We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

[bryan3169]

Name: Brennan Smith
Age: 30
Skin Color: Light
Body Size: Medium
Head: Dark Hair as possible
Apparel: Polo
Hat/Glasses: Visor
Alma Mater: Northwestern
Offensive Philosophy/Playbook: Pro Style (Rush offense slighly higher than pass)
Defensive Philosophy/Playbook: 3-4 Defense
Sub Frequency: Medium Frequency
Specialty: Defense
Coaching Style: Aggressive

[RedRaider10]

Name: JJ Mac
Age: 27
Skin Color: (Light, Medium, Dark): Light
Body Size: (Small, Medium, Large): Small
Head: 8 (Or whatever the younger one is, I can't check now.)
Apparel: T-Shirt
Hat/Glasses (Optional): None
Alma Mater: Texas Tech
Offensive Philosophy/Playbook: No-Huddle Spread/Ohio State
Defensive Philosophy/Playbook: Attacking/3-4
Sub Frequency: High on Offense
Specialty: Offense
Coaching Style: High Energy

He wants to build up a team that he knows well. (Not so subtle hint...)

[ThaBoss18]

Name: Matthew King
Age: 32
Skin Color: Light
Body Size: Large
Head: Don't Care which one
Apparel: T-shirt
Hate/Glasses: None
Alma Mater: Tennessee
Offensive Philosophy: Pass First think 60% Pass 40% Run Pro style playbook
Defensive Philosophy: 4-3 attacking, likes to blitz and attack the QB
Specialty: Offense
Coaching style: Very aggressive but very calm

[thesportsguru11]

Bull Market

Carrezola's fumble six caps UConn's 21 point 4th, sink USF to remain unbeaten

Man, do I love me some defense. Big, fat, juicy defense.

Welcome back to the UConn soul train. First, let me say a massive thank you to the 5 of you who have just joined the NCAA Coaching Ranks. Hopefully we can get more (there's plenty of room), and we'll check in on that in a few days when we wrap up the season.

But into the game now. Last time we met, Mike Miller was kicking his way to stardom, and while Miller wasn't the hero in this one, UConn's stingy defense did its share of the work and produced, you guessed it, another unsung hero in Luke Carrezola.

But we'll save that for later.

UConn, again, fell behind at the half and, again, it took a furious 4th quarter rally to finally put the game away.

To be honest, UConn's offense wasn't all that good...again.

Arkeel Newsome started in style, taking the opening kickoff to the USF 35, and Bryant Shirreffs hit Thomas Lucas for 30 yards, setting up Josh Marriner for a 3 yard TD.

The only flaw in UConn's D early was the guarding of tight end Elkanah Dillon. USF tight ends have been problematic for UConn defenses over the years, (think Sean Price in 2015 for those who remember). The reason? Quintin Harrell was guarding Dillon, and Harrell is a rather slow linebacker (converted defensive end, understandable). However, it wasn't until later that Bob Diaco noticed....

D'Ernest Johnson took the opening carry of USF's drive 25 yards to midfield. Immediately following, Quinton Flowers hit Dillon for 50 yards and a TD, shedding tacklers like rag dolls on the way.

From there, a series of 3 and outs ensued, and the 1st ended at a 7 deadlock.

Flowers ended the 1st with a 45 yard pass to Dillon, and it only took 4 plays in the second until USF scored again. Marlon Mack, the other half of the two headed monster at tailback with Johnson, punched in the 1 yard TD (which set the career TD record at USF).

Trouble struck for UConn after, though, as Shirreffs, looking for a long pass, misfired and, instead of finding Lucas, hooked up with Nate Godwin. From USF.

But UConn dug in, and held USF to only 3 plays before a punt, and the Huskies took over at the long end of the 39.

Shirreffs scrambled for 14, and Marriner followed suit with a 14 yard carry of his own. Following a no gain and two incompletions, UConn rolled the dice on 4th down from the USF 34. Out of Miller's field goal range, so Diaco didn't really care that it was a 4th and 10. Regardless, UConn went to one of their favorite formations, the five man shotgun with Newsome and Jeff McNeal next to him. McNeal was wide open well past the first down marker, but...he....dropped it.

In and out of his hands. No one near him. Gahhhhh......

Back to the Elkanah Dillon show, and Diaco finally smartened up and put a faster linebacker (turned out being Sammie Leonard) on Dillon. Believe it or not, he was contained from that point on. Mostly.

UConn, aided by a 40 yard chuck and pray pass to Thom Lucas, ended the half with a field goal fro everyone's favorite near walk-on, Mike Miller. A really bad half (down 14-10) got masked by a chuck and pray...how about that...

