A few quick hitters from UConn’s 52-10 win over Rhody before I leave the Rent:
– Randy Edsall is trying to kill the quarterback controversy before it starts.
After Cody Endres’ 23-of-30 performance for 289 yards and two touchdowns, maybe he should start even if Zach Frazer is healthy in two weeks for the Pittsburgh game?
“I don’t even know if he (Frazer) is going to be healthy so I have no idea,” Edsall said. “That’s the last of my worries right now.”
Endres wasn’t about to fan the flames, either.
“I just went out and did the best I could, tried to lead the team the best I could,” Endres said. “Whatever happens, we’ll see.”
– Edsall kind of took the blame _ sort of _ for the Huskies’ seven fumbles. Two were by Endres, two by PR Jasper Howard, two by P Desi Cullen and one by WR Mike Lang.
“I probably didn’t do a good enough job this week of telling the guys to make sure to just go out and take care of their responsibilities and the plays will come to them,” Edsall said. “I thought we had some guys today that were pressing a little bit to try to make some things happen, rather than letting the game come to them. I thought Jasper with the punt returns, Desi with the punts, Cody a couple times. I’ll take the fault for not getting that point across to them enough.”
– Rhody’s only touchdown came on a blown coverage by UConn’s secondary. The 66-yard strike from Chris Paul-Etienne to Ty Bynum was URI’s only big play really.
“We were in a coverage where we should be forcing the receiver inside. I’m not sure if we forced him inside. I was told by the player that he was forced inside. But sometimes what they tell me and what I see on film is two different stories,” Edsall said. “There could be guys at fault both ways. We didn’t sink back enough and then our safety came over and took a bad angle to the ball.”
S Jerome Junior was the one who whiffed on the tackle. Or took a bad angle, according to the coach.
“I just missed the tackle, that’s pretty much what it is,” Junior said. “I made the perfect the read, I just didn’t finish on the play.”
“It’s better to do it know instead of against Cincinnati or Louisville,” Junior continued. “I’d rather get it out of the way now.”
Aaron Bagsby replaced Junior for most of the game and played pretty well.
– Saturday was UConn’s 1,000th football game. The Huskies are 468-494-38.
UConn’s most common opponent in those 1,000, of course, is Rhode Island. The Huskies are 51-35-8 against the Rams now.
– Endres’ completion percentage (76.7 percent) was the fourth best in a single game in UConn history, tying Matt DeGennaro’s 23-of-30 effort against Richmond in 1990.
– Endres’ 289 yards through the air were the most by a UConn QB since Tyler Lorenzen threw for 289 against Duke on Sept. 1, 2007.
– Johnny McEntee (not Michael Box, smart guys) did some mop-up duty for the Huskies. It was the first-ever action for the walk-on from Fullerton, Calif.
– Staples’ own D.J. Stefkovich was 2-for-4 for 11 yards in relief for Rhode Island.
– UConn DE Lindsey Witten was, well…not that good. He even had to leave the game for a little while with what looked like dehydration.
“I didn’t think Lindsey played all that great today,” Edsall said. “You could tell that the flu bug…I mean the GI (gastrointestinal) _ not the flu, I’d hate to get that out there _ hindered him a little bit.”
“But give the kid credit for wanting to play, being out there and giving everything that he had.”
- Neill
