We spent the morning with the UConn football team at the Shenkman Center, watching the Huskies go through practice No. 3 this spring. It was the first in full pads, so we got a little taste of hittin’ with our coffee.
Sorry for the late update. A few family responsibilities to attend to before blogging.
Anyway, let’s take a quick look at the highlights:
– Coach Randy Edsall always relishes having a nice, almost-new indoor facility _ even on a very warm spring day.
“They sweated more inside here. There’s no breeze,” Edsall said with a wry smile.
– The first day in full pads saw some nice hits (LB Kijuan Dabney, LB Jory Johnson, LB Scott Lutrus, to name a few) and some nice catches/runs (WR Kashif Moore, RB Meme Wylie, RB Jonathan Jean-Louis, to name a few).
“You start to find out who the guys are that can carry their pads,” Edsall said. “This really starts the evaluation process.”
– Edsall had some praise for S Jerome Junior.
“I thought he played his best game in the bowl game,” Edsall said.
Junior, likely to return as a starter, will probably have to serve as a mentor to whoever wins the other safety job (Marcus Aiken?).
“I see a guy that has a little more focus right now, a little bit more confidence,” Edsall said of Junior. “Through the winter and now the start of spring he’s really more mature. He understands what has to be done.”
– Because of injuries and because of need, a lot of young defensive backs are playing these days for the Huskies’ No. 1 and No. 2 defenses. That hasn’t always been a good thing.
“They made a lot of mistakes the first three days,” Edsall said. “There’s ability there but some of the guys are making mistakes you don’t like.”
– TE Ryan Griffin is the obvious clubhouse leader to keep his starting job. It’s not a slam dunk, however.
“John Delahunt’s had a tremendous winter,” Edsall said. “That’s going to put more pressure on Ryan Griffin. Between those guys and Corey Manning, there is tremendous competition there.”
Edsall said Delahunt has dropped weight and has been playing well.
– We spent some time talking to DE’s Trevardo Williams and Marcus Campbell for a story in Sunday’s paper (shameless plug).
Both players are speedsters, having been 100-meter track champions in high school. But they also had some fun with the board drill Saturday, going 1-on-1 with offensive tackles.
“I’m still a lightweight but I’ve got that power clean. I can throw some big guys back and it makes me feel good,” Williams said with a chuckle.
“Board drills are always fun,” Campbell said.
Greg Lloyd and Jesse Joseph aren’t practicing this spring because of injuries, so Williams and Campbell have the coaches’ eyes to themselves somewhat this month.
Both could envision playing opposite each other.
“It looks good,” Campbell said. “Especially when me and him both get our technique down. We have all the physical attributes. Once we get our technique down, actually know how to get off of tackles, we’ll both be pretty good.”
– Campbell missed all of last season because of academics. He says he’s working hard on his techniques this spring.
“Pretty much getting my technique down a re-learning the plays,” Campbell said. “I’m a little more focused this time around.”
– LB Emmanuel Omokaro, a junior from Danbury, had to be helped off the field with what looked like a right let injury. No word on his status going forward.
– Edsall on his young receivers like Malik Generett, Gerrard Sheppard and Nick Williams:
“Those kids just need a ton of reps. There’s ability there but they need a ton of reps. That’s what spring is for.”
– The future of the Big East might (big might, but nonetheless…) be in danger but Edsall wasn’t in the mood to talk about it.
“I’m not even concerned about it because I have no control over it,” Edsall said. “All I’m going to do is worry about getting our kids ready for the season.
“The commissioner, the presidents, those are the people that have all the power and all the control in that situation,” Edsall continued. “I’m not going to sit around and worry about the what-if’s or anything else.”
– It wasn’t just Campbell and Williams having fun with the board drill. Here are a few quick takes from those 1-on-1′s:
OG Matt Olivier pancaked DT Tywon Martin. Of course Martin got a little bit of revenge the next time through.
C Moe Petrus and LB Lawrence Wilson staged one of the most impressive stalemates I’ve ever seen. Likewise for OG Zach Hurd and DT Kendall Reyes (each of whom looks even bigger, if that’s possible).
– The Huskies did a few periods of goal line drills.
The first time the No. 1 defense went again the No. 1 offense, it was three-and-out for the O. One pass (play-action) and two runs were stuffed cold by the D.
The stops prompted one defender (the Husky defense wears white) to do a little playful trash talking: “Hey Blue! I thought we were a running team!”
The second time it was best-against-best the defense again kept the offense out of the end zone on first, second and third down. But Jordan Todman got the ball inside the 1-yard line on the third down play and Zach Frazer scored on a QB sneak on fourth down to finally break through.
Even that last touchdown wasn’t evidence of a “loss” for the defense, some of the defenders complained. Wilson came up with the ball quickly after Frazer leaped over the line and swore the play should have been a fumble.
- Neill