Diaco tightened up the D even more after that, and forced USF into a 3 and out immediately out of the half.

However, UConn struggled with drops again on their drive Tommy Myers), but Ty McCray cornered a beautiful punt to the 3. While D'Ernest Johnson gashed UConn for 25, then Flowers followed with a 22 yard scramble, but USF again couldn't finish, and again punted.

With the end of the 3rd approaching at this point, UConn, per usual, kicked themselves in gear, stringing a long drive that stretched into the start of the 4th. Lucas caught a pass for 9. Center Steve Hashemi, a former tight end, pulled a Bill Belichick/Nate Solder (I mean....it was clearly deception....) for a 9 yard catch, Marriner ran for 15. Ron Johnson gained 24 on a pair of carries. Jon Haden made his first (and only) catch of the day to close to the 3rd for 10 yards. Marriner finished with a 6 yard TD, and UConn had a 17-14 lead, their first since the 1st quarter.

With the lead, what did UConn do? Nearly blow it. Yikes...

D'Ernest Johnson rattled off runs of 13, 14 and 10 before Mack took over and went for 9, 4, 4 and 2 to pull USF into the red zone. Luckily, Sta'fon McCray got held up a yard short on 3rd down (Tashawn Coleman on the TFL, and USF was held to a field goal to tie.

Ah, now we can talk about something exciting. The game broke open at this point. With time ticking away in the 4th (3 minutes and change to go), UConn tried to use as much of the clock as possible.

Marriner rolled forward for 8 (on his way to another 100 yard game, #Marriner26Heisman), but got stopped a half yard back on 2nd down and ended up a half yard short on 3rd, at their own 33. Conventional wisdom says you punt and trust your awesome D, right? Bob Diaco is a nutcase. But in this scenario, he was right.

Orginially calling a no huddle RB Dive, he had Shirreffs audible out and throw. Sure enough, Tommy Myers was wide open while USF looked for a run. Myers practically jogged to the mailbox, 66 yards for the go-ahead TD.

USF had about 2:30 to tie again, however, Mack went back 3 yards on the first play. Flowers rolled out to scramble on the next play, but Junior Joseph decked Flowers near the line of scrimmage, and the ball popped free. Carrezola, our unsung hero from earlier, scooped and scored to give UConn a 31-17 lead, and, effectively, the game.

SIDE NOTE: USF did get a last drive, but Cam Stapleton deflated it with career sack #.....eh I lost track. But he did break the single season sack record for UConn.. Congrats to Cam!

Another late rally for UConn. But that defense doe....

Can UConn finish 'er off with a 12-0 season at The Property against Temple? Join me back here on the UConn bane train...see ya there.

And uh...did I mention we won the AAC East?

Connecticut Huskies at South Florida Bulls
Nov 18, 2017	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
#2 Connecticut Huskies (11-0, 8-0)	7	3	0	21	31
South Florida Bulls (8-3, 6-2)	7	7	0	3	17

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		CONN	USF
6:16	(CONN) Marriner 3 run (Miller kick)	7	0
5:45	(USF) Flowers 50 pass Dillon (Jones kick)	7	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		CONN	USF
5:56	(USF) Mack 1 run (Jones kick)	7	14
:00	(CONN) Miller 22 FG	10	14
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		CONN	USF
6:57	(CONN) Marriner 6 run (Miller kick)	17	14
3:45	(USF) Jones 33 FG	17	17
2:26	(CONN) Shirreffs 66 pass Myers (Miller kick)	24	17
1:43	(CONN) Carrezola returned fumble 21 (Miller kick)	31	17

Connecticut Huskies PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Bryant Shirreffs 8-17 186 1 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Josh Marriner 24 104 4.3 2 Ron Johnson 4 22 5.5 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Thomas Lucas 3 79 26.3 0 Tommy Myers 2 75 37.5 1 Jon Haden 1 10 10.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Junior Joseph 7 1 0 0 Derek Robinson 7 0 0 0 Vontae Diggs 6 1 0 0

South Florida Bulls PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Quinton Flowers 10-17 171 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD D'Ernest Johnson 18 117 6.5 0 Marlon Mack 6 17 2.8 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Elkanah Dillon 6 163 27.1 1 Ryeshene Bronson 1 9 9.0 0 Kennard Swanson 1 -2 -2.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Auggie Sanchez 9 0 0 0 Nate Godwin 6 1 1 0 Rohan Blackwood 6 1 0 0

[Knickerbocker91]

Congrats on winning the AAC East. That defense, aside from Elkanah Dillion's numbers, was on point.

