UConn sports

A few more UConn football items from the notebook before I teach my son (an established Yankee fan for a 2-month-old) about three days rest.

– LB Scott Lutrus feels fine. Really.

He says his shoulder stinger is fine…as is everything else.

The Rutgers game was the first full game of football for the Broofield native this season.

“A little sore, like it was the first day of camp,” Lutrus said when asked how he felt Sunday morning. “But I felt fine. The neck, shoulder, that whole problem? That was nothing.

“It was great to be back out there,” he added. “The whole game I didn’t have any problems.”

– Coach Randy Edsall was asked why so many quarterbacks seem to be getting hurt this season, including his own.

“Maybe it runs in cycles. I have no idea,” Edsall said. “Maybe kids don’t drink enough milk nowadays to keep the bones strong. Or eat enough vegetables to help ligaments. I don’t know.”

– Plenty of Huskies were upset by Saturday’s loss. Cornerback and captain Robert McClain says he was one of the players voicing his concerns in the locker room immediately.

“I was in the locker room and I was telling all the little things we messed up in practice during the week, that really showed in the game and it’s why we lost that game,” McClain said.

“Seeing those mistakes during practice, a little bit of a lack of focus when we were traveling, it showed on the field and I was really disappointed. I was disappointed in the team and disappointed in my performance. I expressed that when I walked into the locker room. It was sad, man. I never lost that way.”

– Edsall had some kind words for the young players on his defense Tuesday. He praised SS Jerome Junior and DE Jesse Joseph (see previous blog post) as well as cornerbacks Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Dwayne Gratz.

The coach also said Bridgeport Central’s Trevardo Williams might be a big impact player eventually.

“Trevardo has shown flashes of being a guy who can end up making some plays,” Edsall said.

(P.S. That’s coach-speak for “should be good”)

– Almost everyone was still talking about LT Mike Ryan’s two-point conversion play on Tuesday.

Yes, the 324-pound Ryan’s over-the-shoulder catch and acrobatic dive into the end zone was wiped out by an official’s review, but it’s still an impressive play (and perhaps impressive play-calling).

Lutrus was among those who thought fans would never get to see the play.

“I didn’t think we’d have the (cojones) to run it,” Lutrus said with a huge grin.

(He obviously didn’t say cojones but I don’t have the balls to write here what he did say. Wait, I just…never mind).

Lutrus said he’s seen the play a bunch in practice but he knows Edsall’s coaching style as well as anyone.

“I always thought ‘Why are they running this?’ It’s never going to get called,” Lutrus said.

The linebacker said he joked with offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead that it would never be run, and Moorhead reminded Lutrus that the Huskies hadn’t run a two-point play yet.

– In a related issue I have 2014 in the UConn press box pool for the year Edsall runs his next (first) fake punt or field goal. But with reverses, flea-flickers, option passes and tackle eligible plays becoming almost regular around UConn I might have to ask for a change.

I used to think Edsall was the Rush Limbaugh of football coaches…ultra conservative…right of right. I’m going to have to modify my stance slightly. He’s now moved toward George Bush on the scale (Edsall’s still about 100 yards away from the Chris Petersen/Al Gore end of things but it’s a step nonetheless).

- Neill