UConn sports

The UConn football team’s two-deep was unveiled Wednesday afternoon and, as always there were a few surprises.

– Senior captain D.J. Hernandez was not listed as a starting wide receiver, as Ellis Gaulden and redshirt freshman Kashif Moore earned the nods.

We shouldn’t read too much into this, however, as the actual starters will changed week-to-week and Hernandez will see plenty of time whether he starts or not.

– A couple of Danbury High products made the chart as the team’s backup safeties. Senior Glenn Mourning is Robert Vaughn’s backup and redshirt freshman Emmanuel Omokaro is backing up Dahna Deleston.

– Seymour’s Mike Hicks won the job at right tackle. Dan Ryan is now listed as the backup left tackle, though he’ll go into either spot if the starter goes down.

– Kijuan Dabney has been moved from safety to Husky/strong side linebacker. He’s listed as Scott Lutrus’ backup along with Greg Robinson.

– Cornerback Jasper Howard is listed as the primary punt returner. Darius Butler and Robbie Frey are the kick returners.

There was no mention on the two-deep of freshman Jordan Todman. Todman injured his shoulder on Saturday and is listed as “week-to-week.”

Here’s the list:

OFFENSE

WR 87 Ellis Gaulden (Sr., 6-2, 193)

80 Mike Smith (Fr., 6-0, 193)

WR 82 Kashif Moore (RFr., 5-9, 174)

14 D.J. Hernandez (Sr., 6-0, 201)

LT 64 William Beatty (Sr., 6-6, 310)

73 Dan Ryan (Jr., 6-8, 312)

LG 57 Moe Petrus (RFr., 6-2, 276)

74 Alex LaMagdelaine (RJr., 6-2, 302)

C 68 Keith Gray (Sr., 6-2, 285)

69 Trey Tonsing (Sr., 6-2, 311)

RG 78 Zach Hurd (Soph., 6-7, 294)

66 Mattieu Olivier (Soph., 6-4, 293)

RT 79 Mike Hicks (Jr., 6-6, 321)

71 Mike Ryan (RFr., 6-5, 321)

TE 90 Steve Brouse (Sr., 6-4, 250)

91 Martin Bedard (Sr., 6-3, 239)

QB 4 Tyler Lorenzen (Sr., 6-4, 224)

10 Zach Frazer (Soph., 6-4, 231)

RB 34 Donald Brown (Jr., 5-10, 210)

2 Andre Dixon (Jr., 6-1, 208)

FB 49 Anthony Sherman (Soph., 5-10, 231)

47 Anthony Davis (Soph., 5-10, 235)

DEFENSE

DE 45 Julius Williams (Sr., 6-2, 258)

9 Lindsey Witten (Jr., 6-4, 251)

DT 65 Rob Lunn (Sr., 6-3, 285)

4 Twyon Martin (RFr., 6-1, 265)

DT 54 Alex Polito (Soph., 6-5, 280)

99 Kendall Reyes (RFr., 6-4, 262)

DE 50 Cody Brown (Sr., 6-2, 248)

26 Marcus Campbell (Soph., 6-2, 232)

SLB 32 Scott Lutrus (Soph., 6-2, 225)

10 Greg Robinson (Soph., 6-1, 228)

MLB 95 Greg Lloyd Jr. (Soph., 6-1, 234)

31 C.J. Marck (RFr., 6-1, 230)

WLB 8 Lawrence Wilson (Soph., 6-1, 221)

18 Aaron Bryant (Jr., 6-3, 226)

CB 1 Darius Butler (Sr., 5-10, 187)

20 Terry Baltimore (Jr., 5-9, 174)

FS 33 Robert Vaughn (Jr., 6-0, 197)

7 Glenn Mourning (Jr., 6-0, 212)

SS 36 Dahna Deleston (Sr., 6-0, 211)

28 Emmanuel Omokaro (RFr., 5-10, 195)

CB 6 Jasper Howard (Soph., 5-9, 174)

42 Robert McClain (Jr., 5-9, 201)

SPECIAL TEAMS

PK 97 Tony Ciaravino (Sr., 6-2, 225)

38 David Teggart (RFr., 6-0, 214)

KO 13 Desi Cullen (Jr., 6-0, 201)

38 David Teggart (RFr., 6-0, 214)

P 13 Desi Cullen (Jr., 6-0, 201)