[thesportsguru11]

NCAA Players of the Week

Week 13 CAC Results

Oklahoma St. and OC Kurt Warner moved to 6-4 (5-2) with a win over Texas in Week 13. Mason Rudolph threw for 388 yds and 3 TD's in the win.

Quinn Shea (HC, #19 USC; thesportsguru11)

L (8-3, 7-2) 17-31 vs. #4 UCLA (11-1, 8-1)

M. Browne: 17-38, 189 yds, TD
J. Smith: 6 rec, 52 yds, TD
M. Hutchings: 7 tckl (TFL)

Week 14: @ #21 Notre Dame (8-3)


Brian Woodard (OC, Ohio; mattynokes)

L (8-3, 5-3) 25-38 vs. #23 Western Michigan (10-1, 7-1)

J. Duckworth: 13-27, 181 yds,2 TD
D. Brown: 17 rush, 97 yds, TD
B. DiCillo: 11 tckl

Week 14: vs. Miami-OH (3-8, 2-6)


Max Crenshaw (OC, Central Michigan; whughes)

L (3-8, 1-7) 24-41 vs. Northern Illinois (4-7, 3-5)

D. Wood: 22-43, 315 yds, TD
C. Stith: 22 rush, 104 yds, 2 TD
N. Brisson-Fast: 5 tckl (5 TFL), 2 sck

Week 14: @ Ball St. (1-10, 1-7)


Sam Freday (OC, Bowling Green, RoundingThird)

L (5-6, 4-4) 20-41 vs. Buffalo (7-4, 6-2)

C. Williams: 16-29, 150 yds, 4 INT
J. Haley: 23 rush, 145 yds, TD
G. Schwieterman: 6 tckl (2 TFL), sck

Week 14: @ Akron (7-4, 5-3)


Kaelyn Willingham (OC, Rice; kswgrad2012)

W (8-3, 5-2) 48-39 vs. Old Dominion (4-7, 4-3)

J. Jones: 28-39, 365 yds, 5 TD, 11 rush, 26 yds, TD
K. Hicks: 10 rush, 72 yds, TD
T. Alaka: 7 rec, 41 yds, 3 TD
B. Lavender: 6 tckl (4 TFL), 1.5 sck

Week 14: @ #6 Marshall (10-1, 6-1)


Jordan James (OC, UTSA; HARLEE23)

W (4-7, 3-4) 37-40 vs. Louisiana Tech (5-6, 4-3)

J. Thomas: 19-25, 391 yds, 2 TD
K. Thomas: 10 rec, 242 yds
T. Crossland: 7 rec, 130 yds, 2 TD
J. Todd: 9 tckl (2 TFL), sck

Week 14: vs. Middle Tennessee State (3-8, 3-4)

Quote: Originally Posted by Knickerbocker91

Congrats on winning the AAC East. That defense, aside from Elkanah Dillion's numbers, was on point.

As I mentioned, the only reason Dillon had such a good game is because we had Harrell trying to guard him. If I'd have thought to put someone like Leonard, Diggs, or even Tashawn Coleman on him, he could've been completely neutralized.

[thesportsguru11]

UConn, BC confirm game at Gillette next fall

Set to play September 2018

UConn is out to assert their dominance of college football's northeast.

After reports broke last month that UConn and Boston College were discussing playing a game at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, the deal is now confirmed. The two teams will reportedly face off in Week 3 of next season, 2018, with a 7:00 primetime start. NESN and ESPN will have coverage of the game.

Sources have confirmed that this is a one game deal, and the back end of a proposed series at either Fenway Park or MetLife Stadium has been shut down.

Boston College and UConn have emerged as the top two teams in the Northeast this season, BC going 7-5 with a chance to win the ACC Atlantic for the first time ever, and UConn sitting at 11-0 and #2 in the country, with serious College Football Playoff aspirations.

More information will be released in the offseason about festivities and the like, and we will get that to you when it becomes available.

--------------------------------

UConn, Tennessee cancel upcoming series

UConn is now left looking for new teams to play, as the Tennessee Volunteers, due to scheduling issues, have agreed in principle with UConn to eliminate the home and home the two teams were set to play in 2019 and 2021.

No other information about who will replace the Vols on UConn's schedule has been released at this time. Rumors from the Hartford Courant say that Iowa, USC, and neutral site games against Texas A&M and Northwestern could fill that void.

Quote: Originally Posted by Warde Manuel

There are no hurt feelings or anything, they just had to cancel. Hopefully we can play them sometime in the near future.

[thesportsguru11]

UConn Recruiting

What!?!?!?!?!?!? Guru remembering recruiting?? Where are we?

