in different ways to injury,” the coach continued. “I wouldn’t want to put a timeframe on it and then he’s back earlier or later.”

– D.J. Hernandez isn’t one of the team’s starting wide receivers _ sort of.

The senior captain isn’t listed as a starter on the depth chart (Kashif Moore and Ellis Gaulden are) but he’ll see plenty of time.

“When we have three wide receivers on the field it’s going to be D.J., Kashif and Ellis,” Edsall said. “When we have two, it’s going to be Kashif and Ellis.”

Of course, that doesn’t count cornerback Darius Butler and the possible return of Brad Kanuch.

Speaking of Kanuch, he’s still sidelined with a hamstring injury.

“He’s still week-to-week but he’s a lot closer to playing this week than he was a week ago,” said Edsall, who loves double talk more than any coach alive.

– Redshirt freshman Emmanuel Omokaro, a walk-on from Danbury High, somehow made it into the Huskies’ two-deep. He’s the backup strong safety right now.

“Coming into camp I was actually fifth on the depth chart,” Omokaro said Wednesday. “A lot of things happened lately that just moved me up.”

– As an aside, Omokaro’s brother was on the UConn basketball team a couple of years ago, a team that a had couple of notable walk-ons.

Rashad Anderson, who never met a shot he didn’t like, also liked to laugh. One day while shooting the (crud) with some reporters Anderson started talking about nicknames. He revealed that two of the team’s practice stars had interesting nicknames.

Martin Gagne, a guard from Vernon, was known as “Bar Fight.” Gagne has apparently come to practice one two separate occasions with black eyes. (I saw the eyes. It was an appropriate name).

Osazee Omokaro, it seems, had been given the nickname “Akeem” by Anderson himself. Rashad was a big fan of the Eddie Murphy movie “Coming to America” and thought the relatively recent arrival (some eight years) to the U.S. from Nigeria needed an appropriate moniker.

OK, one more aside to my aside. How can anyone not love Coming to America?

It’s Eddie Murphy at his best … Arsenio Hall at his best (OK, that’s not a stretch) … James Earl Jones at his most pompous … Hartford’s own Eriq La Salle at his best (forget that “ER” junk) … C’mon, John Amos looking out for McDonald’s spies? Louie Anderson dreaming of being the assistant manager? Samuel L. Jackson as a young stick-up guy? Garcelle Beauvais (NYPD Blue) as a rose girl? Don Ameche? It’s got everything.

And don’t tell me the jokes aren’t as fresh today as they were in 1988. It’s simply a fact.

Have you ever seen rapper Doug E. Fresh talking about Coming to America on those “I love the 80’s” shows on VH1? Well, you probably haven’t, but suffice it to say he laughs so hard while recalling the movie that he cries. Yes, cries. If that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is.

- Neill