97 Tony Ciaravino (Sr., 6-2, 225)

H 13 Desi Cullen (Jr., 6-0, 201)

10 Zach Frazer (Soph., 6-4, 231)

SN 91 Martin Bedard (Sr., 6-3, 239)

65 Rob Lunn (Sr., 6-3, 285)

KR 1 Darius Butler (Sr., 5-10, 187)

44 Robbie Frey (RFr., 6-0, 191)

PR 6 Jasper Howard (Soph., 5-9, 174)

42 Robert McClain (Jr., 5-9, 201)

– Neill

A few notes from UConn’s practice Tuesday afternoon:

– QB Tyler Lorenzen and WR D.J. Hernandez were in pads and went through warm-ups but did not take any reps with the offense today. Coach Randy Edsall is probably just being cautious and resting his starters.

– LB Lawrence Wilson, DE Lindsey Whitten, LB Greg Robinson, DE Mike Cox, WR Brad Kanuch, LB Doc Goudreau and DB Jerome Junior did not practice.

Wilson’s left foot was in a brace but he was jogging up the Memorial Stadium stairs relatively easily.

Robinson was limping rather badly.

– Darius Butler and Jasper Howard worked with the first group on kick returns. Jordan Todman and Donald Brown were the backups Tuesday.

– Tony Ciaravino booted a 55-yard field goal during the place kicking action, causing his teammates to cheer loudly and mob the senior.

Updates coming later tonight…

– Neill

A few quick hits from Friday at UConn:

– Quarterback Tyler Lorenzen is back practicing with the first team offense, coach Randy Edsall said.

“I don’t know if it’s sending a message,” Lorenzen said. “He just wants people to peform at their best.”

Lorenzen says he was glad Zach Frazer is improving.

“Zach’s playing well and he’s come a long way,” Lorenzen said. “That’s great for our team.”

– WR Brad Kanuch is “week-to-week” with his hamstring injury, Edsall said.

– LB Lawrence Wilson, RB Robbie Frey and LB Greg Robinson all rolled ankles in practice and are “day-to-day”

– Kashif Moore, D.J. Hernandez and Ellis Gaulden are the starting wide receivers as of now. Alex Molina, Mike Smith and Marcus Easley are the second-stringers.

– Freshman Jordan Todman will play soon. “There will be a role for Jordan this year,” Edsall said Friday. Todman will probably return punts, might return kicks and could play some offense, too.

Todman and Smith are the only true freshman who are slated to play this season, though that could change.

“He can catch the ball, he can return the ball, he can run the ball,” Edsall said of Todman. “He is an athlete. We’ll try to put together a package where he might be able to aid us in scoring points through special teams and also on offense.”

Todman might be the fastest Husky. He said he hasn’t been timed in the 40-yard dash in two years, but would probably run a 4.3.

“That’s the question. No one really knows how fast he is,” Hernandez said. “We scratch our heads every day. He’s explosive and fun to watch.”

– Neill

UConn wide receiver Brad Kanuch was among 71 college football players nominated for the 17th annual All-State AFCA (American Football Coaches Association) Good Works Team Wednesday.

From the 71 nominations submitted by sports information directors on behalf of their teams, a committee will select two 11-player teams _ one from the Bowl Subdivision (which everyone still sensibly calls Division I-A) and one from the Championship Subdivision (Division I-AA), Division II, Division III and NAIA.

Among the other players nominated were James Laurinaitis (Ohio State), Tiquan Underwood (Rutgers), Lavar Lobdell (Syracuse), Richard Sheppard (Temple), Scott McKillop (Pittsburgh), George Selvie (USF) and Tito Gonzales (West Virginia).

A few notes from Tuesday’s UConn football practice:

– Zach Frazer earned a surprise promotion and was with the first team offense.

“I’m very excited. I can’t wait,” Frazer said of perhaps seeing some playing this season. “I sat out last year, redshirted at Notre Dame, so it’s been a while.”

Coach Randy Edsall said he wasn’t sure how long Tyler Lorenzen would be working with the second team.

“It’s practice. I want so see what certain people can do,” Edsall said. “If there are people that aren’t producing out here on the practice field or if they’re not executing and doing some of the things they’re being taught in the meetings…if things are happening not fast enough or not being executed that way, I’m going to switch anybody’s position.”

Frazer looked good but not great. Lorenzen was vocal and up beat all day, but he wasn’t awesome on Tuesday either.