No, this is legitimately a recruiting update prior to senior day. UConn's class is shaping up well this year, as already Coach Bob Diaco has signed 16 players for next season, and a few more are still on the board and may be headed to East Hartford this fall.

UConn Huskies Recruiting- Commits as of 11/25/17
NAME	POS	CLASS	HOMETOWN	HT	WT	CALIBER
Ja'Montres Jones	WR/TE	HS	West New York, NJ	6'5	244
Luke Williamson	RB	HS	Nautilus Park, CT	5'11	223
Mike Hill	LB	HS	Edmonton, CN	6'2	244
Scott Coffman	LB	HS	Piedmont, AL	6'2	180
Carlton Parker	WR	HS	Hope Mills, NC	6'2	195
Kent Newton	CB	HS	New Bodin, WI	6'1	181
Chris Murphy	CB	HS	Piedmont, AL	5'11	181
Altarri Gardner	DE	HS	Derby, CT	6'4	255
Kyler Parks	ATH	HS	Yazoo City, MS	5'11	185
A.J. Paxston	LB	HS	Bowling Green, OH	5'11	244
Brett Lowery	DE	HS	Ville Platte, LA	6'2	237
Sam Barnett	CB	HS	Portland, ME	5'11	166
Synphez Jeffries-Mayo	DT	JUCO Jr	Fairland, MD	6'0	266
Kyle Lee	LB	HS	Norwalk, CT	6'0	233
Danny Mack	LB	HS	Fort Lee, NJ	6'1	235
Brian Link	G	HS	Naugatuck, CT	6'1	300

Let's start with the commits though. We already knew about the heavy hitters, like 4-star prospects Ja'Montres Jones, Mike Hill, Luke Williamson, Scott Coffman, Carlton Parker and 3-star athlete Kyler Parks.

However, plenty of new commits have landed since then. Coach Diaco, much like every year, sees a need for defense, but with veterans littering the outside of the secondary, a share of new corners will pop up for UConn next fall.

Along with Parks (who will likely play corner), Wisconsin's Kent Newton, Alabama's Chris Murphy and Maine's Sam Barnett will all join Diaco at UConn. All are three-star prospects, and all grade out around 66 overall. Regardless, the trio will look to pair with redshirt freshman Jake Crowder and rising seniors Travis Lumpkin and Anthony Watkins, along with walk-on freshman J.D. Rudie next year. There is a strong chance all three could play next year.

Defensive end is another big spot for Diaco, as Sam Rourke is the only underclassman at end. Local prospect Altarri Gardner and Louisiana's Brett Lowery are the two prospects to commit thus far. Both grade out around 68 overall, and are in line to play immediately with Cam Stapleton graduating and backup Folo Fatukasi graduating this spring as well. Both are balanced, and will be asked to get to the QB early and often when they are able to play.

JUCO prospect Synphez Jeffries-Mayo has also been brought in to compete in a deep defensive tackle rotation next year with T.J. Newell, Gene Jackson, Brent Howard and Johnquez Blair. Though Jeffries-Mayo is undersized at 6 feet, 266 pounds, he's strong and athletic, which will diversify the position a bit.

In addition to Coffman and Hill at linebacker, another local prospect in Kyle Lee and A.J. Paxston are coming to bolster what will be a very deep linebacking group next year. Despite losing a pair of starters in Junior Joseph and Quintin Harrell, the duo could compete for playing time along with UCLA transfer Marcus Bradford, Sammie Leonard, Tim Duchane, Tashawn Coleman, John Cox and Tom Willis.

Paxston is a lot like Vontae Diggs in the sense that he has speed and ability to get to the QB. Thus, Paxston will be used exclusively in blitz packages early. Lee is similar, but is a little bigger than Paxston, and may be better suited for a middle linebacker role in UConn's 3-4.

There aren't many guys left on the UConn recruiting board, but an intriguing prospect is local QB Tanner Dean-Lowry.



A 3-star prospect, Dean-Lowry is graded as high as a 72 overall by SPARQ and is a fringe 4 star prospect according to ESPN. While UConn has their QB of the future in David Hamilton, Dean-Lowry fits Diaco's mold of a QB who can do a bit of everything, and would make a very reliable backup in 2 years' time. Or who knows, maybe he can overtake D-Ham completely if things go wrong.

Corners Patrick Walker and Elandon O'Neill are considering UConn, nimble D-Ends James Mandrell and Brian Jackson are still being evaluated, and big linebacker Alex Brown is deciding between Bowling Green, UConn and Boise State.

Other than that, we'll see what UConn can do. But the class is shaping up nicely so far.