– Wide receiver Brad Kanuch pulled his left hamstring and departed the practice field early. He was limping a bit with an ice pack on his leg following the workout.

– Mike Hicks was back with the first team at right tackle. Dan Ryan probably has plenty of chances to take the spot back, however.

– Cornerback Josh Massey, a walk-on from Notre Dame-West Haven, is not practicing with the team currently. The redshirt freshman is slated to rejoin the squad when UConn’s fall semester begins and the NCAA’s limit on a team’s total number of players is lifted.

Massy was arrested for sixth-degree larceny after an incident at the UConn Co-op in April. He was accused of taking two items valued at $31.34.

The Hamden native was a standout football and track performer in high school.

– Guard Zach Hurd briefly left Tuesday’s practice with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.

While he was being treated by the UConn medical staff Edsall bellowed “You have to hit somebody to get hurt!”

Edsall was especially displeased with Hurd and fellow guard Alex LaMagdelaine, each of whom committed an ill-timed false start penalty.

“Those are the things that will kill you,” Edsall said. “And those are the things that we avoided last year.”

– Cornerback/wide receiver Darius Butler took some playful jabs from his defensive teammates after dropping what appeared to be an easy interception.

“I thought you had hands But!” safety Robert Vaughn yelled.

“Don’t you play receiver?” linebacker Scott Lutrus said.

Butler quickly redeemed himself. On the very next play Frazer lofted a high pass into the end zone, trying to find D.J. Hernandez.

Hernandez got his hands on the ball but Butler ripped it away and came down with an interception.

– Aaron Bryant blocked a field goal late in Tuesday’s practice and leveled Frazer (who was serving as holder) with a block that sprung Terry Baltimore for a touchdown return.

Frazer insisted he was fine, joking that Bryant might be a little woozy.

“AB? He’ll be all right,” Frazer said.

Frazer says he doesn’t mind a little contact.

“I want to run someone over but it hasn’t come to that,” Frazer deadpanned.

– Freshman Jordan Todman had the disorderly conduct charges he was facing dropped. The Dartmouth, Mass., native was charged before his high school prom June 5.

“We talked to him back when it took place and we were appraised of the situation,” Edsall said. “We felt that what ended up happening in the legal system is exactly what was going to happen when this all occurred.

“You just hope that if they do make a mistake or something happens, they’ll learn from it,” Edsall said. “I know Jordan learned from it as soon as it happened.”

– Donald Brown is UConn’s starting running back. It may not last until Aug. 28, though.

“There are a lot of guys who have been told that they’re starters, but things can change,” Edsall said.

– Edsall is being careful about praising his players too much early in the season.

“We gave somebody some sugar the other day and it was bad,” Edsall said. “There’s no sense giving anybody sugar after five days. You give them sugar and they might get fat and happy. Then they don’t do what they’re supposed to.”

- Neill

There’s nothing wrong with the scales at UConn. It’s the typists that had a difficult week.

In a roster distributed to members of the media during the football team’s first practice last week, a young man from Greenwich was given a peculiar size.

I had heard of Beau Brunelli before, but not knowing exactly big he was, I relied on the information UConn provided when mentioning his name in Saturday’s paper. UConn listed Brunelli as being 5-foot-9 and 193 pounds.

That sounded small to me, but I went with it. A mistake, apparently.

UConn has since corrected its error and I would like to the same. Beau Brunelli is 6-foot-2 and 255 pounds as measured by the school recently. That’s decent size for a freshman defensive end.

This new math would be nice to apply if UConn ever puts out a roster of beat reporters covering the team. Maybe then I could weigh 193 pounds, too.

Of course, if a similar percentage of weight was removed from the likes of oh, say, our friend Ed Daigneault of the Waterbury Republican-American, he might have a program weight of about 98.5 pounds.

- Neill

Sunday isn’t a day of rest for many sportswriters, so yours truly took in an afternoon of basketball in Storrs (how novel). Jim Calhoun’s second annual elite camp was in full swing, so here are a few notes.

– Stanley Robinson, who Calhoun has said would miss at least the first semester this season, was at the camp and confirmed that scenario. “Sticks” says he plans to return in January to the school and the program, though that still seems like a longshot.

Robinson is living with his uncle in Connecticut and will be taking a course at a local community college. Stanley said he expects to pass the course and return to UConn.

It’s not clear that academics were the sole reason for Robinson’s departure, however, and the process might not be that simple. Also, UConn has reached its allotment for scholarships (assuming everyone who is scheduled to arrive in the fall does so), so Robinson would have to pay his own way.

The most likely scenario involves Robinson sitting out the entire year and coming back to school and to the team in 2009. That’s a long time to sit, but Robinson doesn’t seem ready to give up on the Huskies yet.

One thing is fairly clear: the 6-foot-9 small forward hasn’t lost any of his hops. Robinson was still his high-flying self during a workout Sunday.

– A number of the nation’s top recruits were on hand for the camp. Here’s a short (meaning long) list. FYI, there are bound to be misspellings in here, for which I apologize. The source material had many typos.
Anali Okoloji, Nelson Laquan, Mattieu Johnson, Kamren Belin, Andre Drummond, Richard Peters, Tobias Harris, Jordan Williams, Emeka Okoloji, Patrick Young, Mike Buffalo, Anthony Jernigan, Greg Langston, Tyler Rich, Eric Copes, Dominic Cheek, Durand Scott, Josh Turner, Keran Iverson, Torrel Harris, Kadeem Green, Jakarri McCallup, Ryan Genva, Daniel Orton
Alex Oriakhi and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, the longtime UConn commits, missed a flight out of Orlando following an AAU tournament and weren’t in Storrs Sunday. They were expected to arrive Monday, along with their teammate Gerard Coleman.

– A couple of cursory observations:

Orton is big. Really big. And he’s smart. And he seems to have family/friends/advisors who know the ropes.

Cheek sounds like he really likes UConn. Of course, many players like the school they are visiting at the moment of their visit. But Cheek’s time playing with incoming UConn guard Kemba Walker could give the Huskies an unexpected boost in the recruiting game.

Young is a very nice young man, and a quickly improving basketball player.

Peters is only starting his high school career, but watch out. He’s just 15 years old and going to be good.

More in Monday’s Connecticut Post.

- Neill

Time to dust off the blogging shoes.

Sorry for the lackluster summer of updates but here begins a 10-month sojurn into UConn football and men’s basketball coverage.

Let’s start with Friday’s first football practice.

* The position switches made this spring that were designed to make UConn’s defense faster were switched back this week.

Scott Lutrus is moving back to Husky (the hybrid linebacker/safety) and is vacating the middle.

Dahna Deleston is moving back to strong safety and won’t be the Husky anymore.

Greg Lloyd Jr. is taking over at middle linebacker.

The coaches had to put one new starter on the field, and they felt Lloyd was most ready to play, hence the moves.

Much more on this in Saturday’s paper.

* It’s kind of odd not to have a quarterback question with the Huskies. This is the first August since Dan Orlovsky left town that the starter is a given.

That being said, incumbent Tyler Lorenzen had a pretty bad day throwing the ball on Friday. It’s no big deal, though, at least he was better than his other previous first days. Coach Randy Edsall said Lorenzen was much worse during Day 1 in the spring of 2007 and he was worse on the first day of practice last August.

“I hope he’s a lot better than he was today,” Edsall said with a laugh.

Lorenzen put some of the blame on the NCAA-mandated no pads practice. He was yearning for a little contact (just a little, mind you).

“I hate no pads. You’d think a QB wouldn’t care,” Lorenzen said, “but you get a better sense of things when the pads are on. It’s more lifelike. It’s real football.”

* Edsall might have made a New Year’s Resolution to swear less. Although he raised his voice a number of times during Friday’s practice to motivate his team, there weren’t many vulgarities.

“A couple of times when I raised my voice I could tell the execution was a little better,” Edsall said.

One of Edsall’s most heated rants? “God Bless America! I can’t believe we can’t complete a simple pass!”

* News flash: Jordan Todman is fast. Very fast.

The freshman running back/returner showed a number of shifty moves and pure speed.

“Yeah he is,” Edsall said when a member of the media mentioned Todman’s wheels. “Pretty quick, pretty fast.”

* New faces: There were nine walk-ons making their practice debut Friday.

Among them were the huge Zac Zielinski (a 6-foot-7, 354-pound offensive lineman), the local boys Beau Brunelli (Greenwich defensive end) and Clark Maturo (New Haven offensive lineman), and the quarterback Jon McEntee (freshman from Fullerton, Calif.)

- Neill